The Naked Truth Video (MV)

Her name was Carson
Though we were nowhere near the city
Where women make it
Getting naked to shake it for fifties
She approached me fully clothed
But spoke like any other stripper
"How about a dance, baby?"
"No, thanks. How about dinner?"
It wasn't a joke - even if she giggled
"It'd have to be a taco truck; cheap and simple"
An obvious tom boy
Secrets swelled under skin like sandpaper
I'm no damn savior. Just a fan/stranger
Hoping to reverse the adverse
Affects her dad gave her
I threw a smile that said I'd genuinely
Sincerely, seriously love to take her
A look, I'm sure, she was trained to ignore
But a look she wasn't used to seeing
Trapped in a trance of eyes eager to explore
This look saw her core - I saw her human being
A smile flashed seeing more than cash
Sadly, it was all that was on her Doppler
She furthered her rounds, on occasion sitting down
Until a voice over the speaker called her
Business men sat front row
Ready to throw dollars
Most likely married men
Wearing the very suits they'd be buried in
Before rolling around in their squalor
Blue collared squatters
That wouldn't bother to call her if she offered
Those fascist bores saw a f*cking whore
Nothing more than a sex symbol
I saw hope. Heroism
Someone naked, naive and nimble
I saw pain mixed with forgiveness
A sister, a mother, a daughter
That night, I watched beauty bleed on the altar
That night, I watched an honest woman born
Torn between sobriety and society's norms
Witnessed through eyes without a fool's vision
As the child came alive and quickly died
To Tool's "Schism"
A whole life interpreted in a few short breaths
A heart on the sleeve still beats
Like that in an exposed chest
As brave as G.I. Jane in the middle of a mess
Fighting for the steady freedom
Of these heavy breathing pets
Set in her role: judge, jury and exhibitionist
With a clean routine to those
Yet to grow indigenous
I wasn't from L.A. - I was simply a tourist
On a two month stay
To run away before my flower could flourish
But that night I stood stupefied
Watching a human life
Human. Like you and I
Crucified in lieu of light
Us: the sheep. Her: the Shepard
Dead center with our eyes locked
Stark naked and slowly breaking
For our temptation so we could watch
The second coming
At the sake of sounding sacrilegious
I felt time stop
Halfway between too late
And a bad decision
I approached her once it was over
To find her acting different
The dollar with my number on it
Was met with mechanical mannerisms
Holding my hand
Looking in my eyes like she loved me
Promising she'd text
Like I was nothing like the rest
But it wasn't sincere. Only what I wanted to hear
She was only in it for the money
I thought "look, honey
I don't need your feigned affection"
Even though my face showed
Confusion for a missed connection
So, for a split second, I may have
Been in love with a stripper
Her name was Carson
Now I live in Reno
Go figure