From Jimmy Sky: "Friend in the Mirror is a parable of depression, loss of self, and eventual rebirth, of taking responsibility for one's internal and spiritual self. If our reflection speaks back to us, demanding we save it from ourselves, how do we respond?"
As of 2022, Jimmy has performed Friend in the Mirror more than most of the other tracks on the Banji Mashide EP. The song has enjoyed play during live performances, both electric on stage, and acoustic on community radio (Brisbane's 4ZZZ FM) as well as endless private gatherings. Jimmy admits that for several years, if the wine flowed freely at a party and friends demanded a performance, this song was the one he selected most often to perform.
"The performance of Friend in the Mirror is cathartic", he said. "After all, it's a song with roots in depression. So playing through it, for me, is to play through the memories that brought the song about. To end it on those big notes is to walk through the triumph of defeating depression, battered self-esteem and undue guilt - at least temporarily. I am saying to myself, and therefore to others who might experiencing the same, we can't make our dark reflection better, it represents everything we mislike about ourselves. We have to refuse that demand. You can't reach into a mirror and change what you see there. There's no point trying. We can only embrace who we are, work through the pain, take steps forward, and backward (because that happens) and then stumble forward again. Then over time, the reflection, the friend in the mirror, will change. You'll feel the everglades, you'll hear the water run down down, and maybe, just maybe hold the hand of light and know this was the only hopeless night - in other words, it's temporary.
This song is also reflective of some body dysmorphia I've carried since my early teens. If you told me, even in my late twenties when my face was all angles and quite attractive, that I would be twenty kilos heaver and much happier with myself, I'd have been horrified. I literally could not live up to my own standards back then, and this song is also about that. So there's a few layers. Mostly though, it's about holding on to hope."
lyrics
Say you're hopeless
I will hold you up for one night
Hold my hand in solitude
Be my highest light
They say you're coming out again
They say you're coming out again
I don't know what that means
But I can't make it better
My friend in the mirror
Hoh hoh hoh, who?
Hoh hoh hoh, oh...
Hopeless is the heart
That makes up all these tales just to get on by
I believe in the joys of love
If you walk a mountain to get on high
Say we can be everloved
Show me there's a better song
Somewhere round the corner
Now I can't make it better
My friend in the mirror
Oh, oh, oh, who?
Oh, oh, oh, oh
I can't make you better
My friend in the mirror
Oh, oh, oh, who?
Oh, oh, oh, oh
I feel the everglades
I hear the water run down
I hold the hand of light
It's the only hopeless night
I hope to never know
All the pain that you can show me
As you stare into my
Stare into my eyes
Hell now
I can't make it better
My friend in the mirror
Oh, oh, oh, who?
Oh, oh, oh, oh
credits
from Banji Mashide,
track released October 31, 2022
Words and Music: Jimmy Sky
Vocals: Jimmy Sky
Guitar: Jimmy Sky
Bass: Govinda Doyle
Drums: Govinda Doyle
Keys: Govinda Doyle, Jimmy Sky
Recorded at Studio 55
Produced, engineered and mixed by Govinda Doyle at Studio 55
Mastered by John Davis at Metropolis Studios
Copyright James T Sky (Jimmy Sky)2018
All Rights Reserved
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