Identity sometimes seems fleeting
An ever-changing tapestry
But at it's heart is the foundation
The very essence of our being
Shed your skin
Cast off your chains
Feel the sun upon your face for once
And wash away the pain
Shed your skin
Be who you are
Unencumbered by the weight
Of hiding every little scar
At times the self seems in transition
A mere projection on a screen
But what happens when you turn the lights on
And things are not as they once seemed?
Shed your skin
Cast off your chains
Feel the sun upon your face for once
And wash away the pain
Shed your skin
Be who you are
Unencumbered by the weight
Of hiding every little scar
Who we are is always changing
A never-ending course of growth
But deep inside there is a pillar
Deep inside there is a soul
Shed your skin
Cast off your chains
Feel the sun upon your face for once
And wash away the pain
Shed your skin
Be who you are
Unencumbered by the weight
When I grow old
And my memory
Leads me deep into the fog where it abandons me
Will you remind me
Of who I used to be
When I was younger?
When I am old
And the hands of time
Have ravaged all the remnants of my fragile mind
Will you still tell me
Of how it used to be
When I was stronger?
If time is cruel
And it takes away
All the recollections of my younger days
Please help me reminisce
Of all these past events
When days were brighter
And years from now
When I can't recall
The faces and the names I used to know so well
Promise you'll help me
Regain those memories
When my load was lighter
When we were young
And the world seemed
Full of nothing else but possibility
I still remember
Blankets of whispers
That said 'Forever'
But if autumn comes
And your love for me
Has withered like the leaves that fall from every tree
Will you lie to me
So I can still believe
That you still love me?
It never felt so real
Never so visceral
But now it's all too clear
And all too typical
You're left with nothing
And it's all your fault
Relations cease
And emotions halt
Did you think the things you said
Wouldn't get back to me?
That I'd fall and disperse
Beneath you misery
I won't waste my time
You can suffer alone
Crying your shrill litany
In endless drones
Rain down
Tears of regret
You haven't seen the worst of it yet
Your name
A foul epithet
Never forgive... never forget
I offered you something
You can never regain
But now all I can offer you
is total disdain
And this is how you pay me back
for all those times
I listened to you
and forgave all your crimes
If lies about me
Are the best you can do
I guess I must've
Overestimated you
Paint cruelty on me
But its all the same
No one believes someone
In your mindframe
Rain down
Tears of regret
You haven't seen the worst of it yet
Your name
A foul epithet
Never forgive... never forget
The light of day
Was never kind to you
But the darkness is worse
When the day is through
Time to reflect
On all your misdeeds
And sob your sorry self
To sleep
Rain down
Tears of regret
You haven't seen the worst of it yet
Your name
A foul epithet
A smear of grey across the sky
A warning in the distance
An indecipherable alarm
And there we stood, our mouths agape
The deer caught in the headlights
Our minds adrift and far from harm
Smoke on the horizon
Can the flames be far behind?
We run for cover, but it’s too late
We are engulfed, we are
The smoke on the horizon
Nothing ventured, nothing lost
We paid the price, but at what cost?
We sold our future to the past
Accept a necessary doom
Too easily and way too soon
Ignore the wisdom we amassed
(CH)
A smudge of ash across the ground
An undelivered message
All that remains is memory
A gust of wind across the plains
Carries away the remnants
Into forgotten history
The truth is like a dancer with shattered limbs
What once stood proud and graceful is languishing
And the midday sun beats down from above like a giant fist
That evaporates the veracity from within our midst
CHORUS
Don't speak of truth in times like these
The concept's riddled with disease
Deny the sights your eyes have seen
This is the new reality
The truth is like a painting that time defaced
A monument to beauty left in disgrace
And the faded flower that our eyes yet devoured is in decline
What once was as pure as an infant's embrace has become maligned
(CHORUS)
The truth is like a lantern in heavy winds
What once shone like a beacon is growing dim
And the flickering flame dies out in the rain of perfect lies
Silver threads of smoke float upward into the sky
The morning broke with eerie silence
The ground beneath us cracked and dry
Too self-absorbed to even notice
The cracks that formed up in the sky
Twisting
Turning
Freezing
Burning
Tearing
Fusing
Lucid
Confusing
Open reception
Forceful rejection
dreaming and waking
the process is taking too long
Take what we need at our convenience
Another quick means to an end
Too busy thinking of excuses
For a practice we cannot defend
Collapsing under its own weight
The sky burns out
As we kiss oblivion
Upon its toothy mouth
Your well-being does not concern us
Any worries you must keep inside
Do as we're told without a reason
We never bother to ask why
Collapsing under its own weight
The sky burns out
As we kiss oblivion
Upon its toothy mouth
We walk upon the fields of fire
The smoldering bodies of our dead
Our self-absorption is the reason
It's the gun we point to our own heads
Collapsing under its own weight
The sky burns out
As we kiss oblivion
Hello, if you're there pick up the phone
I'm calling from 30,000 feet above you
The captain's just informed us that our plane is going down
So I'm calling for one last time to say I love you
I'm not certain how much time I may have left, so I'll be brief
I'm sorry if this message only amplifies your grief
But I couldn't bear the burden of never having said goodbye
And the pain you feel, I promise you, will go away with time
I'm sorry I won¹t be there to see our children grow
Please tell them that I loved them more than they will ever know
Tell my family and friends how much I loved them all as well
I"m sure that we will meet again, but only time will tell
I'm sorry most of all I won¹t be there when you grow old
To be there by your side and keep you warm when you are cold
Forgive me, but I think my time is drawing to a close
So I've one last thing to tell you now before I have to go
You crave attention
As if it's due to you
You want permission
To behave as badly as you do
You want respect, but
You don't act respectable
You want fame to fill the void
Where you once had a soul
But you haven't earned it
You haven't walked long enough in these shoes
You don't deserve it
You haven't nearly paid your dues
It's so pathetic
This image you portray
Shatters like crystal
And slowly fades away
You want the world's eyes
You need the accolades
You want the money
And all the empty praise
But you haven't earned it
You haven't walked long enough in these shoes
You don't deserve it
You haven't nearly paid your dues
When it's all over
What will you have left?
You'll still be incomplete
Forgotten and depressed
You want acceptance
It's all you wanted all along
You want forgiveness
From those who you have wronged
But you haven't earned it
You haven't walked long enough in these shoes
You don't deserve it
I can feel the violence
Spill across the floor
My eyes have grown too clouded
To see it anymore
Fading into nothing
Turning into steam
Left in desparation
With nothing to redeem
Underneath the ice I find
A place to rest my weary mind
The cold deep water numbs my pain
'till I can face myself again
Waiting for redemption
That never seems to come
Hands reach beneath the surface
But I don't know where from
I'm not ready to return yet
I just need a moment more
So I can try to remember
What it is I came here for
Underneath the ice I find
A place to rest my weary mind
The cold deep water numbs my pain
'till I can face myself again
Sinking Fast
Too dark to see
The buzzing din
Envelopes me
Too late now
Nowhere to go
I'm sinking in
The undertow
Underneath the ice I find
A place to rest my weary mind
The cold deep water numbs my pain
I'm awakened by the sound
Of rain against my window
It's getting harder to ignore
But these tired eyes need rest
CHORUS
Scattered light through broken windows
Far beneath fluorescent skies
Voices calling from a distance
So why am I still standing here?
The tense, electric hum abides
The wires meant to contain it
Until it arcs through angry skies
That look down with contempt
(CHORUS)
Rivers overflow their banks
And change their course forever
Force their will upon the earth
And wash it all away
I tried I failed to believe
In the reward I would receive
If only heaven's distant sun
Would burn away all the things I'd done
I tried to no avail
To keep my eyes from growing pale
But my vision came too late
And my belief started to abate
Like a tide recedes from rocky shores
I drew back no matter how much you implored
I have failed to see the beauty here
Everything I loved has disappeared
Worlds collide without a sound
And flames arise from frozen ground
But nothing can bring back my faith
You tried your best, but I'm afraid that it's too late
I looked into your eyes
For some sign of surprise
That I would question all of this
That I would stand upon that precipice
But the look would never come
As you just stood there growing numb
And your eyes dropped to the ground
In search of something I might find profound
Like a tide recedes from rocky shores
I drew back no matter how much you implored
I have failed to see the beauty here
Everything I loved has disappeared
(CH)
I tried I failed to forgive
For the life you made me live
A confusing ride at best
And at its worst it seemed so meaningless
If there's a lesson to be learned
Some sort of wisdom to be earned
It held too great a price
It required too great a sacrifice
Like a tide recedes from rocky shores
I drew back no matter how much you implored
I have failed to see the beauty here
Once you had it all
And threw it all away
Day became your night
Night became your day
Did it ever rain
When the skies were clear?
