Story Behind The Song

This song is loosely based on one of my clients. In session, "Jean" is perfectly groomed, tall and quite attractive, blunted affect -- (almost like a painted mask), withholding. Her father had bipolar disorder, like herself, and he was in and out of psychiatric hospitals. She has had multiple, serious suicide attempts, to include slicing open her chest with a kitchen knife. She feels empty inside, daughter refuses contact with her & refuses to let her see her 10 yr. old twin grandchildren. She married her gynecologist and filled her opulent home with china dolls. They had a stormy marriage, to say the least, and he had her committed to a long term psych. hospital for 11 months. She is now separated and lives in an adult home at the age of 55. She is stable at present. It was purposefully written to sound somewhat trite but is based on quite serious material, as you can see. It has a pulsing, rock sound and needs to be gutsy. It is also loosely baesd on me - how I've had to "cover up" and wear a mask to get by in society

Song Description

Numbness, hiding behind a mask, concealing pain - all in the service of getting by in society

Lyrics

COVER GIRL

You learned, at quite an early age

About makeup, how to engage

Demure, and manicured

You seemed so confident and self-assured

Blue eyes, so lean and tall

All the men, at your beck and call

Nobody, knew nobody could

Behind the pretty mask a shell you stood


So Cover Girl cover over cover up

Eyeliner red blush it?s not enough

Lipstick and powder lasts about an hour

Paint another coat and freshen up


Long ago, when you were three or four

In a snowstorm, knocking on your door

Nobody, answered nobody could

Blamed yourself next time you would be good

On your shelf, stood a china doll

On her stand, she?d never fall

Take her down, but she can?t play

Safe and sound is where she?ll stay



So Cover Girl cover over cover up

Eyeliner red blush it?s not enough

A little Maybelline hides the seams

And all the scars that can?t be seen


Your life, seemed like Christmas Eve

But you couldn?t give, and couldn?t receive

One day, you?d have to deal

With the past so you could start to heal

But it?s so hard, to peal away the mask

You might have, but nobody asked

Cover girl, what you wouldn?t give

To kill the spotlight and start to live


So Cover Girl cover over cover up
Eyeliner red blush it?s not enough
Lipstick and powder lasts about an hour
Paint another coat and freshen up

So Cover Girl cover over cover up
Eyeliner red blush it?s not enough
A little Maybelline hides the seams
And all the scars that can?t be seen

So Cover Girl cover over cover up
Eyeliner red blush it?s not enough
So Cover Girl cover over cover up
Cover Girl??????..cover up


c copyright 2004
Diane Ruggiero Ivanov
538 First Ave. North runswick, NJ 08902
djivanov@aol.com 732.247.2654 732.910.8539