Surgical Summer

[Verse 1]
Blocked my mom’s number by the dumpsters at The Echo.
Her last text read, "'Jess, where is your testimony?'"
And for the first time since that fever in third grade,
I didn't know the answer, and I wasn't afraid.

[Chorus]
This is my surgical summer, scalpels and cheap gin,
Cutting out the scripture they tattooed on my skin.
No anesthetic, I wanna feel it all,
The sound of my own reflection cracking in the hall.

[Verse 2]
Traded sacrament bread for a Silver Lake brunch special,
Learned the taste of communion wine when it's not ceremonial.
There’s a scar above my eyebrow from a Tuesday night mistake,
But it feels more real than the promises they break.

[Chorus]
This is my surgical summer, scalpels and cheap gin,
Cutting out the scripture they tattooed on my skin.
No anesthetic, I wanna feel it all,
The sound of my own reflection cracking in the hall.

[Bridge]
My phone screen’s cracked into a spiderweb of light,
And the girl in it finally has a fight in her eyes.
She’s not looking upward, she's not asking to be saved,
Just humming to a pop song on the 101 freeway.

[Chorus]
This is my surgical summer, scalpels and cheap gin,
Cutting out the scripture they tattooed on my skin.
No anesthetic, I wanna feel it all,
The sound of my own reflection cracking in the hall.

[Outro]
Yeah, it was a surgical summer.
I'm awake now.