Faces

It’s hard work getting to know a person. Never been something I was all that great at. It takes patience, it takes time, it takes humility, it takes vulnerability, and perseverance. But all that hinges on the first step. Like a book’s cover, how often we don’t get past the surface. And we throw each other for a loop all the time.

Light-hearted but intensely curious is the mood I wanted when I wrote this song. I just had this picture in mind of a guy and girl sitting across a table from each other kind of sizing each other up…who’s going to crack first? Like the outset of a journey, they’re asking themselves, is what I’m seeing what I’m really going to get with this person? There’s also the side of it that we’re each timid about opening up, in case we don’t live up to expectations. So we hold an air of confidence as long as we can and try to figure other people out before they figure us out. It’s safer that way, right? It’s really a funny and curious adventure we set out on every time we start to get to know someone. Why not use the faces we’ve been given for all they’re worth and be sincere. Ultimately, none of us can get inside another person’s head to figure them out, so if we want to get to know others or we want to be known by others then faces are just a start.

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FACES
Faces are all we’ve got,
to tell each other whether or not it’s just a cover
Cause I know you’ve got so much going on under
the face you’ve got trying to keep it covered

Faces are all we’ve got,
to get past the surface to the thoughts
and get to the person I see hiding underneath
& we’ve got so much ground to cover once you’re uncovered baby

I’m just trying to read you before you read me
& hoping we get past driving each other crazy
Cause there’s no more joy in pretending to be…alright

I’ve got a blind eye to the face you’re showing me
It’s obvious that there has gotta be a story that’s still hiding somewhere
But the going’s slow when you got no info
so baby please, tell me what I need to know…to know your heart
maybe faces are just a start

It’s a hard line to draw, when to show the world who you really are…
or to play the game so everything stays the same…
well if you tell me you’re alright then maybe I’ll tell you I’m alright