The Gold Mask
"The Gold Mask" is the final song from Act I of The Smashing Pumpkins' 2023 rock opera, ATUM. In the ATUM story, the song is sung from the perspective of Ruby the robot mixed the "pure essence personality of Shiny".[1]
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
(performed as Zero by way of Ruby)
Osirah and Nighthawk found Ruby – a robot depicting a 1930s sassy showgirl – that interfaced with the strange hard drive that was left on Earth by June. "The Gold Mask" is the song that is played when the connection with the robot is made. What happens is Ruby's AI-generated personality fuses with Shiny's "pure essence personality." Before Shiny was exiled to outer space, the X+I created pure personality profiles in order to build artificial intelligence that detected disobedience in the public. It was meant to prevent more people like Shiny from influencing others. June, with her wealth and connections, was able to acquire Shiny's personality profile. Thus, Osirah and Nighthawk are effectively able to talk to Shiny through the robot, however the personality profile did not include emotions. Corgan argues that this replica of Shiny's consciousness "is actually more dangerous than Shiny himself" because it lacks emotion. He further explained that Shiny "represents a dissonant intellect that actually knows how to oppose a true totalitarian system which the X+I is. And yes, stripped of emotions, stripped of human frailty, Shiny's conscience is world-class dangerous."[1]
Videos[edit | edit source]
Lyrics[edit | edit source]
to be born anew
to live and not quite lose
to trust every day stay unchanged
to be free
and just be
as clear as eyes conceive
to know what is known won't erase
well i say, i say shame
to any given 'morrow crossed
'cause i'll get by
lover, like i do to haunt again
and rise where that sun
meets that rain
taken by the two's in heart
lover, i would choose to part again
fain i, dare not lead, dare not pale
and maybe it's easy this way to love
when they took his name
his works and robbed our pain
of it's alm
and it's right to endure
in fear of useless slur
i gave of any hollow crossed
cause i'll get by
lover, like i do to haunt again
and rise where that sun
meets that rain
taken by the two's in heart
lover, i would choose to part again
fain i, dare not lead, dare not pale
'cause tears aren't, tears aren't a grail
and tears aren't, tears aren't for sale
though i couldn't cry by design if i tried
i'll get by
lover, like i do haunt again
and rise
taken by the two's in heart
lover, i would choose to part again
and rise
and maybe it's easy this way to love
or maybe it's easy this way to give up
Availability
| Title | Notes | Type |
|---|---|---|
| ATUM | Act I | Studio |
Tour stats
- Total plays: 2 plays
- First performance: Billy Corgan 2022-12-30 at Madame ZuZu's, Chicago, IL
- Last performance: Billy Corgan 2023-05-29 at Madame ZuZu's, Highland Park, IL, US
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Corgan, Billy. "The Gold Mask (Atum Part 1 recap with WPC)". Thirty-Three (Podcast). Retrieved December 27, 2022.