How many years ago, I dreamed of simple goals
But life's so complicated now
A child at heart, a man in soul
I still dream the same dreams
Not too long ago - you were young, pure as snow
Untouched by life's pressures
Not more lovely than full of life
And of the hopes of the future

How many people do you know
Who've grown up overnight
Thrust into competing for no prize
No gold at the end of the rainbow
Because anti-septic truths and unimportant views
Have dimmed the true meaning of youth
I wish I could save you from my fate
And preserve your innocence forever

Ignorance to knowledge
Adolescent to mature
Overnight
Dreams to reality
Youth to old age
All too soon

Why can't I save you
From the pain of growing up
The pressures of your peers
Why can't I help you
Fight the evils of the world
The sins of casual pleasure

The time was right to rid the world
Of the serpent's filth and decay
Immaculate purity gave birth to a son
To enlighten and pave the way
You taught us by example how to be one with the soul
To be humble and give with your heart
That your kingdom is our goal

Your blood was on our hands
But you returned to wash it away
Forgiving all who deceived themselves
In believing they'd turned You away
You left us with your spirit to guide us through troubled times
But we have lost the light you've placed in us
And replaced it with lust and crime

Thank you for being there, for taking away my pain
For accepting me the way I am, for teaching me
For opening my eyes, for returning my love for you
I need you more every day, to cope with the hate and fear
I know you'll never leave me here alone

Decisions
Are sometimes cruel
When you want to be an individual
And not another's tool

Which way does the pendulum swing?
Does it matter what the truth may bring?
Subjective viewpoints examine thin air
Objective reality only proves nothing is there

Motives
Are not well understood
Should you believe in "right" or "wrong"
Or in "evil" and "good"

Can we win in a game
That has no rules?
Can we live in a world
Of intelligent fools?
Is gray just a color
Such as black or white?
Is deceit an entity
Or just inner fright?

Is there more than
The human mind can conceive?
Or is there an answer
Beyond our beliefs?

Uncertainty
May well be the end
Another facet overly simplified
Brings paradox again...

(Instrumental)

What's in the future?
And what's it hold for me?
Will things ever change?
I think I know

Lurking in the shadows
Something hidden lies in wait
It always seems to win
A game I'm not allowed to play

I can see clearly
That no one will be there
Least of all, you
Won't be at my side

How many times does right go wrong?
And who's the one to blame?
I pray to God the time will come
When someone will ease the pain

Is it just a premonition?
Or is it just my fate?
The long and lonely answer
Gnaws at my heart forever

It's the inevitable
Images etched in stone
A life of entropy
A death alone

Frozen in a state of non-existence
This moment of pain is an eternity
A second stretched out into forever
Shakes the very frame of my soul

An eon of the present is the penance of hell
Time slowly ticks away the centuries
Another second passes, a foolish respite
Because those to come are infinity

Long after midnight, I build castles in the air
I touch and I feel them in my heart
Why can't they be real?

Everyone watches, but no one is near
All seem to listen, but few really hear
The silence is deep, yet in an uproar
And there's no escape, for they've locked the door

Long after midnight, immortality seems so true
I dream of a better time to come
For me and also for you

The battle is over but the war is not won
The evil's chasing me and I cannot run
All around me ideals are rotting away
But I cannot ever give up the fight

A noble pursuit is the search for truth
But it brings little earthly gain
And the hatred of those who don't dare to be different
Can freeze the heart with bitter pain

A vile pursuit is the search for wealth
A status to debase your peers
Green flames burn hot to warm egos
A rot that grows with the years

A lonely pursuit is the search for love
Sincerity now so hard to find
But to reap this reward should be our goal
Forever till the ends of time

Some do believe greater wealth is in deeds
That further the mind, heart, and soul
Yet most can't conceive the true value of self
Just a minuscule part of the whole

To not blend in with the backdrop of sin
Brings on the hate of the masses so cruel
Their mediocrity serves to forge the chains
That bind us drowning in this stagnant pool

Though all of perdition hate the poet
And the majority omits the poor
Neither can deny our salvation
Nor close the perennial door

Society's outcasts are those with the truth
Individuals in a world of "the norm"
Shamed into thinking we have no worth
And useless since the day we were born
They tell me I've accomplished naught
And sometimes I believe it's true
Yet all of my endeavors are justly spent
If with these words I reach you

Some have said they wished they were me
But what could I ever offer?
You might say I just want attention
Only I know it isn't true

You ask why I'm so sad all the time
It's because I walk the road alone
The only one who waits for me
Waits on the other side

I can't change the way things are
Don't you think that I have tried?
I can't pretend everything's all right
That would only be living a lie

How long must this go on?
I'm just waiting for the end
For the end of my death

The truth is I'm not good enough
For someone who deserves much better
I hope that in God's eyes
I can live up to my expectations