Metal Storm logo
Kenn Nardi - Dancing With The Past lyrics



Tracks



01. Unnecessary Evil

I burn slow... I feel so cold inside, near paralyzed
This frame groans
This rage grows, glows inside... Bright alive
But even as I'm standing here now
It's like I'm not of this time
And even as you sit by my side i know we're not of one mind

I guess the less that's said the better
I feel afraid I'll lose control
Of this unnecessary evil that rots my soul

I feel old... I've grown so cold with time, behind my eyes
But the truth still shows even when it's twisted in riddles
Still, what's wrong is wrong
But even as I'm dwelling here now
It's like not of this world
And even having seen with my eyes as i watched it unfurl

Into this storm I've waded and sink as quick as time
Out from this night I've waited for something bright to shine

I guess the less that's said the better
'Cause you're afraid I'll lose control
And this unnecessary evil might eat you whole

How does it feel knowing that we're spinning in circles of lies?
And how does it feel knowing that your silence is hurtful?
When it's wrong say it's wrong
And even as I'm standing my ground after all I have heard
And even as I've bitten my tongue,
I've never swallowed my words

Into this storm I've waded and sink as quick as time
Out from this night I've waited for something bright to shine

02. Fragile

It's always is near me, whispering in my ear
It's sinister musings feeding the fear
This blanket of worry is draped 'cross my back
Surrounding me daily in silent attack

Outgrow this fragile shell, Tear down this self-made cell
Let go of this fragile shell, Let go and bid farewell

Its warnings belying all rational thought
Believing the danger far more than I ought
Digging in deeply until they are caught
And feeding the panic the peace I have sought

Outgrow this fragile shell, Tear down this self-made cell
Let go of this fragile shell, Let go and bid farewell

To the doubt, to the dread, To this Vexation
To the pain, To distress, To the fixation
To the hurt, disarray, from these sensations
To the strain that distorts... To this hell...

Abdication to ruination accentuating the small
Imagination and aberration feed speculation that overcomes all

Imagination and aberration feed speculation that overcomes all
Abdication to ruination accelerating my fall...my fall

Outgrow this fragile shell, Tear down this self-made cell
Let go of this fragile shell, Let go and bid farewell

To the doubt, To the dread, To this Vexation
To the pain, To distress, To the fixation
To the hurt, disarray, from these sensations
To the strain that distorts... To this hell...

03. Made

There's a root in mystery
Greater than the sins of Sodom
To remove all our history and erase all things forgotten
And just we're made of
Just what we're made of

We try to envision love, but we aren't able
Rejecting the truth that's in our minds, returning to fables
We heard from within an inner voice and thought it an angel
Inventing a God in our own form in our own minds

To the eye it's a blistering
Peering into the world surrounding
Taking in all there is to see
With even what is clear confounding
Just what we're made of
Just what we're made of

We try to envision love, but we aren't able
Rejecting the truth that's in our minds, returning to fables
We heard from within an inner voice and thought it an angel
Inventing a God in our own form
And something like unto ourselves
And not the one who made us
We turned away from the one who made us
We turned away

We try to envision love, but we aren't able
Rejecting the truth that's in our minds, returning to fables
We heard from within an inner voice and thought it an angel
Inventing a God in our own form and something like unto ourselves
And not the one who made us...
And not the one who made us...
And not the one who made us...

04. Armies Of One

Standing like the soldiers of a battle of a time beloved
All lining up in armies of one
Stranded like the lost and gone and vanished like the dark at dawn
Forgotten for unholy wars to come...
Once again this spangled banner torn and you alone again
So many like you ignored, left only to mourn...

The months and years have taken their toll
And time has eaten holes
In everything and everyone and left nothing to extol

You linger but the ghost is gone
Can't you hear the promise of the new and strong?
With all anyone could ever want and more and more and more...
Once again this mangled banner torn... you hide alone again
So many more like you ignored left only for to mourn...