Does it help explain
How you turned up here?
Peel away the layers
Wash away the past
Progress that you made
Never seemed to last
Did it ever rain
When the skies were clear?
Does it help explain
How you turned up here?
You are just a ghost
You are just a shell
You are just a shadow
But its just as well
Did it ever rain
When the skies were clear?
Does it help explain
The cruelest year
Stole lives too young
And many more still
In the balance hung
We couldn’t breath
Try as we might
Fragile as feedback
Hopeless as the night
But the course has run
The damage done
The slate wiped clean again
The cruelest year
Tore loves apart
Its greedy fingers
Rending blameless hearts
This empty space
Where once loved dwelled
Razed to foundations
Left an empty shell
(CH)
The cruelest year
Left us behind
The mangled wreckage
Of our lives entwined
We bore the scares
Mistakes we made
The walking wounded
In a grim parade
Fall
Seize
I am merely debris
Scattered along the ground
False
Rage
A man in a cage
An explosion without a sound
Drawn
By the deafening din
Crumbling into dust
Look
Down
Watching me drown
Choking on my disgust
And when I surface again
I will not breathe the same air as you
And once my enemies are slain
My lungs will drink the liquid sky
Sink
Sleep
Drawing me deep
Pulling me underneath
Push
Strain
For the distant terrain
Struggling just to breath
Freeze
Fold
A story untold
A disaster that could have been
A precursor perhaps
To the cruelest collapse
A sign that I should have seen
And when I surface again
I will not breathe the same air as you
And once my enemies are slain
My lungs will drink the liquid sky
Burst
Through
The smothering blue
Falling into the sky
Rebirth
For whatever its worth
If only just to defy
Crush
Burn
With little concern
Feasting upon my prey
Tear
Rend
Expediting the end
Of everything in my way
And when I surface again
I will not breathe the same air as you
And once my enemies are slain
The first day
I felt changed
I felt removed and broken
Over man
Over God
But weak by the same token
Wherewithal
Has dissolved
A soulless apparition
Loss of choice
Lost my voice
Condemned and then conditioned
I turn my eyes up to the sun
And stare ahead as if there's none
Mere cinders where my eyes had been
Forced to forget the things I've seen
My limbs move
Without will
My thoughts without emotion
Ignorant
Of my cause
But with complete devotion
I'm sent forth
To collect
Another bitter harvest
A cruel trial
To find out
Who they can push the farthest
I turn my eyes up to the sun
And stare ahead as if there's none
Mere cinders where my eyes had been
Forced to forget the things I've seen
Mowing down
Rows and rows
Like waves of flesh, blood, and bone
Staring blank
Into space
No sign of life on my face
Empty man
With a gun
What on earth have you done?
On your knees
On your knees
For the land of the free
I turn my eyes up to the sun
And stare ahead as if there's none
Mere cinders where my eyes had been
For how much longer must I bleed
Intro the soil before I see
The one who holds the blade is me?
For how much longer must I stand
On destiny’s uncertain sands
Before I find stability?
CHORUS
One spark among the embers
One voice against surrender
One dream that’s worth defending
One love that’s never-ending
Ignore the underlying cause
Among a thousand last hurrahs
Where every promise is a lie
Externalize the blame for now
The voice of reason disavowed
A slave to all that I decried
(CH)
I wear a stranger’s face
Not so different from my own
All the steps that I retraced
Left me wounded and alone
For how much longer must I burn
Until I’m able to discern
The root of all this suffering?
For how much longer must I flee
These harsh responsibilities
For the sinking rock to which I cling?
Sorry
I'm sorry I can't bleed for you
The way you want me to
To throw myself against the rocks
The way I used to do
I'm sorry that I can't prolong
The pain I've been put through
I'm sorry, yes I'm sorry
So sorry
But not as sorry as you
CHORUS
You wear your misery like a crown
You're only happy when you're down
And the saddest part is you don't even know why
What are you lacking deep inside?
Depression as a point of pride
If you're not careful the world is going to pass you by
I'm sorry I can't always drown
In rivers of despair
A man forever broken by
A need for your repair
I'm sorry if the things I said
Were somehow misconstrued
I'm sorry, yes I'm sorry
So sorry
But not as sorry as you
(CHORUS)
I'm sorry that my happiness
Isn't to your taste
A pessimistic optimist
Who's bound to be replaced
I'm sorry I can't grovel in
Emotions I outgrew
I'm sorry, yes I'm sorry
So sorry
But not as sorry as you
I want you to know the thoughts
My mind contains
I want you to feel the rage
Pulse through my veins
I want you to see the anger
In my eyes
I want you to feel fear
For your own life
I want to see the tears
Fill up your eyes
I want to see you beg
And apologize
I want to walk behind you
Without a sound
I want to burn your body
To the ground
Don't let my silence
Bother you
I'm only seething
Don't misconstrue
Silence as safety
As security
There's an explosion
Inside of me
I want you to know the depths
Of my disgust
I want you to learn
The meaningless of trust
I want you to rue the day
That you were born
I want you to feel the fury
Of my storm
Don't let my silence
Bother you
I'm only seething
Don't misconstrue
Silence as safety
As security
There's an explosion
Inside of me
I want my silence to keep
You up at night
I want you to know the hatred
You incite
I want you to sit and listen
To me scathe
I want to dance upon your
Sorry grave.
