Smile

hi
you look like you're high
you're shielding your eyes
no, don't be embarrassed, i am too
it's something i do
when i'm feeling blue
to escape from my mind, yeah, just like you

'cause i'm scared to say how i feel
and right now, well, nothing seems real
i've gotten so used to pretending everything's fine
i'm sorry i can't let you in
i'm trying, i swear, but i've been
conditioned to cover my feelings with a smile

yeah, i'll make you smile
we'll laugh for a while
but later tonight, i might get sad
i can't help it, no
sometimes i feel low
it comes and it goes, like dark blue waves
and i drown in a sea of my doubts and my fears
and irrational thoughts fill my ears
and i can't fall asleep, so i sit up and write down these words
and it pains me that you'll never quite understand what it feels like
and i never can quite explain it
it's heavy and dark and it's lonely and you feel like nothing at all

unless you have felt like this too
you tell me it's happened to you
again and again
and your brain, it eats you alive every day
and you can't run away from yourself
so you stay busy
all the time
all the time
running from this thing to that thing, and all the while
you put on a smile

and i'll never know how you feel
but god, how i wish that i could
oh, i would
oh, i would

well, it really was swell talking to you
looking into those eyes i see someone like me
for a minute there, we shared something special
but now it's time to go back to where we came from
close our eyes 'til the darkness is done
and wake up and both hope that the sun helps ease our minds
and when i meet someone new
who reminds me of you
i'll hope that my smile turns into

a face that reflects how i feel
'cause these days, well, nothing seems real
i'm getting so sick of pretending everything's fine
i'm sorry i can't let you in
i'm trying, i swear, but i've been
conditioned to cover my feelings with a smile