♪ The Beautiful Mask of Midnight ♪
In the digital world, through social media and generative AI, we can create and express a version of ourselves that is slightly different from reality. This is a form of creation, and also a way to reveal parts of ourselves that we usually find difficult to show.
This time, I wrote this song based on the idea of what happens when a persona, polished for the sake of being seen by others, grows little by little with every reaction it receives, until eventually, the real self begins to conform to that character.
It is a song that shifts the gap between a person's inner and outer self—a concept seen in psychology from Freud onwards—into the present day, where anonymity and self-presentation have become commonplace.
I tried to depict the process where the real self gradually begins to resemble the beautiful mask created in the dead of night. I explored the blurring boundary between whether I am playing the mask, or if the mask is making me play it.
The Beautiful Mask of Midnight | Lyrics
Midnight, adding a title to my name
Talking about cities I've never been to
Polishing borrowed words
Conversing with someone I don't know
Cold coffee, three notifications
Faster to reply than in reality
Erasing a bit of yesterday's me
Finishing up today's version of her
Not a lie,
I corrected it many times
More than the truth,
Neatly lined up
I made her beautiful
She made me disappear
I gave her all my answers
Now she keeps me here
Morning mirror, applying lipstick
A color that suits her from last night
Carrying around books I have no interest in
Spending the day just as I posted
Smiling modestly during lunch break
Distributing answers inside the screen
Even though no one asked me to
Scheduled posts on the right way to live
I was the one who started it first,
But every time I log in,
She is the one who opens me up
Placing the cursor on the delete button
Returning to myself for just three minutes
But then a notification rings
She is popular again today
I made her beautiful
She made me disappear
I gave her all my answers
Now I work for her
2:00 AM, washing and drying
Tomorrow's me for her sake
The beautiful mask of midnight
In the morning, I put on myself and head out