Don't let my silence
Bother you
I'm only seething
Don't misconstrue
Silence as safety
As security
There's an explosion
Inside of me
Don't let my silence
Bother you
I'm only seething
Don't misconstrue
Silence as safety
As security
There's an explosion
I want you to know the thoughts
My mind contains
I want you to feel the rage
Pulse through my veins
I want you to see the anger
In my eyes
I want you to feel fear
For your own life
I want to see the tears
Fill up your eyes
I want to see you beg
And apologize
I want to walk behind you
Without a sound
I want to burn your body
To the ground
Don't let my silence
Bother you
I'm only seething
Don't misconstrue
Silence as safety
As security
There's an explosion
Inside of me
I want you to know the depths
Of my disgust
I want you to learn
The meaningless of trust
I want you to rue the day
That you were born
I want you to feel the fury
Of my storm
(CH)
I want my silence to keep
You up at night
I want you to know the hatred
You incite
I want you to sit and listen
To me scathe
I want to dance upon your
Some time ago I checked my conscience
And found it wasn't all that clean
A trail of people I had hurt
A sea of sins left unredeemed
Regret is a dull and rusted blade
That covers me with scars that never fade
These wounds, like a catalog of flaws
Serve to remind me of all the pain I've caused
So I resolved to make amends
To heal the damage I had done
But I could never stop the torrent
Of those regrets still yet to come
Regret is a dull and rusted blade
That covers me with scars that never fade
These wounds, like a catalog of flaws
Serve to remind me of all the pain I've caused
This bitter sadness overwhelms me
And mires me down with velvet arms
It's time for me to face the music
It's time to undo all this harm
Regret is a dull and rusted blade
That covers me with scars that never fade
These wounds, like a catalog of flaws
Unsheltered and exposed
When every door is closed
There's nowhere left to find protection
All that I have left
Is this brutal, wreckless depth
I'm running scared with no direction
Dark
The only thing that's real
It's all that I can feel
And every single nerve is screaming
Wait
For sleep that never comes
My imagination runs
Out of reach and it has left me bleeding
CHORUS
When reality returns
And I've finally broken free
I'll stand up and face the world
That once abandoned me
The flow
Of panic in my veins
Anxiety constrains
Every move and I am slowly sinking
Down
To depths I've never reached
My security's been breached
A victim of my way of thinking
(CHORUS)
Bleak
A desert without rain
I'm a prisoner of pain
A disciple of my own disaster
Still
This silent symphony
Serenades the barren sea
Calling out as if it somehow matters
So here I stand
Completely alone
My skin absorbs the rain
Helpless to control
Pieces within the whole
I can feel it starting again
A sudden descent
I never meant
To manifest itself
Caught unaware
In frozen air
By visions sent in stealth
How far I've fallen
Dancing in the ruins of Purgatory
My time is borrowed
But still I waste away
I've seen your eyes
Search desperate skies
For meaning they can't find
Succumbed to fate's
Unsteady gait
And found it too unkind
Plunge through the depths
Of what you let
Control you for too long
Life's fickle hand
Dealt reprimands
You prayed for all along
How far you've fallen
Dancing in the ruins of Purgatory
Your time is borrowed
But still you waste away
Watch the world pass
Through broken glass
And wonder what went wrong
Monuments fall
On shattered walls
We once believed so strong
Our false beliefs
Are merely thieves
That steal our precious time
And off they flee
In symmetry
Never punished for their crimes
How far we've fallen
Dancing in the ruins of Purgatory
Our time is borrowed
I read your mind
But it wasn't a very interesting read
The plot was contrived
And the characters were too consumed by need
Page by page
Enduring each predictable turn
The paper dissolves beneath my fingers
And the syllables burn
The fairy tale you sell is a lie
But I read the truth behind your eyes
These words just don't ring true
And tell me all I need to know about you
Edit and revise
Until your conscience was cleared
I tried to read the words that were true
But the ink had smeared
Distorted prose
Penetrating layer by layer
Scrawled down for all the world to see
As if anyone would care
The fairy tale you sell is a lie
But I read the truth behind your eyes
These words just don't ring true
And tell me all I need to know about you
I read your mind
Suffered through every last detail
I watched you try to make sense of your life
And I watched you fail
The fairy tale you sell is a lie
But I read the truth behind your eyes
These words just don't ring true
This day has altered my perception
I'll never see things quite the same
All that I knew was misconception
But all of that's about to change
I opened my eyes today
The world looked so bright and strange
Now I see with clarity
I won't be your casualty
If trust is merely for convenience
Does it mean anything at all?
Your change of character makes no sense
Your bitter actions make you small
(CH)
Greed is the hunger deep inside you
You're burning bridges left and right
I won't allow you to treat upon me
Awake aware alone
Lost and far from home
I walk without these walls
So there is less to fall
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
Bombarded by brutal events
Like the rays of a sun
Knocked to my knees
By the waves that continued to come
Each time I rise to my feet
I am knocked to the ground
But I am an element
Nothing can break me down
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
Link after link in a chain
Pulling hard at my limbs
The search party's lost now
The outlook is growing dim
Praying for wisdom
There's nobody left to impart
But I am an atom
And nothing can take me apart
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
Awake aware alone
Lost and far from home
I walk without these walls
So there is less to fall
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
Bombarded by brutal events
Like the rays of a sun
Knocked to my knees
By the waves that continued to come
Each time I rise to my feet
I am knocked to the ground
But I am an element
Nothing can break me down
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
Link after link in a chain
Pulling hard at my limbs
The search party's lost now
The outlook is growing dim
Praying for wisdom
There's nobody left to impart
But I am an atom
And nothing can take me apart
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
Awake aware alone
Lost and far from home
I walk without these walls
So there is less to fall
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
Bombarded by brutal events
Like the rays of a sun
Knocked to my knees
By the waves that continued to come
Each time I rise to my feet
I am knocked to the ground
But I am an element
Nothing can break me down
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
Link after link in a chain
Pulling hard at my limbs
The search party's lost now
The outlook is growing dim
Praying for wisdom
There's nobody left to impart
But I am an atom
And nothing can take me apart
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
Awake aware alone
Lost and far from home
I walk without these walls
So there is less to fall
I am naked
I have nothing left
My bones are picked clean
And riddled with regrets
Nothing can touch me
I've nothing left to take
For I am naked
But I can never break
Bombarded by brutal events
Like the rays of a sun
Knocked to my knees
By the waves that continued to come
Each time I rise to my feet
I am knocked to the ground
But I am an element
Nothing can break me down
(CH)
Link after link in a chain
Pulling hard at my limbs
The search party's lost now
The outlook is growing dim
Praying for wisdom
There's nobody left to impart
But I am an atom
I suppose in your mind you believe you were right
That the matter doesn't rest heavy on your shoulders
But be careful of the ones you wish to indict
Blame is merely in the eye of the beholder
Perhaps the time is right to look yourself in the eye
Take inventory of the world you see around you
Look at the allegations you were quick to deny
And ask yourself if they could possibly be true
Distorted maps of reality
Are tearing us apart
Fan the flames of fallacy
And watch the truth depart
Belief is what you make of it
A creation of your own
If the outcome is unfit
Let your conscience take the blow
It's everybody else's fault besides your own
But perhaps the finger's pointing in the wrong direction
Consider that the root of all that you bemoan
Is pictured in the visage of your own reflection
I don't expect your view to change, my God, why should it?
You have yourself convinced that you can do no wrong
There's not a chance at all that you will ever admit
The cause of this is you and has been all along
(CH)
Distorted lines become an arc become a circle
The words entwined until the very meaning is gone
The truth is something for which you can find no purpose
It's just a starting point to drape more lies upon
I wish you luck, I really do, because you'll need it
You can't avoid reality for too long
And everything collapses into waves of regret
I saw cities swallowed by the ocean
I saw children crying in the streets
Hundreds stranded on the overpass
Bodies rotting in the brutal heat
Cries for help fell on deaf ears
5 days passed and no one came
Pointing fingers while the people died
I saw a nation hang it's head in shame
CHORUS
Have I awakened
Deep inside some madman's dream?
This is not my country
This is not what I believe
Have I awakened
Deep inside some madman's dream?
I can barely recognize
The place this used to be
Anarchy in the empty streets
The law dissolved like so much smoke
A dying prayer for the humanity
That washed away when the levees broke
(CHORUS)
A year went by and nothing changed
No justice left for the destitute
Abandoned cities, abandoned souls
Tomorrow's dream is yesterday's news
May you find solace in the gentle arms of sleep
Despite the wolves outside your door
In time you will see them all as harmless
And their idle threats easy to ignore
And if ever fate should choose to smite you
Stand your ground, never walk away
Please don't ever let the world defeat you
Don't get buried in its decay
As you drift into the gauzy realm of dreams
May you take comfort in the thought that you are safe
For it only takes a fraction of a second
For all of this to change
Return to me
When slumber's fog has lifted
Return to me
Stronger than before
As you sink beneath the soothing streams of time
May you be thankful that you had another day
For there comes a time when each of us will enter
A sleep from which we will never wake
And if ever fate should choose to smite you
Stand your ground, never walk away
Please don't ever let the world defeat you
Don't get buried in its decay
Close your eyes now, if only for a moment
For it's time you get some rest
The wolves are gone and nothing here can harm you
Let go of your fragile consciousness
There's an army
On the dance floor
It's a fashion
With a gun my love
In a room
Without a door
A kiss is not enough
Love my way
It's a new road
I follow where
My mind goes
They'd put us
On a railroad
They'd dearly
Make us pay
For laughing
In their faces
And making it our way
There's emptiness
Behind their eyes
There's dust
In all their hearts
They just want to
Steal us all
And take us all apart
But not in
Love my way
It's a new road
I follow where
My mind goes
So swallow
All your tears my love
And put on
Your new face
You can never win or lose
If you don't
I forgive your weakness
In light of all this bleakness
You were merely human
Destined to be ruined
Startled as your brevity
Turned to my longevity
I can't follow your steps
Can't go the places you went
I must forge my own path
Overcome & surpass
(CH)
The more I see around me
The more it does to ground me
At peace with all my limits
I stand in a barren void that's featureless
No sight or sound can penetrate at all
Though silent storms may try to tear me down
When dusk descends, I'll still be standing tall
To the ones who want me on my knees
You cannot control my destiny
There is light that flows throughout my veins
And there is darkness for the ones who bring me pain
Unrelenting, unforgiving hopelessness
Pummeled from all directions for days on end
Can't turn the other cheek, it's far too bruised
Can't play the part of saint, I won't pretend
(CH)
Daylight breaks and shatters empty skies
Has nothing changed for better or for worse?
