So here's that story that you wrote
The names have all been changed
Protecting no one at all
And I can pretend that I can't tell
Who the inspiration was
Behind the man in the mask
Perhaps you'd prefer to spell it all out

But here on page four, the part you dog-eared and underlined
This part on page seven that you circled in red
Well, I know that you know perfectly well
Those are words that I never could have said

Chorus:
'Cause I could never be
Never be your Modigliani
Why should you want to be
Want to be my Camille Claudel?
You have always seen
Always seen the magic in the clay
But I can only see
Only see the thousand walls that fell

So you drew that picture on the wall
The one in colored pencils
Hanging over the bed
I can always spot your signature style
And there you go with that mask again
You never met a metaphor
That you didn't like
The scribbled-in man with the painted-on smile

But even through that, my face is unmistakable
The color of the eye and the shape of the brow
And I know that you know perfectly well
It's the way you like to look at me now

(Chorus)

Five a.m. poetry
Razor's edge opera
Shadowbox crime dramas
All in a row
Spare me all the greasepaint
Hide me from the footlights
Let me draw a picture
Of the reasons why I needed to go
I think you knew I needed to go

So consider this my last reveal
Take a look before
I turn my face to the door
And believe when I say it's truly a shame
But this mask of yours never fit so well
Never was the kind
To watch the world from under my hands
This isn't my tale, this isn't my game

And tomorrow there'll be stories about the cold-hearted ne'er-do-well
Tomorrow there'll be paintings of the bastard in blue
But I know that you know perfectly well
The mask always better suited you

(Chorus)