Smile Like Stephanie Tenney

I knew a girl name Stephanie when I was just a teen
She was the class misfit, though she thought she was prom queen
She walked around the school à la vie en rose
She was the “O” in original from head to her toes

Life was hard for her at such an early age
Yet she still dreamed ‘bout being an actress on the stage
She was a little girl with massive dreams
She hadn’t figured out that life isn’t what it seems

When the clouds would start rolling in
She would shut her eyes and let nobody in
Who knew what Daddy did when the day was long
‘Cause she’d pop a cassette and all her problems would be gone

Smile, oh Stephanie Tenney
Close your eyes and raise your hands in the air
Smile on, Stephanie Tenney
And dance like you really don’t care

Stephanie was sensitive, she wanted to be cool
She cared what people thought at our stupid middle school
They crucified
denied her love that she deserved
She almost died in a locker room
‘cause she didn’t know her worth

Oh friend, I wish I’d been there for you
Defending you from all you would go through
Don’t think I didn’t stay ‘cause you weren’t worth the fight
I just wanted to think that everything was alright

Smiling Stephanie Tenney
Closing your eyes with your hands in the air
Smile on, oh Stephanie Tenney
And pretend
you really don’t care

Steph, remember when we used to talk and talk
About love eternal and all of that girl stuff?
Gotta tell you girl, it’s not what we had thought
Sometimes it still breaks down after giving it all you’ve got.

I think I know, dear Stephanie, what you would say to me
You’d say, “Shut up and step up! Don’t get lost in selfpity!”
And now I’ll try to be the person you’d have been
If you were here and life had finally let you win

Oh Steph, it’s now been years since you’ve been here
The world has changed, there’s more out there now to fear
I know if you were me, you’d turn your walkman on
Dance around, forget the world for as long as a pop chart song

So I’ll smile like Stephanie Tenney
Close my eyes and raise my hands in the air
Then just smile like Stephanie Tenney
And pretend I really don’t care

So when you’re feeling lonely and the world’s a pulling you down
Just remember my friend, the prom Queen without a crown
Try to take each day as it comes to you
If you can’t then this is what I suggest you should do:

Smile like Stephanie Tenney
Close your eyes and raise your hands in the air
Then just smile like Stephanie Tenney
And pretend that you really don’t care

Smile my Stephanie Tenney
Close your eyes and raise your hands in the air
Then just smile oh Stephanie Tenney

Oh my girl, wish you were here