The Mask Won’t Come Off

[Intro | Male Vocal | deep whisper | panicked breathing | heartbeat]

I only wore it for the night
I only wore it for the night

[Instrumental Attack | fast drums | aggressive gothic guitar riff]

[Verse 1 | Male Vocal | dark baritone | urgent | restrained panic]

They found it in an attic trunk
Wrapped in funeral lace
A hollow grin of painted bone
With someone else’s face

I tied the ribbons at my neck
The room began to cheer
But when I looked into the glass
The eyes were not quite mine in there

[Pre-Chorus | Male Vocal | rising grit | accelerating]

I pulled the ribbon
Cut the thread
The painted mouth began to spread

I clawed the edges
Tore my skin
But something underneath it grinned

[Chorus | Male Vocal | powerful | frantic | catchy]

The mask won’t come off
It’s under my skin
The mask won’t come off
And it’s laughing again

I tear at the mouth
I pull at the eyes
The mask won’t come off
Because the mask is alive

[Post-Chorus | Male Gang Vocal | shouted]

Pull it off
Cut it free
Which one is the mask
And which one is me?

[Verse 2 | Male Vocal | harsher | paranoid | driving rhythm]

The guests became distorted shapes
Their voices stretched and slowed
They pointed at the bloodied thing
That only I could know

I smashed the mirror with my fist
Each shard reflected back
A hundred faces wearing mine
And every one was cracked

[Pre-Chorus | Male Vocal | aggressive | drums building]

I heard it whisper
Through my teeth
“You were never whole beneath”

I felt it breathing
In my lungs
It spoke in voices without tongues

[Chorus | Male Vocal | full power | heavier guitars]

The mask won’t come off
It’s under my skin
The mask won’t come off
And it’s laughing again

I tear at the mouth
I pull at the eyes
The mask won’t come off
Because the mask is alive

[Instrumental Break | frantic guitar riff | double-time drums | dissonant piano]

[Bridge | Male Vocal | spoken-sung | unstable | escalating]

I tried the knife
It dulled on bone

I tried the fire
It called me home

I begged the mirror
“Tell me true”

The thing inside it answered—

[Male Vocal | screamed]

“There was never any you!”

[Breakdown | Male Vocal | low baritone | crushing half-time]

What did I wear?

[Male Gang Vocal]

A borrowed face

[Male Vocal]

What did it take?

[Male Gang Vocal]

Your name and place

[Male Vocal]

What lies beneath?

[Male Gang Vocal]

Nothing at all

[Male Vocal | rising into scream]

Then who is laughing behind the wall?

[Final Chorus | Male Vocal | desperate | full band | layered male harmonies]

The mask won’t come off
It swallowed my skin
The mask won’t come off
Now it’s wearing me in

I tear at the mouth
But the mouth is my own
The mask won’t come off
And I’m no longer alone

The mask won’t come off
There’s nowhere to hide
The mask won’t come off
Because I’m trapped inside

[Final Post-Chorus | Male Gang Vocal | shouted | rapid]

Pull it off
Cut it free
Which one is the mask
And which one is me?

Pull it off
Cut it free

[Sudden Stop]

[Outro | Male Vocal | calm deep whisper | single heartbeat]

There was never any me