3. SMOTHERER (Empress) — Lyrics
Sneak peak the album as it’s being written. Some songs streaming, the rest wait until April.
Nausea under pressure, sweet cravings later,
Break my own body to be caretaker.
The Empress — Reversed
Intro
I am the Empress, I plate to possess.
I am the Smotherer, cling in my chest.
Ghost in my apron, I mother another.
I cover, I tether—
I smother, I smother.
Verse 1
I’m the Smotherer, gut full of stones,
Empress with cramps that rattle my bones.
Clipped my wings, became the road,
My shadow bends with the weight I pack.
If they drift too far, I’ll lose my place,
Tighten my grip — I’m queen and slave.
Give and give, it makes me happy
… mostly,
Cling to the role till it owns me, closely.
Nausea under pressure, sweet cravings later,
Break my own body to be caretaker.
I need to know every step, every whim,
Drain myself dry just to anchor them in.
Every ache became my hymn,
Saint of absence, light’s gone dim.
I tell myself it had to be,
But the grave I made is swallowing me.
Pre-Chorus
Ghost hid my grief in a pie crust shell.
Ghost served it warm so they couldn’t tell.
Stitched my want into someone else’s skin,
Lost my shape where their breath begins.
Chorus
Ghost in the kitchen, I feed to thrive.
If no one is hungry, I’m barely alive.
Don’t turn away — I crack, I shake.
I only exist in the love I make.
If I stop giving, their eyes might stray,
So I bind them close in my quiet way.
Verse 2
I’m the Smotherer, throned in their need,
Bend myself hollow so they can succeed.
Hoard their hunger, absorb their pains,
Helping’s devotion that leaves me in chains.
Cling through the night so they can’t see,
If they don’t need me, who will I be?
Hands start shaking when I reach too far,
Spill boiling water so they’ll see the scar.
Afraid of rejection if I show affection,
Sweeten the silence, then serve the infection.
I think it’s love, but it curdles to hate,
Ulcer reminds me — I swallowed too late.
Maybe I think if I’m useful, I’m lovable,
But every goodbye makes me gullible.
If I stop bending, will they still stay?
I’d rather break than be in the way.
Pre-Chorus
Ghost scrubbed my voice in a bucket of bleach,
Hung it to dry where no one could reach.
Traded my dreams for a kitchen grave,
My silence for vertigo, my body enslaved.
Chorus
Ghost in the kitchen, I feed to thrive.
If no one is hungry, I’m barely alive.
Don’t turn away — I crack, I shake.
I only exist in the love I make.
If I stop giving, their eyes might stray,
So I bind them close in my quiet way.
Bridge
Ghost says, “Break yourself — that proves you care.”
I say, “Breaking only keeps me there.”
Ghost says, “Look at all I gave, look how I bled.”
I say, “But I erased myself instead.”
The Smotherer dies.
The ghost obeys.
Her anthem is silence.
No echo plays.
Final Chorus
Ghost in the kitchen, I feed to thrive.
If no one is hungry, I’m barely alive.
Don’t turn away — I crack, I shake.
I only exist in the love I make.
If I stop giving, their eyes might stray,
So I bind them close in my quiet way.
Outro
Apron drops.
Doorway wide.
I eat first — ghost outside.
The Gate is sealed.
