KNOW ONE (by Fanny Alexandra) [Verse 1] You wore your damage like designer denim, Threadbare halo, nicotine gospel grin. Said, “Everybody’s got a vice they baptize in,” Then laughed like the punchline carved beneath your skin. Bathroom confessions in a Motel Six glow, Cheap wine, black eyeliner bleeding down your throat. We were kids playing God with a head full of smoke, Turning every “I’m okay” into a beautiful hoax. Your mother called you “angel” through the cracked screen door, While you learned survival on a dirty hardwood floor. Funny how the wounded always spot the wound first— Like wolves recognizing blood before thirst. ⸻ [Pre-Chorus] You looked at me Like a mirror with a pulse. Like you could read every ghost I tried to bury in my skull. ⸻ [Chorus] It takes one to know one, right? That’s why your eyes undressed mine. Two black sheep in a floodlight, Fearing being forgotten, eternal night. You said, “Baby, we’re the same kind— Half cathedral, half crime scene.” Oh God, the way you held me Like you’d already survived me. It takes one to know one, right? That’s why you knew where all the knives hide. You kissed me like a warning sign— Like heaven with the teeth bared white. Tell me I’m not the only one Who learned love with the damage done. It takes one to know one… right? ⸻ [Verse 2] You could romanticize a breakdown beautifully, Turn a panic attack into poetry. Cherry-red mouth saying, “Nothing’s wrong with me,” While your hands shook like a church during an earthquake scene. We’d drive nowhere through the sodium night, Dashboard saints glowing gold in your tired eyes. Static on the radio singing lullabies For the kids who mistake self-destruction for a rite. And every joke hit just a little too deep, Like you were testing whether I’d still leave. Funny how the saddest people talk in sparks— Making constellations out of burned-out hearts. ⸻ [Pre-Chorus] You looked at me Like you’d seen this ending before. Like every locked room in me Already had your fingerprints on the door. ⸻ [Chorus] It takes one to know one, right? That’s why your eyes undressed mine. Two black sheep in a floodlight, Fearing being forgotten, black and white. You said, “Baby, we’re the same kind— Half cathedral, half crime scene.” Oh God, the way you held me Like you’d already survived me. It takes one to know one, right? That’s why you knew where all the knives hide. You kissed me like a warning sign— Like heaven with the teeth bared white. Tell me I’m not the only one Who learned love with the damage done. It takes one to know one… right? ⸻ [Bridge] Maybe that’s why it hurt so bad— You saw the worst parts I tried to camouflage. Every scar I turned into art, Every false start dressed up as a shooting star. And maybe souls like ours don’t heal clean, Maybe they flicker somewhere in-between— Between confession and relapse, Between “stay alive” and collapse. You said, “Nobody gets this unless they’ve lived it.” Then disappeared like smoke through my fingertips. ⸻ [Final Chorus] It takes one to know one, right? That’s why your ghost still talks like mine. Two lost kids with a shared vice, Still dancing in the afterlight. You said, “Baby, we’re the same kind— Too much feeling, too little time.” Now every stranger’s face divides Into “safe” or “someone else who hides.” It takes one to know one, right? That’s why your memory cuts so precise. You held my heart like dynamite And left it ticking every night. Tell me I’m not the only one Who turns pain into someone to love. It takes one to know one… right? Oh God— It takes one to know one.