The months and years have taken their toll
And time has eaten holes
In everything and everyone and left nothing to hold

Below the setting sun, stand, in the shadows, the lonely one by one
What they have glows and lights the way another day
Before the setting's done
Before the winter comes and dying and all that's left succumbs
And the crying is silenced of the armies of one

Below the setting sun, stand, in the shadows, the lonely one by one
What they have glows and lights the way another day
Before the setting's done
Before the winter comes and dying and all that's left succumbs
And the crying is silenced of the armies of one

Once again this spangled banner torn and you alone...

05. Dead Letters

And they plan in riddles, and they speak in lies,
And they hide in secret

From sinking ships they lick their lips
And bite the hand that that feeds 'em
Then turn their eyes and skip in time
And hold the hand that beats 'em
To them it is all the same... to them it is just a game
To be won for the prize of nothing
So their master's sins, through cheshire grins,
Disappear with a wink between 'em

Dead letters we've sent along in vain,
Thinking they'd hear our call
These dead letters will not arrive at all

They'll let in rot in ruin, let in lie in dust, let it rust in rubble
They'll leave us crushed and crippled, they watch us rend in two
They leave us split and splintered and never say as they do

With battered fools as uselfull tools
They destory the ones who bore them
The brash and bold are bought and sold
By the ones who alone implore them
To them it is all the same, to them it's just a game
To be won at the cost of many
Who'd trade their soul for little bowls filled with swill
And set before them

Dead letters we've sent along in vain,
Thinking they'd hear our call
These dead letters will not arrive at all

They'll let in rot in ruin, let in lie in dust, let it rust in rubble
They'll leave us crushed and crippled, they watch us rend in two
They leave us split and splintered and never say as they do

And they plan in riddles, and they speak in lies,
And they hide in secret

Dead letters we've sent along in vain,
Thinking they'd hear our call
These dead letters will not arrive at all

No lesson is learned and so it returns
To repeat all that came before us
And the fleeting dreams of the liars' schemes
Reappear and promise to restore us

Dead letters we've sent along in vain,
They'll, never, ever hear our call
These dead letters will not arrive at all

06. Submerged

And love is like a river of bringing streams of life-blood
But when it's stopped and over-flows, there it births destruction

And through the floods of rushings, into the spinning drop
Upon the waves and gushing, explodes above the top

And love is like a river of bringing streams of life-blood
But when it's stopped and over-flows, there it births destruction

Below the crushing sinking, into the darkened deep
Within the brooding tensing, the creeping frozen sleep

And love is like a river of bringing streams of life-blood
But when it's stopped and over-flows, there it births destruction

Dreaming slips beneath... Hope is lost to the flow

The flooding of wanting, asunder, confronting everything
Now submerged

And love is like a river of bringing streams of life-blood
But when it's stopped and over-flows, there it births destruction

Grasping at twisted missings in gasping, rollings falls
In choking, spoken pleadings of desperate mourning calls

And love is like a river of bringing streams of life-blood
But when it's stopped and over-flows, there it births destruction

Dreaming slips beneath... Hope is lost to the flow
The flooding of wanting, asunder, confronting everything
Now submerged

07. Lament In Rust

[Instrumental]

08. Straining the Frayed

Soulless golems lumber slow...within them nothing
Just passive and stiff
Through wretched methods driven frantic
Happily over the cliff
Tell me...have you nothing inside you repulsed by the sight?
Tell me...have you nothing that stirs you to fight?
'Cause I’m sailing against the tide lest I drift away
And they’ll strain the frayed if only to mold us...

Heartless carcasses ruin all around them
With only the stench of decay
Their harmless, armless gropings reach for nothing
Still nothing dissuades
Tell me...have you nothing inside that recoils at the thought?
Tell me...have you nothing that grieves as it ought?
And I’m swimming against the tide lest I’m washed away
And they’ll strain the frayed if only to mold us...
To break us 'til we're numb

Even in these halls where we walk about
We talk about only shadows
We never let it show that we're racked with doubt and we don't look down
Hide all we know, our sorrow in tow…
We hold down a sure frown each day And we’re strained and frayed
But still we will mock them in shame...

