THE MASK
Everybody loves the version of you that never needs anything. So I made him. Taught him how to laugh. Taught him how to lie. Now I can't get the fucker off. --- [VERSE 1 – 16 BARS] Walk in the room with a grin like life's been kind, Crack jokes, shake hands, while I'm dying behind mine, "How you doing?" "Yeah, good" — that's the automatic line, Funny how a two-word answer hides a complicated mind. I'm the loud one, proud one, always taking the piss, So nobody thinks to ask what the laughter eclipsed, Got the timing of a comic, every punchline lands, While I'm quietly coming apart where nobody stands. See, I mastered misdirection, make 'em look where I point, Turn pain into entertainment, put a laugh in my voice, I'm the bloke that'll carry everybody else's weight, Then go home, lock the door and fucking buckle at the gate. Mirror says, "You look tired." I say, "Fuck you, I'm fine," Then practise looking normal 'til the face becomes mine, That's the trick with a mask when you've worn it for years... It doesn't hide the damage. It just teaches it to disappear. --- I wear the mask so you don't see the cracks, Biggest smile in the room with the world on my back, Ask if I'm good, yeah, you know what I'll say, "I'm alright, mate"... then I look away. I wear the mask when I'm losing control, Paint a fucking smile over holes in my soul, Everybody knows me, but nobody knows that... There's a war going on underneath this mask. --- [VERSE 2 – 16 BARS] Then the front door shuts and the performance is done, No crowd, no jokes, nowhere left I can run, Keys hit the side, hear the silence arrive, And the man from an hour ago suddenly dies. Now the room feels smaller and the ceiling feels low, Every thought I've been avoiding starts demanding I know, Every "I'm fine" from the daytime comes collecting its debt, Every memory I buried puts a hand on my neck. So I stare at my reflection like, "Who the fuck are you?" He says, "I'm everything you hide when they're looking at you." Same eyes, same scars, but there's something that's changed, 'Cause the face in the glass doesn't answer my name. I touch my cheek... He touches his too. I stop smiling... But he doesn't fucking move. Then he whispers through the glass like he's known me for years: "Put me back on... You don't want them seeing you like this." I wear the mask so you don't see the cracks, Biggest smile in the room with the world on my back, Ask if I'm good, yeah, you know what I'll say, "I'm alright, mate"... then I look away. I wear the mask when I'm losing control, Paint a fucking smile over holes in my soul, Everybody knows me, but nobody knows that... There's a war going on underneath this mask. --- [VERSE 3 – THE MASK SPEAKS] "Who kept you standing when your legs wanted out? Who swallowed every scream when you wanted to shout? Who walked into the room when you couldn't face eyes? Don't suddenly hate me because I taught you to lie. I'm the reason they respect you, the reason they stay, I'm the reason nobody sees that you're breaking away, Take me off? Go ahead. Let 'em stare at the mess, Tell 'em every insecurity you never confessed. You think people want truth? They want comfortable lies, They'll say 'talk to me, brother' then get scared when you cry, So you NEED me. Admit it. I'm the armour you built, I'm the smile over anger, I'm the laughter over guilt. You created me, mate. Don't pretend that you didn't, Every time that you hurt and told everyone different. So tomorrow when they ask you if everything's okay... You'll put me on your face... and you'll know what to say." --- [BREAK – whispered] "I'm alright, mate." ... No. --- [FINAL VERSE – KAOS ANSWERS] You ain't armour, you're a prison that I decorated proud, Made a home inside your silence 'cause the truth felt too loud, Yeah, you saved me in the moments I had nowhere to turn, But a shield held too long becomes a weight that can burn. You made pain look presentable, suffering polite, Made me everyone's daylight while I lived through the night, Had me thinking being strong meant never saying I'm weak, So I mastered looking fearless while forgetting how to speak. But strength ain't staying silent 'til you're hollow inside, And courage ain't a smile manufactured to hide, Maybe saying "I'm not good" doesn't make me less a man, Maybe letting someone see me means they'll finally understand. So tomorrow if they ask me, I won't reach for disguise, I won't paint another happiness and wear it as lies, I don't know who I am yet... But for once that's alright. I'd rather meet the man underneath... than spend my whole life hiding. --- [OUTRO – spoken] Funny thing about wearing a mask this long... You forget what your own face feels like. And I'm still not sure which one of us is me. But tonight... I'm taking it off.
