What Use is the Bathroom Mirror?

2 weeks ago by @wylddandelyon

What Use is the Bathroom Mirror?

wylddandelyon

00:00

00:00

Liner Notes

I sat down to this skirmish very late, and wasn't tracking the time. I think the writing took well over an hour. But the skirmish prompted me to think about mirrors, real and metaphorical, which led to this song, so the skirmish gets credit.

While singing this through the first time, to write the chords down, I realized with surprise that I was letting the minor chords wander off partway through to be used some other time. Then I totally ad-libbed the final chorus on the one-take recording. This is just me and my guitar, unless the kitties snuck in a word or two in the background.

Unlike many of my first-person songs, this one is very much about me and my own quirky life. I have to say, being called Princess Leia back then feels a lot more like a compliment to me now than it did in high school.

Lyrics

What Use Is the Bathroom Mirror?
Deirdre M Murphy

Am C Em
The bathroom mirror shows dark circles on my face,
Am C Em
Under my eyes, always, since I was young
Dm Am
I learned how to take my mother’s makeup base
Dm G
And blend the dark away, before I was grown

The bathroom mirror shows how thin my hair grows
There’s not enough hair now, to twist to hold a pen
They used to call me “Princess Leia” in Kendo
When I wound my braids tight to pad the helm

C G
Ah, but what use is the bathroom mirror?
C G
Are those wrinkles or streaks of soap?
Dm Am
It just shows me how old I’m getting
Em Am
How worn and tired and out of cope

C G
Far better to look into this small pixel-screen
C G
Read stories I’ve told, hear songs that I’ve sung
D G
The games that I’ve played, the things that I’ve seen
D G
The people I’ve touched, the friends far-flung

C G
Yes, what use is the bathroom mirror?
C G
When if you look, you can read so many dreams
F C
These pixels show myself so much clearer
F G
The real me remembered in electron streams

C G
Or listen to the words of family and friends
C G
Showing me a self that I didn’t perceive
D G
Like calling me “a saint” when my patience was pretend
D G
Creating a better truth from my make-believe

Yes, what use is the bathroom mirror?
When I can look into the eyes of my dears?
And be inspired to become a much better me
Than the person (I thought I was) composed of my fears?

(Instrumental)

I guess I’ll toss that bathroom mirror
And rely on a truer, better vision
And see the best me I can hope to be
In my imagination and the words of those I hold dear

Copyright ©2025 Deirdre M Murphy (2/5/2025) FAWM inspired by skirmish topic #lookinthemirror #folk #filk

Comments