And I’m rushing against the wind lest I’m blown away
'cause they'll strain the frayed if only to mold us...
To break us 'til we're numb

Even in these halls where we walk about
We talk about only shadows
We never let it show that we're racked with doubt
And we don't look down …
Even in these halls where we walk about
We talk about only shadows
We never let it show that we're racked with doubt and we don't look down
Hide all we know, our sorrow in tow…
We hold down a sure frown each day
And we’re strained and frayed, yes we’re strained and frayed
But still we will mock them in shame...

09. This Killer In My House

His home, within my home
He lies silently and deadly and unknown
I'm bound, tongue-tied and bound
And right before my eyes the horror show

Seeking to take it all...This killer in my house
I'm helpless and overcome by hopelessness and doubt

He waits, a patient wait, invisible and hungry for so much
Defense, I've no defense
Against a thing I cannot feel nor hold nor touch

Seeking to take it all...This killer in my house
I'm helpless and overcome by hopelessness and doubt
Seeking to take it all...This killer in my house
I'm helpless and overcome by hopelessness and doubt

I can't fight what I can't see...I can't fight what I can't feel
I can't fight what I can't touch...I can't fight...

Cold, so cold...He lies in wait and calculates his crime
Stop, how can I make it stop...
When all is dark and lost in stolen time?

Seeking to take it all...This killer in my house
I'm helpless and overcome by hopelessness and doubt
Seeking to take it all...This killer in my house
I'm helpless and overcome by hopelessness and doubt

10. Await The Setting Sun

I hear the call of the siren, I hear the wail of the warning
Await the coming of sunset
From the dawning of the morning...

I hear the call of the siren, I hear the wail of the warning
Await the coming of sunset
From the dawning of the morning
Blinding distractions of worry...our focus shifted away
Imagining the end one thousand ways

What will the storm-bringers bring?
What do they see? What do the soothsayers say?
What does the oracle see but what do they want?

We hear predictions of torment
We dream the nightmare while waking
We the start of this ending
Of worlds crumbling 'neath the shaking
But wolves with sinister motives
Who move unseen in the night
Near sleeping sheep sedated, slumber not

What will the storm-bringers bring?
What do they see? What do the soothsayers say?
What does the oracle see but what do they want?

I hear the call of the siren, I hear the wail of the warning
Await the coming of sunset from the dawning of the morning...
And through the fog of our worries...I wake alone in the night
To see the dimming of one thousand points of light

What will the storm-bringers bring?
What do they see? What do the soothsayers say?
What does the oracle see but what do they want?
What will the false prophets sell?
What do they see? What do the doomsayers say?
What do so-called psychics see but what they want?

11. Untouchable

They groom their own, pass learned keys to palaces of ivory
On academic schemes, they're weaned unseen
Where from high atop their towers tall
It's easy to look down on all
Like promised seed, they bleed conceit
And dream of all the future brings

Out of reach, untouchable
From empty heads with bellies full
They pull the strings to preen the lesser class
They whisper words, infallible, from behind walls unscalable
The silenced wills amassed…
The minds they’ve killed will feed our future screams

So out of reach, so out of touch
So out of reach, so out of touch

The bully-whip, unchallenged voice
Unquestioned hold, the crutch of choice
Without dissent the circumvent the truth
They disseminate and they dispense
What’s valued less than worthlessness
All fodder for the tyrants they recruit to mold our future

So out of reach, so out of touch
So out of reach, so out of touch

12. Stabbing Sorrow

I walk this thin line without purpose
Glean only pieces from the surface
Torn apart inside, bruised and battered pride
The boiling hotter than the burn is