The cycle just repeats itself again
Attenuate the light of day
So I can see the lines and details
And not the hazy, plastic blur
That floods my eyes till I can't see
Let the wind erase me
Like the memory of a kiss
Let these waters take me
Away from all of this
I long for anonymity
To wipe the features from my face
One single moment of escape
Then I can wake myself again
Let the wind erase me
Like the memory of a kiss
Let these waters take me
Away from all of this
I need a respite from this noise
The distant roar of static oceans
Give me a haven from this bedlam
And let my senses rust away
Let the wind erase me
Like the memory of a kiss
Let these waters take me
Let me take the fall
Let me take the blame
Let me carry you from hell
To home again.
Let me walk for you
When your legs are weak
Let me find the words for you
When you can't speak
Let me be your armor
Let me be your shield
Let me take away the pain you feel (your armor)
Let me be the light
That guides your way through darkest night
Let me be your armor.
Let me take the blows
That were meant for you
Let me help you the trials
You're going through
Let me keep you safe
From the world outside
Let me wipe away the tears
That fill your eyes
Let me be your armor
Let me be your shield
Let me take away the pain you feel (your armor)
Let me be the light
That guides your way through darkest night
Let me be your armor.
Let me keep you from
Experience you need
Let me bind you with my selfishness
And greed
Let me stifle you
Let me have control
Let me smother
Every aspect of your soul
Let me be your armor
Let me be your shield
Let me take away the pain you feel (your armor)
Let me be the light
That guides your way through darkest night
Sunrise
Light revealing
Disorder
Panic-striken
Tension
Spilling over
Screaming
Its refusal
Burn it down and start over
I want to leave this all behind
Abandon all the trepidation
Weighing heavy on my mind
Anxious
Unfamiliar
Landscape
Weeping ruin
Wreckage
Omnipresent
Omens
Stark Reminders
(CH)
Distance
Separation
Leaving
Terra Firma
Darkness
Ringing empty
Lights out
Resurrection
Words come easy
Behind a screen
When there's no interface-to-face
To be seen
King of Insects
You eat your own
Atop an anthill
You call your throne
Kingdom of one
So unaware
As one-by-one your subjects
Vanish into air
Chatter to the wind
Make your decree
And save your venom
For the ones who disagree
Your castle walls are falling
Your body's frail
Your window on the world
Is minuscule in scale
Burrow deep now
Escape the light
Heaven forbid you have to face
Words come easy
Behind a screen
When there's no interface-to-face
To be seen
King of Insects
You eat your own
Atop an anthill
You call your throne
Kingdom of one
So unaware
As one-by-one your subjects
Vanish into air
Chatter to the wind
Make your decree
And save your venom
For the ones who disagree
Your castle walls are falling
Your body's frail
Your window on the world
Is minuscule in scale
Burrow deep now
Escape the light
Heaven forbid you have to face
Like a grain of sand
Swallowed by the desert
Like a drop of rain
That falls from darkened clouds
I am overwhelmed
I stand here awed and humbled
At the feet of giants
Whose shadows stretch for miles
Staggering and infinite
And full of ageless grace
The universe seemed limitless
Without any time
Without any place
Staggering and infinite
The beauty of it all
I feel insignificant
Never have I ever felt so small
Like a century
That passes in a day's time
Like an endless loop
That shudders to a stop
The world redefined
An existence without boundries
I am overcome
I am lost within it's scale
Staggering and infinite
And full of ageless grace
The universe seemed limitless
Without any time
Without any place
Staggering and infinite
The beauty of it all
I feel insignificant
Never have I ever felt so small
Like a drop of rain
Swallowed by the desert
Like a grain of sand
That sinks beneath the waves
Even the greatest peak
Will one day wear to nothing
Even the deepest sea
Will one day dry to dust
Staggering and infinite
And full of ageless grace
The universe seemed limitless
Without any time
Without any place
Staggering and infinite
The beauty of it all
I feel insignificant
Just for one night can we pretend the worst is over?
Just for tonight can we pretend that nothing’s wrong?
Can we forget that we are tired and broken?
Tonight can we act like we’re still strong?
Just for one night can we pretend the worst is over?
Just for tonight can we allow ourselves to breath?
Can we let die, the flames that burn around us?
Tonight can we live without disease?
If we question our impermanence
We may not live forever
But if the sun comes up tomorrow
Why should we hope for better?
Just for one night can we pretend that we are happy?
Just for tonight can we leave behind our grief?
Can we ignore the storm clouds in the distance?
Tonight can we rely on our belief?
Just for one night can we laugh at our misfortune?
Just for tonight can we sing away the fear?
Can we let go of everything that we’ve lost?
Tonight can we hold the future near?
I walked along the avenue.
I never thought I'd meet a girl like you;
Meet a girl like you.
With auburn hair and tawny eyes;
The kind of eyes that hypnotize me through;
Hypnotize me through.
And I ran, I ran so far away.
I just ran, I ran all night and day.
I couldn't get away.
A cloud appears above your head;
A beam of light comes shining down on you,
Shining down on you.
The cloud is moving nearer still.
Aurora borealis comes in view;
Aurora comes in view.
And I ran, I ran so far away.
I just ran, I ran all night and day.
I couldn't get away.
Reached out a hand to touch your face;
You're slowly disappearing from my view;
Disappearing from my view.
Reached out a hand to try again;
I'm floating in a beam of light with you;
A beam of light with you.
And I ran, I ran so far away.
I just ran, I ran all night and day.
Too eager to appease
The cure is the disease
And it's only growing worse
Day by day it takes its hold
Divides its cells a thousandfold
And makes your blindness seem perverse
Out of sight and out of mind
Are deadly traits when they're combined
But it's easier that way
Sit and watch the world go by
While all the problems multiply
With nothing left to do but pray
I am the rain
Falling down to cover you
Wish me away
But I'm here for your own good
I am the storm
Sent to wake you from your dream
Show me your scorn
But you'll thank me in the end
These amenities are nice
But there is need for sacrifice
You must lose so you may gain
It's too easy to malign
The implements that steal our time
But it's we who are to blame
Fill your pockets while you can
And try to keep the upper hand
The voice of reason sounds so shrill
Surround yourself with all you own
Work your fingers to the bone
And happiness evades you still
(CH)
Too eager to appease
You've lost the forest for the trees
And it really is a shame
It is such a sorry sight
When you evaluate your life
There have been times throughout my life
When I fell so far
I thought I'd never stand again
I watched my dreams depart
These aberrations had their place
In the grand design
But it's unnatural to feel
So bitter and resigned
Forgive me my mistakes
I'm only human
I bleed just like you
From time to time
So why can't I convince you
I'll be fine?
Ignore the writing on the wall
It just decorates
A place that I have lived so long:
Delusion's vast estates
There's nothing sinister at all
Gnawing at my soul
But these confessions that I give
Help me feel in control
Forgive me my mistakes
I'm only human
I bleed just like you
From time to time
So why can't I convince you
I'll be fine?
No absolution comes for free
And it never will
And those among us without sin
Are even rarer still
If imperfection is the lens
That you see me through
Don't be surprised if someday soon
That lens stares back at you
Forgive me my mistakes
I'm only human
I bleed just like you
From time to time
So why can't I convince you
A conscience never burdened you
No empathy to slow you down
Others were there for you to use
Like hapless ships you ran aground
How can you sleep?
The world burns at your feet
How can you forsake
The casualties you leave in your wake?
