I See (Little Sister)

[Section 1: Jason Chu]
Little sister
I see you staring at the K-pop video
And practicing their moves
Your hips swing and heels groove
But when their eyes flare yours can’t follow
And I’m sorry but I couldn’t help but notice you swallow
Your disappointment
And I hope you know you need no BB Cream ointment
No mascara halos to make your face glow, no
Angels aren’t defined by the radius around their pupils

[Section 2: Jason Chu]
Little sister, I seein' you
Laughin' at jokes about Asians’ poor vertical vision
Your smile was nervous, lacking purpose
Hiding curses behind derision
Thinking, if you are in on the joke
You won’t be cast out by it
But I’ve had to learn that it’s not worth the buy-in
If what I’m buyin' is so biased
That it defines the lines of my eyes as noncompliant
And I’ve seen you cryin' in frustration
That your eyes aren’t in syndication
Twenty-four but in our nation your figure’s figured as teenager
So you curse genetic make-up and replace it with foundation
But that make-up couldn’t make one-tenth of what our parents gave us!

[Hook: Emily Chen]
What they say
I take it all
What you say
I take it all

[Section 3: Jason Chu]
Little sister, I’ve seen the ads from New York to Hong Kong
Carnival mirror images of women to become
They call you plain if you don’t dress up
If you do, you’re labeled fake
Either exotic geisha or awkward honor-student brain
And freedom from your baggage feels an awful lot like shame
One thing I’ve learned in lose-lose situations
You only win the game by never playing
So why play?

[Section 4: Jason Chu]
It never stops: demands from others always keep comin' around
If you’re slim, they call you skinny
If you’re not, they count the pounds
But opinions only matter if you value what they hold
And all that money and attention weighs nothing next to your soul
And that’s worth more than Mastercard or surgery in Seoul
I’ve seen you shine, when you do, you get more bright than Grandma’s gold
You got a goal that you can hit that no one else could ever do
And when you’re in your element, no irony can tarnish you
So shout-outs to my sister whose vision don’t need prescription
Who knows her confidence isn’t based on male ambition
Or the gaze of hating eyes who want to chisel hers away
Because I see you, little sister, but more important?
You see your own--