I go numb again…
I go numb again…

This stabbing sorrow cuts me slowly
My cries, unheard and sharp and growing
Sliced apart inside, this wound laid opened wide
I've paid a price beyond my owing

I go numb again…
I go numb again…

This gaping maw eats raw the bleeding
Hungry, devouring in its needing
I fight with all my will to bear the hurt distilled
Within this well of hopeless pleadings

I go numb again…
I go numb again…

13. The Dark And The Light

Too blind to appearance to know a sheep in wolf's clothes
You see teeth and cower…you mistake a smile for a snarl
But I’m not just hollow and I’ll not justify
But never would I marry the dark and the light

Pierce the veil of the surface,
Unfold the things of the heart
Within the blessed call to acceptance
You only hear the harsh call to arms
But I’ll not just follow and I’ll not just defy
But never would I marry the dark and the light

But I’m not just hollow and I’ll not justify
And never would I marry the dark and the light

Give them eyes to see…give them eyes to see
Give them eyes to see…give them eyes...
Well I’m not just rotten 'cause I’m justified
And never would I marry the dark and the light

But I’m not forsaken 'cause I’m justified
And never have I traded for dark, the light
For dark, the light...for dark, the light...
For dark, the light...

14. The Scarlet Letter

Through prideful darkness the blind will lead the blind
All bound in colored fetters
Never knowing, never learning, never caring,
Understanding what's at stake
Upon this world a letter
Written coldly and without shame in the blood of so many
Brandished boldly, the burned and maimed
Big Pharma's whore red-robed in gore would kill you
To heal you

Through greed the reckless, though sworn to never harm,
Ignore all repercussions
Never showing, never feeling, overbearing
She denies the aftermath
Upon her breast a letter
Bought and sold she has no choice but to obey her master
Left alone now they have no voice
Big Pharma’s whore with rotten core would kill you
To heal you

First, do no harm…
First do no harm...first!
Written coldly and without shame in the blood of so many
Brandished boldly, the burned and maimed
Big Pharma’s whore red-robed in gore would kill you to heal you
She’ll kill you to heal you

First, do no harm… First, do no harm…

First, do no harm…
First, do no harm…first!

15. Spitting Bitter

So hollow, you wallow…the mud your home
I've tried to lift you, but you're adrift to
Some other place alone

Will you not listen to reason?
Will you watch another season die?
With your will broken and beaten
'til you fade into deletion?

So needy, you bleed me and drain life dry
I tried to trust you, but truth disgusts you
Your strength is in the lie
Will you not listen to reason?
Will you watch another season die?
With your will broken and beaten
'til you fade into deletion?

Let your words mean something more than nothing
Let them stir from deep within, confronting
Leave this world of promises you're haunting
Let your "yes" be "yes" and let your "no" be "no"

Promises are always broken,
Words are better never spoken
Actions never match emotions,
Spitting bitter, sugar-coating
Promises are always broken,
Words are never better spoken
Actions never match emotions,
Spitting bitter, sugar-coating

Will you not listen to reason?
Will you watch another season die?
With your will broken and beaten
'til you fade into deletion?

Let your words mean something more than nothing
Let them stir from deep within, confronting
Leave this world of promises you're haunting
Let your "yes" be "yes" and let your "no" be "no"

16. Ordinary

Memories of shocking things
The outcryings at all we’d seen
They fade away, unwelcoming
It's all so very ordinary now

I recall the shocking things
The outraging and all they’d bring
We look away, not noticing
It's all so very ordinary now

We could hear the squall, appalled
The call against just the thought of it all
It's like we're trained, with ice within our veins
To never show the pain or to know
Let it out, let it out
Go…get it out, get it out

I recall the hurting screams
The outreachings for what we'd seen
We pull away, so uncaring
It's all so very ordinary now
Barely touched, our eyes are shut
Our hearts are cut, left pounded to bits
It's like we're filled with ice that's chilled our will
To ever feel again or to know

