There’s a currency traded that nobody admits
It moves through the world in the commerce of hits
And misses you get by your face and your frame
The unfair currency nobody names
Out loud in polite conversation but knows
The unfair currency everybody shows
The unfair currency of beautiful skin
The unfair currency getting you in
The door and the meeting and the benefit and break
The unfair currency is what you can take
To the bank of opportunity and cash it right out
The unfair currency is what I’m about
I’ve seen it in hiring I’ve seen it in rooms
I’ve seen who gets noticed between the perfumes
And cheap suits and handshakes and first impressions made
Beautiful faces are always less afraid
Of the door that might not open the chair that’s left cold
The unfair currency younger and older
My face is my face and it’s honest and mine
I’ve lived every line and I’ve earned every sign
Of weather and years and the human condition
But the unfair currency of beauty’s ambition
Don’t care about character don’t care about soul
The unfair currency taking its toll