Borrowed Applause

Borrowed applause, give it back
My name's still on that track
Borrowed applause, nice room
Whole front row knows who

Check the date on the folder, check the name on the file
I was fixing your verse while you practiced your smile
You were shopping for angles, I was paying for time
Now you talk like the basement was a palace you designed
Keep the pose, keep the photo, keep the chair in the shot
Try to sell them that story, see how far it gets bought
I don't need your confession, got the notes in my phone
You can borrow the jacket, you can't call it your own

Borrowed applause, give it back
My name's still on that track
Borrowed applause, nice room
Whole front row knows who

Little speech at the banquet, big space in the thanks
Every person you skipped knows the holes in your act
I won't shout from the doorway, I got work of my own
Put the crew on the credits, put the fee in their phones
Had a seat at the table, then you hid all the chairs
Now you're calling it lonely like nobody was there
New room, same people, let the work introduce
When the room claps this time, it ain't clapping for you

Read the credits
Read them slow
Who was working?
Now you know

Borrowed applause, give it back
My name's still on that track
Borrowed applause, nice room
Whole front row knows who

Borrowed Applause