Let it out, let it out
Go…get it out, get it out

Memories of shocking things
And outcryings at all we’d seen
All blurred dreams and strange musings
It's all so very ordinary now
We could hear the squall, appalled,
The call against just the thought of it all
It's like we're trained, with ice within our veins
To never show the pain or know

Let it out, let it out
Go…get it out, get it out
No, let it out, let it out
Go…get it out, get it out

17. Dancing With The Past

Looking on, I see the stance
As you strain at the lifts and turns
Not at peace, no release from this beast
To which you're saddled even now
This weariness, a sentenced life
As you gaze into eyes long dead
You remand by a strand
Icy hands with which you grapple
In a rhythm without a flow

One and a two and a three and a four
The cue that is calling you back
You lead and you follow and stumble again
The meter and tempo are lost
You're dancing with the past

This heaviness, you drag along as you trip just to step in time
Healing slow, tears will flow,
Letting go is half the battle to be won
You dwell in tombs among the dead, you breathe this air diseased
Feeling used, deeply bruised, so confused
You're stunned and rattled by the pacing and by the tune

One and a two and a three and a four
The cue that is calling you back
You lead and you follow and stumble again
The meter and tempo are lost
You're dancing with the past

You dwell in tombs among the dead, you breathe this air diseased
Feeling used, deeply bruised, so confused
You're stunned and rattled by the pacing and by the tune

18. One World

The worst laid plans of rats and men will always go astray
They come crashing down 'neath their own weight
To crush their feet of clay
In bold defiance, with blinding lust to reign
This dark alliance lays brick upon brick in vain

Bring peace through war, just as before
To feed the beast they bow before
Through vanity's insanity they'll drag us all to ruin
When there's one world then they've won this world

The best intent of deceitful men will only lead astray
They fit the weak with blinders bleak
Led through the slaughter gate
In bold defiance, with blinding lust to reign
This dark alliance lays brick upon brick in vain

Bring peace through war just as before
To feed the beast they bow before
Through vanity's insanity they'll drag us all to ruin
When there's one world then they've won this world

Bring peace through war just as before
To feed the beast they bow before
Through vanity's insanity they'll drag us all to ruin
Then there's one world then they've won this world
When there's one world they've won this world
One world...

19. Creve Coeur (A Place Called Broken Heart)

Still running up this endless hill, still choking on this poison pill
Where nothing takes the pain from nothing in the end
I've carried every banner, shilled, sweat fire like the sprinklings of an aspergil
Where nothing ever cleanses nothing in the end
How long 'til the walls will fall again?
And how low 'til the center folds within?
And would this ever leave my side, even if it could?

I saw which was the simple way, but chose the path of most resistance
And burdened with a broken soul, my body knows the weight and strain
Clenched fist but this I know...I’ve seen the end; it’s in the distance
I've fought the urge to bend and crawl, but what hope did I ever have…
Being born in a place called "broken heart"?

And tell me...what is in a name?
Is there meaning in the place we came into
This unauditioned role we never chose?
I've struggled just to break away from this curse into another day
Where nothing's ever haunted by nothing we have known
How long 'til the walls will fall again?
And how low 'til the center folds within?
And would I cast this thing aside, even if I could?

I saw which was the simple way, but chose the path of most resistance
And burdened with a broken soul, my body knows the weight and strain
Bit-lipped but this I know...I’ve seen the end; it’s in the distance
I've fought the urge to bend and crawl, but what hope did I ever have…
Being born in a place called "broken heart"?

What did it take to make this?
Or was it born within?

And tell me what is in a name?
Is there meaning in the place we came in to this world; a role we never chose?
How long 'til the walls will fall again?
And how low 'til the center folds within?
And would this ever leave my side, even if it could?

I saw which was the simple way, but chose the path of most resistance
And burdened with a broken soul, my body knows the weight and strain
I might miss, but this I know...I’ve seen the end; it’s in the distance
I've fought the urge to bend and crawl, but what hope did I ever have….
Being born in a place called "broken heart"?

