[Verse 1] Long before the porch lights hummed electric gold, folks in misty villages walked out when the air turned cold, some legends say they wrapped in rags and smudged their faces strange, hoping restless wanderers would pass them, no exchange. It's old folklore, half-remembered, nobody's fully sure, but the idea stuck like static — disguise became the cure. [Chorus] Put the mask on, flip the switch, synth lights flicker, shadows twitch, we've been hiding, we've been seeking, since the autumn winds came creaking. Masks and costumes, year to year, turning shivers into cheer, same old reason, brand new face — dress up strange, find your place. [Verse 2] In old Ireland, Scotland too, young ones went from door to door, called it guising, sang a rhyme, got a treat and nothing more, a turnip lantern lighting up the carved and gap-toothed grin, no blood, no gore, just flicker-glow to let the magic in. When the custom crossed the water, pumpkins took the turnip's throne, and the mask on every face became a story of its own. [Chorus] Put the mask on, flip the switch, synth lights flicker, shadows twitch, we've been hiding, we've been seeking, since the autumn winds came creaking. Masks and costumes, year to year, turning shivers into cheer, same old reason, brand new face — dress up strange, find your place. [Verse 3] Then the sewing machines hummed louder, shops began to sell, capes and fangs and paper masks, a factory-made spell, movies gave us monsters, comic pages gave us flight, suddenly a kid could be a vampire or a knight. Not about the spirits now, not hiding out of fear, just the joy of being someone wild and new this year. [Bridge] Funny, spooky, silly, bold, a pirate queen, a robot cold, nobody's checking what you wore before, every mask tonight flings open one more door. [Chorus] Put the mask on, flip the switch, synth lights flicker, shadows twitch, we've been hiding, we've been seeking, since the autumn winds came creaking. Masks and costumes, year to year, turning shivers into cheer, same old reason, brand new face — dress up strange, find your place. [Verse 4] Now the cities glow with plastic fangs and glitter paint, every corner store's a cauldron brewing make-believe and ain't, grandmas hand out candy while the teenagers roam free, dressed as something from a screen, or something yet to be. The ancient fear of wandering ghosts has turned to neon cheer, but the bones of it are still the same — we gather, we appear, we step outside the ordinary, shed our daily skin, and for one electric evening, let the strange thing wander in. [Bridge] Doesn't matter if you're six or sixty-three, doesn't matter what you used to be, tonight the mirror shows a different name, tonight we're all just playing the same game.
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