Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of someone performing, likely in the public eye, where the reality of their experience is far removed from the curated image presented. The opening lines, "It's never really how it happens," repeated with a sense of weary resignation, suggest a disconnect between perception and truth. This isn't about genuine connection but a manufactured facade, hinted at by "Selfish clever little runaway" and "secret rattlesnakes" lurking beneath the surface. The core tension lies in the performance itself, a constant act of being "Always an actor." The chorus emphasizes the artificiality: "Before each take / No light escapes," implying a controlled, perhaps even suffocating, environment where genuine emotion is suppressed. The phrase "Prancing disaster" captures a precarious balance, a captivating but potentially destructive display. This persona is driven by the need for fleeting "Fame for today," compelling the subject to "Dance for your captor," a powerful image of performing under duress. The craft here hinges on the stark contrast between the internal state and the external show. "Open letters from another day" and "Hollow pleasantries, Christmas tree fake" evoke a sense of superficiality and past attempts at connection that have soured. The repeated refrain "It's never really how it happens" acts as a mantra, underscoring the fundamental deception. The outro, with lines like "She eats her dreams / Always, she has to" and "Beautiful pain / Worth the exchange," reveals the personal cost of this constant performance, suggesting a deep-seated sacrifice for the sake of the act. Ultimately, the effectiveness of these lyrics stems from their unflinching portrayal of the performative self. The narrator appears to be trapped in a cycle of creating and maintaining an illusion, where authenticity is sacrificed for external validation. The "average death" of the title seems to refer to the slow erosion of self that occurs when one is "Always an actor," a painful but seemingly necessary trade for the fleeting moments of "rapture" or recognition.