Beauty School
Deftones Lyrics

The lyrics to Deftones' song "Beauty School" are deeply metaphorical and describe a fascination with someone's inner darkness and self-destructive behavior. The opening lines, "I like you when you take off your face, put away all your teeth, and take us way underneath, cause you could die if you take it alone," suggest that the subject of the song has a tendency towards self-harm and may need the company of the singer to help them navigate through it. The lines that follow, "I watch you taste it, I see your face, and I know I'm alive," suggest that the singer derives some kind of pleasure from watching the subject engage in dangerous behavior.

The second verse continues with the same themes, describing the subject's tendency to create a false persona ("When you make up the real"), as well as their tendency towards self-destruction ("Take the phone in your room, stop the tape always soon"). The lines "It drives me crazy, just drives me wild" indicate that the singer is both attracted and repelled by the subject's behavior. The chorus, which repeats the lines "I watch you taste it, I see your face, and I know I'm alive," reinforces the idea that the singer is finding a kind of vitality in this dangerous behavior.

Overall, "Beauty School" seems to be a deeply personal and emotional song about the singer's complicated feelings towards someone who may be struggling with addiction or self-harm. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a relationship that is both dysfunctional and deeply emotional, and the music seems to reflect this as well, with the heavy guitars and eerie electronic sounds contributing to a sense of tension and unease.