20. A Little Light

There's a darkness here and it's deep and cold
Like an endless year in winter's hold
Night has fallen…leaves rotten, calling out

There's a darkness here and it comes and goes,
But like a shadow moves, still it shows itself
Now forbidden, has spring safely hidden too?

There's a little light, like a speck of white, like a satellite blinking slowly
There's a whispering, like a lullaby from a little voice speaking softly

If there's a little light...
If there's a little light that shines for me lord, I can’t see it
If there is any light there's so little light it's hard to see, Lord, help me see it

There are silhouettes of sand and bone
Wearing tarnished crowns on broken thrones
The tides have come in...kingdoms all are crumbling

There's a little light, like a speck of white like a satellite blinking slowly
There's a whispering, like a lullaby from a little voice speaking softly
There's a little light...there is something bright like a camera pointed at me
There’s a word of hope in a message sent in a bottle that floats too slowly

If there's a little light...
If there's a little light that shines for me lord, I cannot see it
If there is any light there's so little light it's hard to see
Lord, help me see it, lord

If there's a little light...
If there's a little light that shines for me lord, I cannot see it
If there is any light there's so little light it's hard to see, lord, help me see it
Lord, lord, if there is any light there's a little hope I swear, I know
Lord, where does it go?

21. Blood In The Water

They're carving a circle, all fins and teeth
Their eyes on the living, sites set beneath
They swiftly attack, pulling and tearing with sharp words of "concern"
In blue and in black, the skin you are wearing removed with each turn
They smell blood in the water…there's death in the air

They're racing in circles so high overhead
Slow-dragging their shadows through fields of the dead
In tandem they dive, slashing and pulling from the sick and the weak
Barely alive and dragging your carcass, you curse through your teeth
They smell blood in the water…there's death in the air

Hands bitten, hard written, they listen for signs of life
Not hidden, greed-smitten, eyes quicken to see the end
Buried before you are dead
Broken by those you have fed Ashamed of the ones you have bred
Who bathe in the wealth you have bled

They swiftly attack, pulling and tearing
With sharp words of "concern"
In blue and in black, the skin you are wearing
Removed with each turn
Blood in, blood in the water, water
There's death in, death in the air

Hands bitten, hard written, they listen for signs of life
Not hidden, greed-smitten, eyes quicken to see the end
Buried before you are dead
Broken by those you have fed
Ashamed of the ones you have bred
Who bathe in the wealth you have bled

22. Dead Men's Bones

I've seen the hearts of men through the eyes of god
And what's living there is darker than we care to recognize
We've heard the word of god from the mouths of men
But what's deep within, ‘neath our hidden sin is cold, unmoved

Too few new...far-fallen and apart from the giver of life
Faux-piousness for righteousness
Behind the gleaming, only white-washed tombs
All full of dead men's bones

I've seen the hearts of men through the eyes of god
And what's living there is dead
We've heard the word of god from the mouths of men
Has what's deep within, ‘neath our hidden sin, metastasized?

Too few new...far-fallen and apart from the giver of life
Faux-piousness for righteousness…
Behind the gleaming, only white-washed tombs
All full of dead men's bones

In pride he presents himself draped in filth and rags
The killer within him lurks where the blind fool brags
He swaggers through ruins pristine
All full of dead men's bones
The liar deceives himself, condemns himself
Woe! To all who lean upon their own stance
Woe! Who sway upon the sand unbalanced

I've seen the hearts of men through the eyes of god
And what's deep within,
'Neath our hidden sin is mortified

Too few new...
Far-fallen and apart from the giver of life
Faux-piousness for righteousness
Behind the gleaming, only white-washed tombs
All full of dead men's bones
Faux-piousness for righteousness
Behind the gleaming, only white-washed tombs
All full of dead men's bones

