Shallow



I'm new to you, a novelty,
Another taste of what can be
And you may never understand me
And you may never try
You don't really wanna know me
You just wanna be able to say you do
You just wanna be able to show all your friends
That you can make friends with weirdos too

You're kind to me -- you feel pity
I'm not like anyone else you know
But what you fail to understand
is that's because I like it so
You want to know all about me
Or at least the int'resting secret lives
Then you can impress all of your stupid friends
Play expert with a million lies

You don't really wanna know me
You just wanna be able to say you do
You just wanna be able to show all your friends
That you've made friends with weirdos too

I'm strange to you, I won't stick to
The slot you've stuck me in
I'm an idea to you, not a person
And far less am I a friend
You wanna crunch me down into something you know
You won't hesitate to cut off what doesn't fit
You don't wanna think of me in a whole new way
And I'm not taking any more of this shit [/that bit? :-)]

You don't really wanna know me
You just wanna be able to say you do
You just wanna be able to show all your friends
That you can make friends with sickos too

Your desire for past simplicity
Is taking a hard toll on me
You look at me through a cookie cutter
But I'm just not an easy shape
You can't a handle a real world picture
Your brain can't even handle MTV
Your life isn't real so I can never be in it
You trade my life for some fiction and give up on me!

You don't really wanna know me
You just wanna be able to say you do
You just wanna be able to show all your friends
That you can make friends with weirdos too

But I won't be a jigsaw piece
And I won't just fall into place
You won't be let to break me down
Into simple facts that you can face
You can't say the right words to open me up
Can't push the right buttons so I operate right
I'm not a machine and I'm not a cliche
And this isn't going to work until you see that light

It's too late to say that none of this is true
'Cause we both know that I know you
But it's not too late to stop this charade
Now you know what you have to do.



I'm new to you, a novelty, another glimpse of what can be... you don't really understand me, and you don't try very hard, you just want to be able to say you know me and spout interesting little details that make you sound like you know more than you really do. You want to impress the friends you have already with me, not make me a new freind. I'm a situation to you, an object, a cliche not a person. You want to boil everything down to the cliches you know, not have to think about me in a new way. Your desire for the simplicity of past life drags you down and holds you back, stops you from seeing the world, keeps you stupid. Your world isn't real and I'm not real in it, 'cause I'm not a cliche, I'm real and I don't fit.

But that's not accceptable. I refuse to be a piece in your little jigsaw-puzzle life, waiting for everything to fall into place. I'm not going to be reduced into terms you already know. You can't say the right words and manipulate me the way you want me to be. I don't open up when you press the right buttons. You've got to talk to me, not deal with what you think I am. You can get to know me, and I think we might be friends, but there's no way to know for sure until this charade ends. I'm not a novelty, I'm a person, and you'll have to deal with that.