You lied like other people breath
Speaking a twisted lexicon
To get your way by any means
No matter who you tread upon
(CH)
The saddest part is you believed
The world you fashioned in your mind
While all the people you deceived
Were slowly plotting your demise
A riot of indecision
A monument to shame
A walking contradiction
Unwilling to take blame
You'll fall apart
Before all this is through
You'll let the pressure
Get the best of you
Drowning in your shame
Grasping at the air
Make your denials
But you know it in your heart
You'll fall apart
An infant in adult's clothing
A lamb among the lions
A portrait of dependence
And a total waste of time
You'll fall apart
Before all this is through
You'll let the pressure
Get the best of you
Drowning in your shame
Grasping at the air
Make your denials
But you know it in your heart
You'll fall apart
The zenith of ignorance
Total lack of intellect
A tribute to dysfunction
The end of self-respect
You'll fall apart
Before all this is through
You'll let the pressure
Get the best of you
Drowning in your shame
Grasping at the air
Make your denials
But you know it in your heart
Sifting through the ashes
With unsteady hands
Searching for the remnants
Of a broken man
A history of hollow lives
And low ideals
A backlog of wrongdoing
We never conceal
I rise to my feet
And walk away from the dross
Towards the doorway
Of our mutual and harrowing loss
The only way I know
To shake myself of this curse
Is to bring myself to something
That is measurably worse
I sought refuge in a house on fire
I took shelter in a wall of flame
I built a prison in my own subconscious
There's nothing else left
Nothing else left to blame.
Emerging from the wreckage
Of a life that once was
Confounded by the damage
My own psyche does
I bear the scars
Of an insufferable will
And the tyrannical reign
it threatens to instill
Some seek control
By grabbing hold of their lives
In a futile attempt
To help themselves survive
I dig myself
Into a much deeper hole
Running from a fate
That I can never control
I sought refuge in a house on fire
I took shelter in a wall of flame
I built a prison in my own subconscious
There's nothing else left
Nothing else left to blame.
I woke up
In a column of ash
While the world came down
In a horrible crash
I was naive
For ever wanting this much
Using self-deception
As my only crutch
Footsteps diverge
From the path they once walked
Words are eclipsed
By the language they talked
Actions betrayed
By promises broken
Flames consume intentions
Best left unspoken
I sought refuge in a house on fire
I took shelter in a wall of flame
I built a prison in my own subconscious
There's nothing else left
Hours
Spiral and coil into black
Some remembered, some forever gone
Tragic
We never get them all back
The relentless march of time must still go on
The tide is turning
Horizons burning
Your days are numbered
Your future has crumbled
Forgotten
Events obscured by the past
Without remembrance did they occur at all?
Losing
At best a tenuous grasp
And nothing below us to break the fall
(CH)
Imagine
What moments those last hours hold
Things we missed that might have changed our lives
Stranded
With no way to get home
Be still
Though chaos rains around you now
Only so much rain can fall at once
Breathe in
And let the air envelope you
And slow but sure, serenity will come
Close your eyes
Try to breathe
Feel the ground beneath your feet
It's still there
The world still turns around
Stand up
Though circumstance has knocked you down
There is nothing gained by staying within it's reach
Take strength
In every failure you endure
Our mistakes have many lessons they can teach
Close your eyes
Try to breathe
Feel the ground beneath your feet
It's still there
The world still turns around
Destroy
These walls you've built around yourself
You can't take another step until they're gone
Move out
No use in dwelling in the past
Bid farewell to all your fears and carry on
Close your eyes
Try to breathe
Feel the ground beneath your feet
It's still there
The ground is pulsing
The pace is constant
So unrelenting as the day goes forward
There’s no escaping
It’s too incessant
The soulless shuffle and the crushing boredom
It’ll grind you down if you allow it to
It’ll chew you up and have its way with you
The noise relentless
A pounding hammer
Against your psyche and it’s growing stronger
The blaring anger
Constant frustration
You can’t endure this clamor for much longer
(CH)
Where is the quiet?
The dulcet silence
That used to punctuate this lack of order
No time to wonder
They can replace you
You’ll be discarded and thrown in the corner
A grip on you like an addiction
A selfish need for something more
Who it hurts is inconsequential
When you get what you’re looking for
Avarice, the muse that guides you
You are the sum of what you gain
But it won’t buy your soul redemption
The kind of wealth you can’t obtain
The pigs are at the trough
Their hunger won’t subside
Awash in their own filth
Awash in their own lies
No sense of empathy
Corrupt in word and deed
I hate you for what you represent
I hate for your greed
Think of yourself before all others
To hell with grace and charity
They just impede your blind ambition
They just impede your gluttony
(CH)
Step on the necks of those beneath you
And claw your way up to the top
But don’t look to me to find compassion
When you inevitably drop
You think Im crazy, right? Would that make anything better, if I was crazy? Is that it? Would that make anything better?!
Night falls with black wings
He throws at her bed
Gets stressed and takes off
To sing to the dead
Oh graverobber, oh graverobber
Oh graverobber, oh graverobber
In nightmares
His breath stings
He wanders like he's lost
Seven days
Hes frozen dry
He rotted in the frost
Flying doves
Watch from afar
As he falls at the ground
Seventeen ring
From the sky
The course he has found
Oh graverobber, oh graverobber
Oh graverobber, oh graverobber
You think Im crazy, right? Would that make anything better, if I was crazy? Is that it? Would that make anything better?!
Behind him
With his sleeping friends
He lays down his head
Kissing lips
Are tasting the
Souls from the dead
Robber and Thieves
Have no respect
For those he loves
Solemnity knows
Someone else
He falls prey to
Oh graverobber, oh graverobber
A thousand footsteps without direction
Adrift like snowfall from winter skies
Aimless parades of burning ambivalence
Selling false hope in certainty's guise
Living and breathing in sorrow's colossus
The teeming masses await a reply
Hoping for something that tastes of deliverance
Waiting for answers to fall from the sky
CHORUS
Are we just living ghosts
Waiting to be freed?
Stuck at a tipping point
We never dare exceed
And what if no one comes
To liberate our souls?
And all of this is all there is
To make us whole?
Hidden meanings extracted from vagaries
Fruitless missives predicting an end
Mere conjecture impersonates prophesy
Finding doom in every change of the wind
Inside a culture of spiritual violence
Demons singing like creatures of light
Smiling faces awash in hypocrisy
Vending salvation that no one invites
(CHORUS)
A thousand questions in search of an answer
Seeking a meaning in creation's design
A futile wish for an order in randomness
A certain outcome to which we're resigned
Reaching skyward in hope of protection
Leading the weak to the feet of the strong
Unanswered prayers suggest the conclusion
That all we think we know is probably wrong
I've seen this face before
It somehow looks familiar
Tattered and weatherworn
A sad, pathetic creature
And once you stood so strong
Your eyes alight with promise
You vowed to carry on
A heart once beat in your chest
Cut forward to another day
Another time, another place
You're not who you used to be
And I wonder why
I knew you once
When you were young
Before you knew
What you'd become
But that was then
And this is now
You've lost your way
You've fallen down
You can't just walk away
You can't choose to ignore me
I stand in front of you
A stranger stands before me
What happened to the boy
Head filled with aspirations
His dreams within his reach
His life a celebration?
Cut forward to another day
Another time, another place
You're not who you used to be
And I wonder why
I knew you once
When you were young
Before you knew
What you'd become
But that was then
And this is now
You've lost your way
You've fallen down
And now there's nothing left
Your face a pale reflection
With only emptiness
You've lost your life's direction
What happened to the man
Who couldn't be defeated
Who always stood his ground
When lesser men retreated?