23. The Telling Skies

Clouds are rising above us
A storm is growing within us...the craving for knowing
The telling skies have spoken in visions, in passing
The deaf ears seeking shelter in forests of dogma
Where every branch is bent and broken
Bury what’s evident in shallow argument
Not able to believe in things greater than men
Than men, in things greater than men

Lightning flashing above us
The strain reflected around us, in bearing our standing
The telling skies have spoken in visions of warning
The cowards seeking shelter in closed minds and closed doors
‘til every door is kicked wide open

Spilling this testament of our enlightenment
Not able to conceive of things greater than men
Than men, of things greater than men
No we can’t believe in…in things unseen

Our towers of babel, fallen, rise again
The ignorance, the insolence of arrogance
After all this time has blurred the lines drawn
Between god and men

In things greater than men, than men
Than men, in things greater than men
No we can’t believe in…in things unseen
No we can’t conceive of things greater…

24. Climbing

They're running from the state they're in
They're searching for a sanctuary
Alone and through the passage dim,
Weighed down beneath the doubt they carry
What's next for these?
What's next for these unmoving human statuary?
In shackles of their apathy
In chains too heavy for the climb ahead

Again they crawl, encountering this fence-barbed wall
"now climb!" they're told, not knowing they can fly

They're shown that there's no place for them
And told that they're unnecessary
Like fodder for the garbage bin, they're treated like the dead unburied
What's left for these? What's left for these descendants of the cold and wary?
Now laid within a casket dark and dour…forgotten with a beating heart

Again they crawl encountering this fence-barbed wall
"now climb!" they're told, not knowing they can fly

They're starving there, picking at the barren tree
They're starving there, staring at the ravaged fields
They're starving there,
They rifle through cupboard bare
They're dying there in places where nobody cares

In prisons of establishment
And modern-day apothecaries
Designed to curb and cull their minds
And isolate the insularly
What's left for these? What's left for these?
The stagnant and the sedentary?
What will it take to shake the sleeping lost…
Awake to what is meant for them?

Again they crawl encountering this fence-barbed wall
"now climb!" they're told, not knowing they can fly
Desperate they claw, entangled in this fence-barbed wall
They’re trapped there still…not knowing they can fly

25. Blinding Lies

It lives within the cold rust of society
It rots beneath our feet on shaky ground
Deep beneath the skin of broken piety torn open
As each stone is overturned, our loss is found
It’s all just lies, blinding our eyes...eyes, blinded by lies
Lies, crushing our lives...lies, blinding our eyes

It's growing as we sleep and feeds anxiety
It draws the hood across our hanging heads
Drowning everything in impropriety's confusion
With each layer peeled away this mask is shed
It’s all just lies, blinding our eyes...eyes, blinded by lies
Lies, crushing our lives...lies, blinding our eyes

Just like a child reaches and gropes
Fresh from the dark, a stranger to hope
Unfocused eyes strain without sight
So we all crawl towards the light

Lies, blinding our eyes...eyes, blinded by lies
Lies, crushing our lives...lies, blinding our eyes

It lives within the cold rust of society
It rots beneath our feet on shaky ground
Deep beneath the skin of broken piety torn open
As each stone is overturned, our loss is found

Just like a child reaches and gropes
Fresh from the dark, a stranger to hope
Unfocused eyes strain without sight
So we all crawl towards the light
Just like a child reaches and gropes,
Fresh from the dark, conceived in hope
Unfocused eyes, new to the fight
So we all crawl towards the light

26. Symbiotic

When the ties that bind tore, unwinding
'twas like you never saw it coming
And once the light inside you would not shine
Then I knew you'd never see as clear again

The water's deep, but blood is thick…one fills the soul, one makes us tick
Adjoined and whole, apart and sick for we are all symbiotic

When the spark went dark it was blinding
I knew I should have felt it coming
But once the will inside you would not fight
Then I knew you’d never be the same again

The water's deep, but blood is thick…one fills the soul, one makes us tick
Adjoined and whole, apart and sick for we are all symbiotic

Where does it go...this vanishing wisdom gathered in years,
When life and the vision go dark?
Here and alone, you linger like incense traded for tears after the essence departs
What can we know as we race towards the future?
When healing is slow, sewn with the sutures of time
And why must they go?
What is the reason these colors of hope
Must change like the seasons that die?

