"Building a Mystery" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan from her fourth studio album, Surfacing (1997).

At a live performance, Sarah explains the song as being "basically about the fact that we all... have insecurities to hide, and we often do that by putting on a facade."

Commercially, "Building a Mystery" was Canada's most successful single of 1997, topping the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart for eight weeks, and peaked at number 13 in the United States.

[12] Directed by Matt Mahurin,[13] the music video for the song features Moist front man David Usher.

It features a man, described as McLachlan's boyfriend, taking points of light from wherever he travels and stitching some sort of garment.