Strings & Lanterns
JANSON · FRIENDS FOES AND LOVERS · Out 3 December 2026
A childhood lit for show: lanterns in the hall, hands clapping like metronomes, learning to move just so for the praise. A song about growing up performing and the empty rooms it leaves inside.
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Credits
Artist: JANSON
Album: FRIENDS FOES AND LOVERS
Album release: 3 December 2026
Label: Fragmented Music
Lyrics
You hung the lanterns in the hall so every step would glow
Taught me how to walk the planks they built for show
Hands that clapped like metronomes, measured out my name
I learned to move just so, to never miss the frame
The floor was warm with other people's praise
I learned to trade my voice for quieter ways
I was living on a leash of light, walking lines I didn't choose
Trading days for applause, learning how to lose
When the quiet came at night I found a seam to seam my pain
I stitched my heart in silver thread and called it keeping sane
They planted stakes and fences made of softer rules
Told me where to stand, how to play the fool
I kept my mouth a locked box, polished up the face
While the rooms inside me emptied out with space
I bowed to every shadow of the shape they drew
I swallowed small satisfactions till they swallowed me too
I was living on a leash of light, walking lines I didn't choose
Trading days for applause, learning how to lose
When the quiet came at night I found a seam to seam my pain
I stitched my heart in silver thread and called it keeping sane
There's a weight to perfect posture, and a cold behind the grin
So I learned to breathe in step and breathe the sorrow in
I found a little comfort on a shelf of borrowed things
It kept the world from hurting — till the world forgot the sting
I was living on a leash of light, I let their lanterns guide
But when the curtain folded down, I found the dark inside
Now I'm pulling at the stitches, letting seams unwind
Learning how to stand by myself and leave those lights behind
The lanterns still hang quiet, but I don't walk the line
I'm learning how to fall apart and find a better kind.