And our connections, when all is said and done,
Are mere reflections upon our shattered core

As the night invites in the twilight I stare into the sinking sun
And though I wait and long to see it rising
I suppose it never will again

Where does it go...this vanishing wisdom gathered in years,
When life and the vision go dark?
Here and alone, you linger like incense traded for tears after the essence departs
What can we know as we race towards the future?
When healing is slow, sewn with the sutures of time
And why must they go?
What is the reason these colors of hope
Must change like the seasons that die?

The water's deep, but blood is thick…one fills the soul, one makes us tick
Adjoined and whole, apart and sick for we are all symbiotic

27. Beside Myself

I’m standing beside myself, divide myself in two…
To sharpen my blunted point of view
And every careful step I’m taking dares and my knowing legs are shaking
I’m trying to find myself, remind myself of the heart
And how I have torn myself apart
The precautions that I am taking fail and my knowing heart is aching

Do you believe that our hands hold so little?
Do you believe that our hearts know so little?
Do you believe that our hands hold so little?
And that after all, we know so little?

I’m living inside myself, I hide myself from the strain
In dwellings of shelter from the pain
All the walls I have assembled fall as my whole foundation trembles
I try to convince myself, dismiss myself from this hold
To cling to the reigns of self-control
But the tether I am gripping tears and my fraying hands are slipping

Do you believe that our hands hold so little?
Do you believe that our hearts know so little?
Do you believe that our hands hold so little?
And that after all, we know so little?

And does it make us more real to defy our nature?...to deny what we feel?
To believe that our hands hold so little?
Do you believe that our hearts know so little?
Do you believe that our hands hold so little?
And that after all, we've learned so little?

I'm living beside myself, divide myself in two
I'm crawling inside myself to hide myself from you
I'm living beside myself, divide myself in two
I'm crawling inside myself to hide myself from you

Do you believe that our hands hold so little?
Do you believe that our hearts know so little?
Do you believe that our hands hold so little?
And that after all, we’ve learned so little?

And does it make us more real to defy our nature?...to deny what we feel?
To believe that our hands hold so little?
Do you believe that our hearts know so little?
Do you believe that our hands hold so little?
And that after all, we know so little?

28. The Runt

Something has cast a shadow evermore
Upon a world once bright
Smothering the light, baffling the bold
And cleaving the flesh from the bone

It tears from the top and weeds the single mind
Its turns and its twists undermine
By crushing the strong it leaves the runt
Unchallenged to suckle alone

Are we finished now, forgotten how to stay alive?
Will we wait until we’ve lost the will to just survive?
Are we finished now, forgotten how to stay alive?
Will we wait until we’ve lost the will to just survive?

Something has drawn a shroud across the land
To hide a world once bright
Snuffing the light, destroying all hope
And raising the weak over all
It eats from the top, the scraps are left to lie
And to rot what could overcome
It turns on itself and leaves the runt
Unbridled to feed on its own

Are we finished now, forgotten how to stay alive?
Will we wait until we’ve lost the will to just survive?
Are we finished now, forgotten how to stay alive?
Will we wait until we’ve lost the will to just survive?

It tears from the top and weeds the single mind
Its turns and its twists undermine
By crushing the strong it leaves the runt
Unchallenged to suckle alone

Are we finished now, forgotten how to stay alive?
Will we wait until we’ve lost the will to just survive?
Are we finished now, forgotten how to stay alive?
Will we wait until we’ve lost the will to just survive?