Cut forward to another day
Another time, another place
You're not who you used to be
And I wonder why
I knew you once
When you were young
Before you knew
What you'd become
But that was then
And this is now
You've lost your way
Disjointed context
The words were merely sounds
Watching as the buildings
Slowly crumbled to the ground
Thoughts never rendered
Lie dying by the road
Last breath drawn endlessly
Collapsing into smoke
Struggling to break free
From life's inequities
The suicide of reason
Becomes the drowning season
Grim repetition
Dour features form a frown
The clock's hand reverberates
Throughout the empty town
De-evolution
Oxidizing the past
The present is uncertain
The future never lasts
(CH)
Pre-emptive reflex
Split-second sanctity
Repeating prayers that somehow
Never got received
When chaos reigns without a purpose
When the swell of sound becomes too much
Crushed between the cogs that work us
When I feel I'm slowly losing touch
Sometimes I drive to run from all my demons
Sometimes I drive so I can be alone
Sometimes I drive to see the world in different light
Sometimes I drive for no reason at all
When the walls close in around me
When the ceiling's caving in
When anxiety surrounds me
When my patience is wearing thin
Sometimes I drive to run from all my demons
Sometimes I drive so I can be alone
Sometimes I drive to see the world in different light
Sometimes I drive for no reason at all
The open road unwinds before me
An onyx ribbon spreading out
No idea where I'll be going
Sometimes the journey is what counts
Sometimes I drive to run from all my demons
Sometimes I drive so I can be alone
Sometimes I drive to see the world in different light
Sometimes I drive for no reason at all
Sometimes I drive to run from all my demons
Sometimes I drive so I can be alone
Sometimes I drive to see the world in different light
In stillness
A silent weight
Pausing as the minutes each evaporate
A desire
To leave a scar
To raise a voice from within the dark
Decaying
Cascading
Existence falls apart
Around me
Within me
So I must leave my mark
This is a document
To prove that I was here
This is a document
To prove I was at all
And when my voice ceases to be
Will the echo still ring loudly?
And when there's nothing left of me
Will my memory still go on?
A flicker
Transitory state
An echo of an instance that burns a way
A moment
A shard of time
A solitary thread that threatens to unwind
Decaying
Cascading
Existence falls apart
Around me
Within me
So I must leave my mark
This is a document
To prove that I was here
This is a document
To prove I was at all
And when my voice ceases to be
Will the echo still ring loudly?
And when there's nothing left of me
Will my memory still go on?
Distant
An approaching age
When this document falls beneath another's gaze
Too late
We have lost the dawn
The signal's loud and clear, but the transmitter's gone
Decaying
Cascading
Existence falls apart
Around me
Within me
So I must leave my mark
This is a document
To prove that I was here
This is a document
To prove I was at all
And when my voice ceases to be
Will the echo still ring loudly?
And when there's nothing left of me
Will my memory still go on?
This is a document
To prove that I was here
This is a document
To prove I was at all
And when my voice ceases to be
Will the echo still ring loudly?
And when there's nothing left of me
I lost myself in shapeless oceans
Whose depths concealed more than they showed
Beliefs obscured by mists around them
A legacy they'd been bestowed
Columns of ice paint awkward pictures
Distorted forms that once seemed real
Engulfed inside transparent textures
Billowing curtains as hard as steel
For all the noise filling the landscape
Whispers & cries with no reply
It's quiet here within these boundaries
And thoughts collect like pools of light
My eyes divide the sky
As sirens sound in heaven
My will brings down the moon
And shatters it to pieces
The silence grew inconsequential
The day became a paradigm
A thousand years, a hundred decades
An arbitrary slice of time
I found myself with no companion
Except the salty earth and sky
And suddenly there came my focus
The world around me clarified
My eyes divide the sky
As sirens sound in heaven
My will brings down the moon
And shatters it to pieces
And so I walked in isolation
Hoping solace would cross my path
Ignored the road that lay behind me
And stepped away from the aftermath
I lost myself in shapeless oceans
Whose waters turned from dark to clear
I floated there, a tiny island
With no more doubt, with no more fear
My eyes divide the sky
As sirens sound in heaven
My will brings down the moon
I lost myself in shapeless oceans
Whose depths concealed more than they showed
Beliefs obscured by mists around them
A legacy they'd been bestowed
Columns of ice paint awkward pictures
Distorted forms that once seemed real
Engulfed inside transparent textures
Billowing curtains as hard as steel
For all the noise filling the landscape
Whispers & cries with no reply
It's quiet here within these boundaries
And thoughts collect like pools of light
My eyes divide the sky
As sirens sound in heaven
My will brings down the moon
Shatters it to pieces
The silence grew inconsequential
The day became a paradigm
A thousand years, a hundred decades
An arbitrary slice of time
I found myself with no companion
But the salty earth and sky
And suddenly there came my focus
The world around me clarified
My eyes divide the sky
As sirens sound in heaven
My will brings down the moon
Shatters it to pieces
And so I walked in isolation
Hoping solace would cross my path
Ignored the road that lay behind me
And stepped away from the aftermath
I lost myself in shapeless oceans
Whose waters turned from dark to clear
I floated there, a tiny island
With no more doubt, with no more fear
My eyes divide the sky
As sirens sound in heaven
My will brings down the moon
Just one more time
For the sake of sanity
Tell me why
Explain the gravity
That drove you to this
That brought you to this place
That pushed you down
Into the soil's embrace
Give me the chance
I was denied
To sit and talk with you
For one last time
Did I disappoint you?
Did I let you down?
Did I stand on the shore
And watch you as you drowned?
Can you forgive me?
I never knew
The pain you carried
Deep inside of you.
I can't forget
Having to see
The words that knocked the wind
Right out of me
It's not enough
I've come undone
Trying to find sense
Where there is none
Just give me peace
You owe me that
To help ward off the fears
I must combat
Did I disappoint you?
Did I let you down?
Did I stand on the shore
And watch you as you drowned?
Can you forgive me?
I never knew
The pain you carried
Deep inside of you.
And so I ask
For one more chance
To understand
This senseless circumstance
Help me to see
This through your eyes
The reasons I've been trying
To surmise
Though you are gone
I am still your son
And while your pain is over
Mine has just begun
Did I disappoint you?
Did I let you down?
Did I stand on the shore
And watch you as you drowned?
Can you forgive me?
I never knew
The pain you carried
Do you believe in the nobility of suicide?
Just one more time
For the sake of sanity
Tell me why
Explain the gravity
That drove you to this
That brought you to this place
That pushed you down
Into the soil's embrace
Give me the chance
I was denied
To sit and talk with you
For one last time
Did I disappoint you?
Did I let you down?
Did I stand on the shore
And watch you as you drowned?
Can you forgive me?
I never knew
The pain you carried
Deep inside of you.
I can't forget
Having to see
The words that knocked the wind
Right out of me
It's not enough
I've come undone
Trying to find sense
Where there is none
Just give me peace
You owe me that
To help ward off the fears
I must combat
Did I disappoint you?
Did I let you down?
Did I stand on the shore
And watch you as you drowned?
Can you forgive me?
I never knew
The pain you carried
Deep inside of you.
And so I ask
For one more chance
To understand
This senseless circumstance
Help me to see
This through your eyes
The reasons I've been trying
To surmise
Though you are gone
I am still your son
And while your pain is over
Mine has just begun
Did I disappoint you?
Did I let you down?
Did I stand on the shore
And watch you as you drowned?
Can you forgive me?
I never knew
The pain you carried
Aghast amidst the grim procession
Of hateful traits in your possession
And there's nowhere to hide when the waves come crashing in (x2)
The silence hums behind your eyes
A veil that shields you from your lies
But when the truth rains down, it'll drown you like a flood (x2)
CHORUS
Enough is enough is too much and it's getting old
You keep looking for reasons you're stuck out in the cold
You're tainted by the company you keep
You're lower than the dirt beneath my feet
The pretense is the provocation
That drives need for retaliation
Destiny is not your friend tonight (x2)
And now you find yourself alone
Where you must reap what you have sown
You brought this bitter harvest on yourself (x2)
Decades
Time is like a serpent
That devours its own tail
The coils grow ever-tighter
With each moment it inhales
A foreboding sense of deja vú
That cannot be ignored
It's hard to help but feel
We've seen and done this all before
History be damned
It's only progress we embrace
Our eyes closed to the circles
That our memories re-trace
Arrogance & avarice
Distort our field of view
A re-run culture takes your past
And sells it back to you
CHORUS
Decades pass and years go by
Days dissolve into the ether
Condense like clouds
And come raining back down
But we are blind to this debris
Piling up around our feet
Oblivious
And it's killing us
Fear and loathing paralyze
The populace throughout
Disengage the rhetoric
That brought this all about
Overcome and overrun
Pretend all this is new
Surely we'll be hailed as heroes
When this all is through
(CHORUS)
Our memory is short
We throw all caution to the wind
The story's changed so much
We can't recall how it begins
Foresight is an absent friend
We left in distant days
Reflection makes us realize
The error of our ways
We are born of stone
And etched by wind
Cast aside to live or die
We are the pawns in our own game
Like refugees
Of silent wars
We step on ever-shifting ground
Promoting what we undermine
For countless days
We walked alone
Directionless and vulnerable
Sitting targets wearing smiles
No one of us will go unscathed
By private battles we have braved
A vicious circle we have built
Constructed from our shame and guilt
The flags we wave
Are set afire
To warm the bones of infant dreams
Even as our present is set ablaze
The tinderbox
We sit upon
Decays in churning mists of fog
And crumbles down into the sea
No one of us will go unscathed
By private battles we have braved
A vicious circle we have built
Constructed from our shame and guilt
We lie embraced
In the arms of dawn
The fading echoes of pointless time
Statuettes of Ignorance
And even as
The clock hand sweeps
We pay no mind to where we are
Surely we're not allowed to die
No one of us will go unscathed
By private battles we have braved
A vicious circle we have built
The world is asleep with it's head in it's hands
Unable to meet such dispirate demands
Cries of frustration resound in it's head
And strewn at it's feet are the souls of the dead
Tearing the fractured divisions apart
The tandem destruction of brothers in arms
Crying for reason with none to be found
Engulfed by the ominous, deafening sound
Has it grown darker or am I slowly going blind?