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Everybody loves the version of you that never needs anything. So I made him. Taught him how to laugh. Taught him how to lie. Now I can't get the fucker off. --- [VERSE 1 – 16 BARS] Walk in the room with a grin like life's been kind, Crack jokes, shake hands, while I'm dying behind mine, "How you doing?" "Yeah, good" — that's the automatic line, Funny how a two-word answer hides a complicated mind. I'm the loud one, proud one, always taking the piss, So nobody thinks to ask what the laughter eclipsed, Got the timing of a comic, every punchline lands, While I'm quietly coming apart where nobody stands. See, I mastered misdirection, make 'em look where I point, Turn pain into entertainment, put a laugh in my voice, I'm the bloke that'll carry everybody else's weight, Then go home, lock the door and fucking buckle at the gate. Mirror says, "You look tired." I say, "Fuck you, I'm fine," Then practise looking normal 'til the face becomes mine, That's the trick with a mask when you've worn it for years... It doesn't hide the damage. It just teaches it to disappear. --- I wear the mask so you don't see the cracks, Biggest smile in the room with the world on my back, Ask if I'm good, yeah, you know what I'll say, "I'm alright, mate"... then I look away. I wear the mask when I'm losing control, Paint a fucking smile over holes in my soul, Everybody knows me, but nobody knows that... There's a war going on underneath this mask. --- [VERSE 2 – 16 BARS] Then the front door shuts and the performance is done, No crowd, no jokes, nowhere left I can run, Keys hit the side, hear the silence arrive, And the man from an hour ago suddenly dies. Now the room feels smaller and the ceiling feels low, Every thought I've been avoiding starts demanding I know, Every "I'm fine" from the daytime comes collecting its debt, Every memory I buried puts a hand on my neck. So I stare at my reflection like, "Who the fuck are you?" He says, "I'm everything you hide when they're looking at you." Same eyes, same scars, but there's something that's changed, 'Cause the face in the glass doesn't answer my name. I touch my cheek... He touches his too. I stop smiling... But he doesn't fucking move. Then he whispers through the glass like he's known me for years: "Put me back on... You don't want them seeing you like this." I wear the mask so you don't see the cracks, Biggest smile in the room with the world on my back, Ask if I'm good, yeah, you know what I'll say, "I'm alright, mate"... then I look away. I wear the mask when I'm losing control, Paint a fucking smile over holes in my soul, Everybody knows me, but nobody knows that... There's a war going on underneath this mask. --- [VERSE 3 – THE MASK SPEAKS] "Who kept you standing when your legs wanted out? Who swallowed every scream when you wanted to shout? Who walked into the room when you couldn't face eyes? Don't suddenly hate me because I taught you to lie. I'm the reason they respect you, the reason they stay, I'm the reason nobody sees that you're breaking away, Take me off? Go ahead. Let 'em stare at the mess, Tell 'em every insecurity you never confessed. You think people want truth? They want comfortable lies, They'll say 'talk to me, brother' then get scared when you cry, So you NEED me. Admit it. I'm the armour you built, I'm the smile over anger, I'm the laughter over guilt. You created me, mate. Don't pretend that you didn't, Every time that you hurt and told everyone different. So tomorrow when they ask you if everything's okay... You'll put me on your face... and you'll know what to say." --- [BREAK – whispered] "I'm alright, mate." ... No. --- [FINAL VERSE – KAOS ANSWERS] You ain't armour, you're a prison that I decorated proud, Made a home inside your silence 'cause the truth felt too loud, Yeah, you saved me in the moments I had nowhere to turn, But a shield held too long becomes a weight that can burn. You made pain look presentable, suffering polite, Made me everyone's daylight while I lived through the night, Had me thinking being strong meant never saying I'm weak, So I mastered looking fearless while forgetting how to speak. But strength ain't staying silent 'til you're hollow inside, And courage ain't a smile manufactured to hide, Maybe saying "I'm not good" doesn't make me less a man, Maybe letting someone see me means they'll finally understand. So tomorrow if they ask me, I won't reach for disguise, I won't paint another happiness and wear it as lies, I don't know who I am yet... But for once that's alright. I'd rather meet the man underneath... than spend my whole life hiding. --- [OUTRO – spoken] Funny thing about wearing a mask this long... You forget what your own face feels like. And I'm still not sure which one of us is me. But tonight... I'm taking it off.