THE MIRROR LOVES ME BACK

[Intro: solitary grand piano, distant room reverb]

I bought another mirror
Just to see if I had changed
Hung it where the morning light
Could flatter every angle of my face

I practiced looking humble
I perfected looking hurt
Learned exactly when to lower my eyes
And make sincerity look unrehearsed

[Soft bass enters]

Oh, what a charming little monster
With such impeccable taste
Building monuments to kindness
With my name across the base

[Pre-Chorus: drums begin climbing]

And I know
I know
I know what I’m doing

At least some of the time

[Chorus: full band, huge stacked harmonies]

I want to be good
But I want to be adored
I want to feed the hungry
Then hear them chanting for an encore

I want to give my love away
With a spotlight on the act
Is it generosity
If I need the whole world looking back?

[Backing vocals: “Looking back! Looking back!”]

Oh, I want to be good
God, I want to be good
Even when the mirror loves me back

[Instrumental flourish: piano run, guitar harmonics]

[Verse 2: jaunty cabaret rhythm]

I have sampled every pleasure
Like a king afraid to die
Wine and velvet, rooms with views
And strangers telling beautiful lies

I can turn desire to doctrine
Make indulgence sound profound
Call my appetite “experience”
While another bottle makes the rounds

[Half-time]

I give advice on moderation
From a table set for ten
Tell myself that knowing my hypocrisy
Means I’m somehow free of it

[Pre-Chorus: theatrical vocal build]

But I know
I know
I know that isn’t true

Self-awareness isn’t virtue
If awareness is all you do

[Chorus: larger, choir harmonies]

I want to be good
But I want to be adored
I want to save the drowning
And have my portrait on the shore

I want to lift somebody up
Without measuring the height
Without wondering if everyone
Has noticed I was right

[Backing vocals: “Was he right? Was he right?”]

Oh, I want to be good
God, I want to be good
Even when I make myself the light

[Post-Chorus: guitars drop out, voices only]

[Layered vocals]
Do you love them?
Or being loved?

Do you help them?
Or need to be enough?

Would you do it
If nobody ever knew?

[Lead, quietly]
I don’t know

But I want to

[Instrumental Break: theatrical guitar solo over descending piano chords]

[Bridge: slow, intimate]

There are people I have cherished
There are people I have used
There are times I gave completely
There are gifts that were disguised as dues

There were apologies I offered
Just to stop myself from shame
There were wounds I helped to bandage
Then secretly remembered who they’d blame

[Music nearly stops]

Maybe goodness isn’t purity
Maybe nobody gets clean
Maybe every act of mercy
Has a little ego hiding in between

[Single piano chord]

But if a selfish heart can choose
To leave somebody less alone

Maybe that is somewhere
I can start

[Build: heartbeat kick drum]

Maybe goodness is a practice
Not a halo
Not a throne

[Explosive transition]

[Final Chorus: massive operatic arrangement]

I want to be good
And yes, I want to be adored
I want the velvet and the roses
I want heaven keeping score

But I can carry someone’s burden
Even while I crave applause
I can learn to love the person
More than loving being loved

[Choir: “Love them more! Love them more!”]

I can close the door behind me
I can give without a plaque
I can leave a little kindness
Where no praise can follow back

[Key change]

And I want to be good
Not perfect, just good
When nobody is watching what I do

I want to be good
When there’s nothing there to prove
When the room has lost its audience
And I still choose what is true

[Break: silence]

[Quiet lead vocal]

And tomorrow
When the mirror asks me
Who I think I am

I’ll say

[Final crescendo]

Someone trying!

[Choir]
TRYING!

[Lead]
Someone failing!

[Choir]
FAILING!

[Lead]
Someone vain enough to love himself

But learning how to love somebody else!

[Huge guitar chord]

[Outro: piano and layered vocals fading]

The mirror loves me back
The mirror loves me back

[Whispered harmony]
But it doesn’t have to be
The only one I love

[Final piano chord]