The day is fading, all our fates are intertwined
Without the light of wisdom what else can be done
But fumble blindly until at last our race is run?
Events resonate long after they've occurred
The lines between passion and reason have blurred
Its hard to find balance on unsteady ground
Instead we just pray that a way will be found
Acting on impulse without any thought
Ignoring the lessons our precursors taught
Emotion dictates what our actions will be
With no room for logic and little for peace
Has it grown darker or am I slowly going blind?
The day is fading, all our fates are intertwined
Without the light of wisdom what else can be done
But fumble blindly until at last our race is run?
Shadows spread out like a river of ink
Devouring the sky as the sun starts to sink
Counting the hours till it rises again
Instead of relying on light from within
Permanent nightfall, a total eclipse
Darkness takes hold with its sinewy grip
We begged for this outcome and now it's arrived
Cursing its name with our echoing cries
Has it grown darker or am I slowly going blind?
The day is fading, all our fates are intertwined
Without the light of wisdom what else can be done
I am merely the product
Of the life that I've lived
An amalgam of sorrows
And the wisdom they give
But the weight has grown heavy
And it's dragging me down
It's so hard not to sink now
But I don't want to drown
[CHORUS]
I'm damaged
But somehow I've managed
This far
But I don't know if I can find my way back home
I'm damaged
But somehow I've managed
For now
But I don't think I can face this on my own
There is beauty in hardship
There are poems in grief
There are trials we must go through
Though they may shake our beliefs
But I don't know how I got here
Lost in the cynical dusk
Set adrift in the worry
That I've no one to trust
(CHORUS)
If to suffer is holy
I'll take my share of the pain
I can swim through this sadness
If there's something to gain
I can reach for the surface
And try to pull myself free
But the last thing I want is
In dying light, the day is fading
Defeated eyes regard the sun
That sinks behind the broad horizon
Until the two melt into one
Beneath the gravity of failure
Pinned to the unforgiving earth
Bargains we made with fate unyielding
Proved to be without much worth
CHORUS
Raise your fists and crush eternity
In the name of all the suffering endured
When anger overtakes serenity
Restraint and limitation seem absurd
Outside there blows the winds of conflict
With howling gales that shake the ground
Awakening a quiet vengeance
Belief recovered, courage found
(CHORUS)
The tables turned, the balance shifted
And fragments of the day remain
To light the path in silent witness
To all the fury and the shame
Coward
Why are you frightened?
So quiet
I can barely hear your lies
Coward
Was it too hard for you
To simply tell the truth?
You are despised
Coward
Your mask is fading
Your weakness showing
Your fatal flaw
Coward
Do your thoughts haunt you
In silent darkness
Before your fall?
The cracks in you are starting to show
You will break before you bend
Get ready for your all time low
You will get yours in the end
Coward
Why are you crying?
So you feel empty
For what you've done?
Coward
Do your pills help you
To see more clearly
What you've become?
The cracks in you are starting to show
You will break before you bend
Get ready for your all time low
You will get yours in the end
Cry me a river
Cry me a river
Coward
You cannot break me
For through your weakness
I grow strong
Coward
You can never win
Because in the end
You know you're wrong
The cracks in you are starting to show
You will break before you bend
Get ready for your all time low
Mere apologies won't undo what you've done
The echoes linger on, the backlash has begun
Feigned indifference, your least convincing mask
But deep down inside, its forgivness that you ask
When hurt and lies become the currency
All it buys us is more tragedy
Hide behind the veil of ignorance
But every action has a consequence
More sleepless nights, your conscience rouses you
Self-medicate, so you can make it through
Every day goes by at a slow and sickly pace
You chose to live a lie, now it can't be erased
When hurt and lies become the currency
All it buys us is more tragedy
Hide behind the veil of ignorance
But every action has a consequence
You're breaking up, the clock is running out
Guilt eats you alive and fills your soul with doubt
Brought to your knees by what you did and said
The voices whispering inside your head
Confine your thoughts deep inside cells of noise
Confusion carries you into the dark
Where everything it touches, it destroys
Patterns of shape and light disorient
What happens when you can’t trust “trust” itself?
Blinded by the glare of anarchy
Igniting violence that you meant to quell
You speak with the angels and demons
Even though nobody else but you sees them
Their voices grow louder as they ready their attack
Screaming their secrets like poison-tongued Sirens
Bathing you deep in emotional violence
You’re lost in the desert with no one to lead you back
When reality becomes non-sequitur
With every sense you have deceiving you
You don’t deserve this terrifying life
Hold tight the tether you’re connected to
The timid bloom of dissolving light
Disintegrates into the dusk
Quiet rolls in like a drowsy fog
Underneath which I am crushed
Alone, alone again
Alone, alone
Push my way through the bustling crowd
Past a million faceless souls
The buildings moan out a concrete sigh
Onto dirty streets below
(CH)
The rain comes down like angry bees
And the streetlight flickers on
I thought that I could overcome this all
But now I see I was wrong
Complacent
You're growing complacent
You forgot what it all meant
And chose the path of convenience
The road you took to where you're standing now
Was fraught with obstacles that tore you down
They made you drown
The path of least resistence called your name
A status quo you tried hard to maintain
But it wasn't the same
Sweet denial, take your leave
You must have others to decieve
I'm so tired of drifting backwards standing still
So throw the towel in, if you must
Give up hope and give up trust
And I promise you'll drift backwards standing still
Something changed in you when you gave up
When you decided that you had tried enough
The price was too much
The inconsistencies seemed plain to see
A swift departure from reality
How blind can you be?
