#conditional_love
#covert_control
#gaslit_guilt
#boundaries
#consent_matters
#manipulated

© 2026, lyrics & arrangement by Sashariel
Project: DIVIDED HORIZONS (DꖾS) (Web: divided-horizons.de)
Album: PUPPETEERS (Upcoming 2026)

[INTRO]
Puppeteers...
(Puppeteers...)
Watchful faces...
waiting for the cue...
Keep it calm...
(keep it calm...)
Threads... over every word...
and nobody calls it out...

[VERSE 1]
We learn the timing of approval,
the exact second to back down.
A look can steer the whole conversation,
and nobody calls it out.
So we pick the safer version,
leave the real one unsent.
Not because we love pretending,
'cause we've seen the switch before.

[PRE-CHORUS]
The warmth shows up when we behave,
then fades when we resist.
No one says: 'do as I say',
they just make a 'no' feel expensive.

[CHORUS]
Puppeteers,
threads over every word, and we still act like they're not there.
Puppeteers,
teaching us to keep it calm, keep it calm.
(Puppeteers)
we get the warmth when we play it right.
and it can sound like love, when it keeps us small.
(Puppeteers)
threads over every word
(keep it calm)

[VERSE 2]
It starts with nothing, really,
just you being honest for a second.
Then comes the gentle rewrite,
like your words need permission to stand.
You try to clear it up in plain terms,
but they turn your tone into a threat.
And suddenly you're the problem again,
because you don't play their little game.

[PRE-CHORUS]
They change the rules, every week,
so we can never get it right.
They don't have to raise a voice,
they just change what their love requires.

[CHORUS]
Puppeteers,
threads over every word, and we still act like they're not there.
Puppeteers,
teaching us to keep it calm, keep it calm.
(Puppeteers)
we get the warmth when we play it right.
and it can sound like love, when it keeps us small.
(Puppeteers)
threads over every word
(keep it calm)

[BRIDGE]
Here's what lingers under skin,
even when nobody yells:
the warmth arrives on borrowed terms,
then vanishes when we don't.
They never need to shout commands,
they only tilt the ground we stand on.
If a 'no' isn't allowed, a 'yes' isn't real.
(if a 'no' isn't allowed)
(a 'yes' isn't real)
(if a 'no' isn't allowed)
(a 'yes' isn't real)

[BREAKDOWN]
Cut the strings, cut the cues,
we're done rehearsing to belong.
Cut the strings, cut the rules,
I'm tired of calling it calm.
(Puppeteers)

[OUTRO]
Threads over every word, still hanging there.
If a 'no' isn't allowed, a 'yes' is not real.
Puppeteers...
(Puppeteers...)
Puppeteers...
(Puppeteers...)