Faking a Star

Faking a Star tells the story of a maple tree that falls in love with a star.

One autumn night, the maple falls for a star. Hoping to reach it, the maple turns its leaves gold and shapes them like stars. On the night the maple finally withers away, a shooting star disappears across the sky. Time passes, and young maples, knowing nothing of the reason why, continue to turn their leaves gold and grow star-shaped leaves every autumn.

Why do maple leaves turn yellow in autumn, and why are they shaped like stars? The song imagines a fictional origin for both, told as a love story.

Built around a fast-moving rock sound, the arrangement deliberately avoids becoming overly sentimental, creating a contrast between the bittersweet story and music that keeps moving forward. AI was used as a music production tool for the arrangement and vocals.

The maple and the star can also be replaced by people, allowing the song to become a different story altogether.