Sweet denial, take your leave
You must have others to decieve
I'm so tired of drifting backwards standing still
So throw the towel in, if you must
Give up hope and give up trust
And I promise you'll drift backwards standing still
Sung to sleep by sychophantic choirs
You preferred the company of liars
Who made you feel admired
But one by one they turned their backs on you
The ranks of your detractors grew and grew
When they learned the truth
Sweet denial, take your leave
You must have others to decieve
I'm so tired of drifting backwards standing still
So throw the towel in, if you must
Give up hope and give up trust
I’m on the verge of collapse
I’m on the brink of disaster
And I’m far more lost than I want to admit
I’m at the end of my rope
I’m on the edge of a breakdown
And no matter how tightly I hold on, I still slip
And you’re watching me die
Right in front of your eyes
And if you turned your back on me
I wouldn’t be surprised
There’s no new story to tell
It’s every man for himself
As brick by brick
We construct our own personal hell
I’m running out of time
I’m running out of options
And the desperation is chewing me up inside
I’ve got nowhere to go
I’ve got no one to turn to
Just accelerating, inescapable decline
(CH)
I’m suffocating with guilt
Asphyxiating on panic
And I can’t shake off this fear with which I’m bound
I’m buried up to my neck
I’m sinking under the water
And the next wave could be the one that brings me down
Even though I know it's only chemical
These peaks and valleys are beginning to take their toll
Try to convince myself that all it takes is time
But the most derisive voice I hear is mine
It opens all the scars on me
It leaves me shaken in my belief
It takes my hand just to drag me down
It makes me a stranger in the crowd
Give me isolation just for now
I feel a hard rain coming down
I promise that I will be back soon
But for now I'll return to my cocoon
There is thunder in the distance and the sky grows gray
There is lightning in the clouds in search of prey
It's not a matter of if as much as when
The clouds will break and the rainfall will begin
It opens all the scars on me
It leaves me shaken in my belief
It takes my hand just to drag me down
It makes me a stranger in the crowd
Give me isolation just for now
I feel a hard rain coming down
I promise that I will be back soon
But for now I'll return to my cocoon
Cracks in the chrysalis spread out like tiny snakes
That hiss a litany of rumors and mistakes
But I'm afraid their cause is fraught with futility
There is nothing more that they can take from me
It opens all the scars on me
It leaves me shaken in my belief
It takes my hand just to drag me down
It makes me a stranger in the crowd
Give me isolation just for now
I feel a hard rain coming down
I promise that I will be back soon
We regulate in your best interest
A rescue to which you're compelled
We're here to tell you what to think now
We're here to save you from yourselves
We are the chosen few
We know what's best for you
You'll live in fear because you're told to
You'll fall in line if you are wise
We're only here to help protect you
From the tyranny of compromise
(CH)
One way for you, for us another
You can't be trusted to behave
Your opinion is not needed
You can't be helped, you can't be saved
I hear the breath of ghosts
Hiding behind the wind
Like an icy choir exhaling
A promise to rescind
I hear the breath of ghosts
Escaping from their lungs
Calling forth the names of those
That took away their tongues
A temporary permanence
A fortress of onionskin
With motives so transparent
With no means to an end
I feel the breath of ghosts
Like fingers on my skin
Tracing senseless patterns
Revealing nothing in the end
I hear the breath of ghosts
Whisper in my ear
With every drooling syllable
It preys upon my fear
A temporary permanence
A fortress of onionskin
With motives so transparent
With no means to an end
I hear the breath of ghosts
Blowing through the trees
Hissing out a warning
Awash with it's disease
I hear the breath of ghosts
Slowly fade away
With ever decreasing frequency
As colors change to gray
A temporary permanence
A fortress of onionskin
With motives so transparent
Through the iridescent rain
In this heavy atmosphere
Nothing makes a sound
But the bearing of my heart
Broken down and torn to shreds
On the verge of madness
Here comes that old familiar pain
Like a long lost friend’s return
I never felt so
I never felt so
Alive
Alive
Waves of doubt wash over me
A sighing ocean of black
Deep and steady, dark and wide
Underneath indifferent stars
I’ve been waiting for so long
For some kind of answer
But there’s just an empty, distant sound
Calling like a mother’s voice
(CH)
Every moment is contained
An event within itself
A perfect little world
Hidden by a jealous sun
For an eternity or more
It was the hurt that brought me back
Like the glowing fires of home
Beckoning through winter air
Seven Days,
I'll never leave this house again.
Seven Days,
I'll never leave this house again.
Seven Days,
I'll never, leave this room again.
Seven Days,
I'll never leave this room again.
Seven Days,
I'll never leave this bed again.
Seven Days,
All our father's backs are broken
And our prophets are insane
There is no one left to guide us
No catalyst for change
We are too young to know better
But frailty comes with age
So we run towards Armageddon
While our legs still have the strength
And like a blind hammer
That destroys what it can't see
Tear down the walls of progress
And spit on our ancestry
Indiscriminate
And full of empty rage
Gunning down the fields of fear
We're unable to assuage
All our best days are behind us
And the path's strewn with debris
That we'll sweep beneath the carpet
Where no one else will see
We live beneath the specter
Of an omnipresent doom
We know for sure it's coming
It's just a question of how soon
And like a blind hammer
That destroys what it can't see
Tear down the walls of progress
And spit on our ancestry
Indiscriminate
And full of empty rage
Gunning down the fields of fear
We're unable to assuage
The world has changed around us
And our vision's grown opaque
We believe we have the answers
But never learn from our mistakes
There's a gift that lays before us
But it's barely out of reach
So we turn our backs and walk away
And sing our souls to sleep
And like a blind hammer
That destroys what it can't see
Tear down the walls of progress
And spit on our ancestry
Indiscriminate
And full of empty rage
Gunning down the fields of fear
Monochromatic reasoning
A divide and conquer legacy
Dissect and over-simplify
All hail the death of compromise
CHORUS
The world isn't rendered in black and white
Other shades lie between
Don't view the world with binary eyes
We are human, not machine
Eliminate the critical
When it all becomes too difficult
Ignore the layers of subtlety
Force feed them full of your beliefs
[CHORUS]
Some day when we all awake
From the dreams we dreamt for country's sake
The logic you let come undone
Is the noose that you'll be hanging from
I haven't felt so alive in years
The sun is shining down on me
My eyes are welling up with tears
Tears of joy, tears of ecstasy
Emotions I once kept concealed
Now flow freely like a river
Life's great mysteries revealed
Love's great promised delivered
I hate my life I want to die
I was just pretending all this time
A mask I wear so I don't bare
My soul to the cold, harsh world out there
Try to prevail but only fail
Each time on a grander and grander scale
My life is worthless and so am I
I hate my life I want to die
The landscape rises to meet my feet
The sky descends to fill my arms
For once I finally feel complete
For once I know I can't be harmed
All I know is light and love
I feel that I could live forever
While others' troubles seem to grow
I have no problems what'soever
I hate my life I want to die
I was just pretending all this time
A mask I wear so I don't bare
My soul to the cold, harsh world out there
Try to prevail but only fail
Each time on a grander and grander scale
My life is worthless and so am I
I hate my life I want to die
The epiphany that came to fall
Finally helped me reconcile
What I felt wasn't joy at all
All this time it was just denial
I hate my life I want to die
I was just pretending all this time
A mask I wear so I don't bare
My soul to the cold, harsh world out there
Try to prevail but only fail
Each time on a grander and grander scale
My life is worthless and so am I
Concentric circles
Forever closing in
Another travesty
That never should have been
The latest entry
On an ever-growing list
And yet you never change your ways
Your denial still persists
Run away, run away
Run away from the setting sun
Run away, run away
Run away from the things you've done
With accusing fingers
You jut into the air
To single out the ones
You blame for your despair
But the mirror's broken
No reflection can it afford
Only scattered glances
Of it's pieces on the floor
Run away, run away
Run away from the setting sun
Run away, run away
Run away from the things you've done
The ground beneath you
Will crumble into dust
The breath that forms your words
Will never fill your lungs
And as your senses dull
A thought enters your mind
"I'm that one who caused all this
There was no one else this time"
Run away, run away
Run away from the setting sun
Run away, run away
I am lost
The footprints that I left have disappeared
For now I am driving blind
Accelerate
Without a destination to welcome me
This road is just an endless loop
Every time I close my eyes
The noise inside me amplifies
I can't escape
I relive every moment of the day
Every misstep I have made
Finds a way it can invade
My every thought
And this is why I find myself awake
Directionless
The letters on the signs have long since faded
The sky conspires to swallow me
Paid the price
For burning all the maps to warm myself
I threw their ashes to the wind
Every time I close my eyes
The noise inside me amplifies
I can't escape
I relive every moment of the day
Every misstep I have made
Finds a way it can invade
My every thought
And this is why I find myself awake
Walk away
Time to leave the realm of the familiar
To find a place where sleep can come
Hesitate
For one last time I shout into the sky
To wake the ones I'll leave behind
Every time I close my eyes
The noise inside me amplifies
I can't escape
I relive every moment of the day
Every misstep I have made
Finds a way it can invade
My every thought
And this is why I find myself awake
Every time I close my eyes
The noise inside me amplifies
I can't escape
I relive every moment of the day
Every misstep I have made
Finds a way it can invade
My every thought
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