[Intro — close, amused] Tonight everyone wears a mask. Which is refreshing. Usually we pretend we don’t. [Verse 1] There’s a vampire at the doorway, checking messages from work. Death is waiting for an Uber, looking strangely overworked. Someone’s angel lost a feather. Someone’s devil needs a drink. And the woman dressed as madness seems the sanest one, I think. The pumpkins grin. The candles shake. The dead are welcome after eight. And nobody asks what happened to your face. [Pre-Chorus] For one night we stop explaining why the darkness knows our name. We paint it black, put on a hat, and invite it to the game. [Chorus] So here’s to one honest night, when every monster comes inside. No need to hide the teeth, the scars, the little ghosts we keep behind. One honest night. No innocence required. Bring the thing you’re frightened of. We’ll give it something to drink. And if it stays till morning - well… perhaps it wasn’t the enemy we thought. [Verse 2] There’s a ghost beside the window who looks rather like regret. I’m almost sure I knew him once. He hasn’t left me yet. A skeleton is dancing with a woman dressed in white. They look happier than most couples I have seen in daylight. Someone whispers: “Don’t look back.” Naturally, I do. Half the room is full of strangers. Half the strangers look like you. [Pre-Chorus] For one night we stop pretending light is always on our side. Sometimes what we call a shadow is just something standing where the light can’t quite arrive. [Chorus] So here’s to one honest night, when every monster comes inside. No need to hide the teeth, the scars, the little ghosts we keep behind. One honest night. No innocence required. Bring the thing you’re frightened of. We’ll give it something to drink. And if it stays till morning - well… perhaps it wasn’t the enemy we thought. [Bridge — very close, almost spoken] I have worn more frightening costumes to meetings. I have smiled more convincingly at funerals. I have said “I’m fine” with better acting than anything you’ll see tonight. So forgive me if I find the monsters comforting. At least they came as advertised. [Break] The witch is laughing. Death is dancing. The vampire found a chair. And someone’s childhood fear has finally let down its hair. [Final Chorus — wider, warm, not triumphant] Here’s to one honest night. Let every hidden thing be seen. The jealous heart. The frightened child. The man you might have been. One honest night. Then morning takes the stage. We’ll wash the blood from off our hands, put normal faces back in place. But maybe keep one little thing from all this borrowed fright: the courage to admit what walks beside us in the daylight. [Outro — close] Tonight everyone wears a mask. Tomorrow we’ll go back to pretending we don’t. Happy Halloween.
