Why is it that people never see
I do what I think is expected of me
I laugh when you laugh, I don't shed a tear
I bury all of my pain, all of my fear

No one looks past the smile or listens to the sigh
No one can see that I'm dying inside
You all hear the laughter, you think I'm full of glee
You don't see that I'm drowning in my own misery

The smiles, the laughter, can't you see it's not real?
Can't you see that that is not how I feel?
No one looks past the surface, or sees through the mask
For one person who sees me, that is all I ask

But no one cares enough to look deep
To see all the hurt which inside me I keep
The hurt that just builds with each passing day
The hurt that I struggle to hold at bay

You can't know this pain because you don't know me
In my direction you look, but you don't really see
I talk and you listen but you don't really hear
You remain far away, though you're standing quite near

Each day is a battle, each week is a war
I want to sob, but I can't cry anymore
Long ago I perfected the art of not crying
So now nobody knows that my smile is lying

I can't ask for help, the words won't come out
I have tried to say them, I scream and I shout
For comfort I have tried over and over to ask
But the words are obscured because I wear a mask

So I bottle my pain, I bury my fear
I wear this smile and I do not shed a tear
I do what I think is expected of me
I've given up hope that somebody will see