I shake your hand like a contract, firm and clean, my smile a spotless lie
While something feral counts your heartbeat,
and quietly decides why you should cry
I nod at all the right moments, I praise your plan, I bless your little scheme
Then I bite the inside of my cheek till I taste the truth I never mean
My manners fit me like a suit that hides a knife with perfect seams
You call me “steady,” “so mature,” while I rot inside a muffled scream
[Chorus] Polite teeth, pretty speech, I keep the poison out of reach
Polite teeth, careful heat, I chew my fury down to bleach
Polite teeth, I don’t preach, I just grin and overteach
Polite teeth, I stay sweet, while my insides get to feast
You lean in close, you talk too loud, your breath a sermon I can’t stand
I answer soft, I answer kind, I never let you see my hand
It curls into a private weapon, it learns the shape of what I hate
I keep my voice in perfect order while my pulse kicks at the gate
There’s a hunger in my patience, there’s a lust for wrong to pay
Not bedroom talk, just living fire that wants a debtor’s day
Still, I keep it civilized, I keep it civil, I keep it neat
I keep the worst of me backstage, and let the nice mask take the seat
You think the calm means I forgive, you think the nod means I agree
You think the silence is surrender, you never hear what’s under me
I file my insults in my head, a tidy row of sharpened lines
Each one a quiet little sentence for the moment you cross my signs
I watch you flirt with consequence, then laugh, then call it “just a joke”
I laugh too, small, professional, then swallow down the smoke
My eyes stay warm, my words stay mild enough to never start a scene
My mind keeps building guillotines you’ll never see behind the screen
At night I replay every moment, every slight you wrapped in charm
I picture saying what I meant, I picture setting off alarm
Then morning shows its hungry bills, and I button up again
I trade the truth for survival, trade the riot for a grin
Still, there’s an ache that feels electric when I hold my temper down
A kind of wicked self-control that wears a suit and never frowns
If you ever get too close, if you ever press too deep
You’ll learn the nicest mouth can bite, and still sleep easy, still sleep