[Verse 1]
There’s a stranger in the bathroom light,
Yeah, there’s a stranger in that bathroom light.
Same brown eyes starin’ back at me, but they don’t shine right.
Got my father’s tired shoulders now,
Got that little tremor in my hand.
Lines on my face like backroads,
Through a country I don’t understand.
[Refrain]
‘Cause in my head I’m still eighteen,
Runnin’ red lights, chasin’ dreams.
But I don’t know that man in the mirror,
No, I don’t know that man in the mirror lookin’ back at me.
[Verse 2]
Every mornin’ it’s a new betrayal,
Yeah, every mornin’ it’s a fresh betrayin’ day.
These knees sing like a church house choir,
But they only know the aching way.
My back keeps score of every stone I carried,
Every fight I should’ve left alone.
Every midnight trade of sleep for liquor,
Now my body’s callin’ in those loans.
[Refrain]
But in my mind I’m still that kid,
Didn’t fear no scar, just what it hid.
And I don’t know that man in the mirror,
No, I don’t know that man in the mirror,
He’s wearin’ my skin like a Sunday suit that never fit.
[Chorus]
They say, “Boy, you’re still so handsome,”
But it just don’t land on me.
Feels like they’re praisin’ some ghost they see,
Not the soul I know I used to be.
Yeah, I don’t trust the story in his eyes,
So sure, so tired, so worn.
I feel small as a child in a world gone wild,
Like I’m older on the flesh and young where I’m torn.
[Verse 3]
Down on the street there’s a brass band playin’,
Second line dancin’ through the heat.
But I’m stuck with this cold tile floor,
Bare feet, heartbeat, slow and beat.
World keeps spinnin’ like a record,
On some old French Quarter night.
I’m just standin’ in this bathroom,
Tryin’ not to look straight into that light.
[Bridge]
Tell me, where did all the colors go?
When did gray wash out the glow?
When did laughter turn to noise,
And fear get louder than my voice?
I’ve been hidin’ in reflections,
Too scared to count the years.
Afraid that if I face him,
He’ll vanish with my fears.
[Breakdown]
Got this rough, thick beard, bare skin up there,
Proof of every night I didn’t care.
And every “you’re so handsome” that they say,
Feels like it’s aimed at a mask I made.
They don’t see the cracks behind my grin,
The boy still screamin’ underneath my skin.
All this “lookin’ good” just hides the truth—
I’m rusted on the outside, trapped inside my youth.
[Final Refrain]
No, I don’t know that man in the mirror,
He’s older, softer, carved by time.
He looks like someone I should trust,
But I feel like I’m just borrowin’ his life.
Yeah, they tell me I’m still handsome,
But it slips right through, don’t stick to me.
If they could see the boy I am inside,
They’d know I’m eighteen and I ain’t never been free.
[Outro]
So I kill that light and leave him there,
That hollow stranger with my stare.
Maybe one day I’ll shake his hand,
Say, “Alright old man, now I understand.”
But tonight I turn away in fear,
Shuffle slow from that cold glass glare.
‘Cause I don’t recognize the man in the mirror,
[Blues fade]
CheckNate
