Alyssa Greene
Producers
Alyssa Greene Lyrics
[ALYSSA, spoken]
You know what my mother is like. She's a complete and total control freak.
(sung)
The hair has to be perfect
The As have to be straight
You have to join the debate club
On that there's no debate
You'll have bible camp each summer to keep you pure and clean
Endless rules apply when you're Alyssa Greene
Trophies have to be first place
Ribbons have to be blue
There's always some competition
Or hoops for jumping through
Your mom's made sacrifices so win Homecoming Queen
'Cause it's do or die when you're Alyssa Greene
And you wish there was a world where you were simply free to live
And when people criticized you you had no more shits to give
And in this other lifetime when you tell yourself, "Be brave"
You won't cave
That's the one thing I truly crave
But your feelings have to be phony
Your weight has to be tracked
If you don't like shaking pom poms
You'd better learn to act
Just have everything perfected
By the time you reach eighteen
Don't ask how or why when you're Alyssa Greene
You know what my mother is like. She's a complete and total control freak.
(sung)
The hair has to be perfect
The As have to be straight
You have to join the debate club
On that there's no debate
You'll have bible camp each summer to keep you pure and clean
Endless rules apply when you're Alyssa Greene
Trophies have to be first place
Ribbons have to be blue
There's always some competition
Or hoops for jumping through
Your mom's made sacrifices so win Homecoming Queen
'Cause it's do or die when you're Alyssa Greene
And you wish there was a world where you were simply free to live
And when people criticized you you had no more shits to give
And in this other lifetime when you tell yourself, "Be brave"
You won't cave
That's the one thing I truly crave
But your feelings have to be phony
Your weight has to be tracked
If you don't like shaking pom poms
You'd better learn to act
Just have everything perfected
By the time you reach eighteen
Don't ask how or why when you're Alyssa Greene
Improve all of your strong points
And hide the things that you lack
'Cause mom's convinced if you're perfect your father might come back
You're not yourself
You're not what she wants
You're someone in between
Your whole life's a lie when you're Alyssa Greene
[EMMA, spoken]
I believe you have feelings for me, but I can't do this anymore. It hurts too much.
[ALYSSA, spoken]
Is this— Are you breaking up with me?
[EMMA, spoken]
I guess I am. Yeah. Bye.
[ALYSSA]
You're not yourself
You're not what she wants
You're someone in between
And hide the things that you lack
'Cause mom's convinced if you're perfect your father might come back
You're not yourself
You're not what she wants
You're someone in between
Your whole life's a lie when you're Alyssa Greene
[EMMA, spoken]
I believe you have feelings for me, but I can't do this anymore. It hurts too much.
[ALYSSA, spoken]
Is this— Are you breaking up with me?
[EMMA, spoken]
I guess I am. Yeah. Bye.
[ALYSSA]
You're not yourself
You're not what she wants
You're someone in between
About
Genius Annotation
Alyssa wants to apologize to Emma and explains to her she can’t come out because of the stress and pressure her mom puts on her. Emma understands, but decides she can’t be with someone who can’t be true to themselves, so she breaks up with Alyssa.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
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Credits
Producers
Writers
Recorded At
Masterworks Broadway
Released on
December 14, 2018
Alyssa Greene Covers
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