Behind the Skin
Behind the Skin explores the fracture between the face we show the world and the person living beneath it — the performance, the mask, and the uneasy feeling that two strangers can share one body.
Make it part of your collection.
Stream the full song here for free. Digital downloads will be available to purchase.
Purchase availability will be announced here.
Behind the lyrics.
[Verse 1] Fingers pressed deep in my eyes while I spill out all the lies, For if you knew the face I wore was not the one I had before. Placed in a box, it rots and warps, soon to be a rotting corpse, Trying to shoo away the flies it needs to feed before it dies. So much history, so much lore, It's why I hide it behind a door. For if it's found there'll be reports, And they'll drag my name through courts.
[Pre-Chorus] I've built these walls from bone and shame, Changed my voice and changed my name. Every mirror tells a tale Of someone lost beneath the veil.
[Chorus] Don't look too close behind the skin, You might find where I've been. Every smile, every disguise, Just another alibi. I wear a mask, I play the part, Keep the darkness from my heart. Who I am and who they see, Are strangers sharing one body.
[Verse 2] Every secret leaves a stain, Every memory leaves a chain. Lock them tight and hide the key, Pray nobody follows me. Dust collects upon the shelf, Filled with pieces of myself. Some I buried, some I burned, Some are lessons never learned. The man they praise, the man they know, Is just the face I choose to show. A painted saint, a crafted role, Guarding what remains of soul.
[Pre-Chorus] I've rehearsed these lines for years, Built foundations out of fears. If the truth escaped tonight, Would anyone survive the light?
[Chorus] Don't look too close behind the skin, You might find where I've been. Every smile, every disguise, Just another alibi. I wear a mask, I play the part, Keep the darkness from my heart. Who I am and who they see, Are strangers sharing one body.
[Bridge] Behind the door the shadows wait, Twisted by the hands of fate. Not a monster, not a saint, Just a portrait covered in paint. And if the locks should someday break, If the dead should finally wake, Will they see me as I am, Or condemn what they can't understand?
[Final Chorus] Don't look too close behind the skin, You might find where I've been. Every smile, every disguise, Just another alibi. I wear a mask, I play the part, Keep the darkness from my heart. Who I was and who I'll be, Are still at war inside of me.
[Outro] Fingers pressed deep in my eyes, Still protecting all the lies. For the face beneath the one I wear May never find the open air.
Another way into the work.
Behind the creation.
A song about performance, identity, and the person behind the face we show. The full song and two visual teasers bring that tension into sound and image.
- Creator
- Jacob Westfall