Masks and Country Music

I have a confession to make… I like country music (and unashamed of it!). Well, I have a lot of it on my itunes and I was listening to it today at work and one of my all-time favorite artists came on—Garth Brooks. I love him! I am so angry that I became a fan when he decided to retire, or at least no longer tour… I can’t say how much I wouldn’t spend on a ticket to his concert. Anyway, I’m getting away from the reason I’m writing this. I was listening to him today and his song, “When There’s No One Around” came on. It’s a fabulous song! It’s about being a different person when no one’s around—being a kid (immature, reckless, without a care in the world), being an adult (unsure, insecure, invisible to the world), and singing and dancing to your own song (carefree, carried away, lose control). It’s not a new or even remotely revolutionary idea that people are not themselves around others. As I was listening to it, this idea struck me—why not?

Why can’t we be ourselves? Why must we put on our masks and hide our insecurities and burdens when we are around others? Why is it so difficult to even remove the mask and let the child out even when we are alone? It doesn’t matter if we are at home, school, work, church… we all wear masks. We may even change which mask we wear in front of which people. Why are we so afraid to be real?

I will be the first to admit that I have and do wear masks. However, I have been working (through counseling mostly) on being genuine and real—to take off the masks and expose my true self—the self that is flawed, broken, bruised, and *gasp* not perfect. It is difficult to show your true self and express how you really feel about something. The “world” expects us to always be happy, joyful, and think positively about things. What I have been learning is how to talk to people and express an opinion, especially one that may be negative or against the norm, in a respectable way, yet still getting my voice heard and my point across. It’s very easy to hide behind excuses and justifications for not “showing up.” People want honesty yet rarely give it. We all need to work on that and work on removing the mask that hides our imperfections. Expose your true self. Dance your own dance, no matter who is around!

Here are the lyrics of the song:

This is a song that nobody knows
I couldn't begin to describe how it goes
But it makes me cry or laugh right out loud
It's a song that I sing when there's no one around

This is the man that nobody sees
He wears my old clothes and he looks just like me
Just one of the boys who gets lost in the crowd
He's the man that I am when there's no one around

It's four in the morning
I'm lyin' in bed
A tape of my failures
Playin' inside my head
It's heartache and hard knocks
And things I don't know
I listen and I wonder
Where will it go

This is a glimpse of a child that's within
He's so immature but he's still my best friend
If he could learn how to fly he'd never touch down
He's the kid that I am when there's no one around

This is the dance I do every day
I let my feet go and get carried away
I let my soul lead and follow the sound
It's the dance that I do when there's no one around

It's four in the morning
I'm lyin' in bed
A tape of my failures
Playin' inside my head
It's heartache and hard knocks
And things I don't know
I listen and I wonder
Where will it go

This is a song that nobody knows
I still can't begin to describe how it goes
But it makes me cry or laugh right out loud
It's a song that I sign when there's no one around
It's a song that I sign when there's no one around