So Many Masks

So Many Masks A collection of lyrics from the pen of Irish singer-songwriter Paul Murphy. Drawn mainly from a set of long-lost material discovered during the transfer of his archive, these superb works date mostly from 1999 to 2009, and cover topics such as love, the loss of love, social commentary, inner reflections, parenthood, and narrative folk tales. Included in this book are songs written for other artists, during what Paul smilingly refers to as his 'Poet-For-Hire' days; the epic 'Beguiled', a swirling vortex detailing all facets of a 3-sided relationship; the classic post-relationship remuneration 'Never Gonna Fall In Love Again'; and the satirical 'dust bowl ballad' 'Travel Hotel Blues'. Despite being in the very last stages of a muscle-ravaging neurological disease, in addition to the lost works, reading these pieces (for the first time, in many cases, since the actual days they were written) inspired Paul to create some new, thematic, lyrics to accompany them. Amongst them, an unfinished 2-verse work was magically turned into the 44-verse 'mini-movie' narrative 'Winners And Losers' (which runs to over 30 minutes in performance); and, poignantly, Paul's poem 'The Song Is Sung (But The Melody Remains)', a message to his two beloved young children. Another brand new work presented here is the excoriating 'Friends', a massive Internet hit and a final addition to this anthology, written in late 2024 as he approached the end-stage of his battle. In addition to the lyrics and prose, Paul provided an essay, 'Future Memories' especially for this book. Wry, humorous, and harrowing in turns, it reflects on the circumstances behind the songs, on Paul's life as a performer, how his creative process has driven him, and touches on wider-ranging social issues, such as flaws in the health and care system that led to his condition being undiagnosed and untreated. Also included are fascinating photographs of some of the original handwritten lyrics, and some of the original artworks for the online presentation of several of the songs. "When I found these [lyrics], my first thought - well, actually, you know that movie, 'True Grit'? There's a line in there, John Wayne says something about Glen Campbell's character, like, 'Damn Kentuckian, he saved my life twice - once after he wuz dead.' That's a paraphrase, but I was like that - 'all those songs [down the decades] ... they gave me another book - even after I was dead!' [laughs]..." - Paul Murphy, from the promo video interview for 'So Many Masks'.