lyrics file for heretic pride
fog lifts from the harbor
dawn goes down to day
an agent crests the shadows
of a nearby alleyway
piles of broken bricks
signposts on the path
every moment points toward
the aftermath, yeah
sailors straggle back
from their nights out on the town
hopeless urchins from the city
gather around
spies from imperial china
wash in with the tide
every battle heads toward
surrender on both sides
and I am coming home to you
with my own blood in my mouth
and I am coming home to you
if it's the last thing that I do
bells ring in the tower
wolves howl in the hills
chalkmarks show up
on a few high windowsills
and a rabbit gives up somewhere
and a dozen hawks descend
every moment leads toward
its own sad end, yeah
ships loosed from their moorings
capsize and then they're gone
sailors with no captains watch a while
and then move on
and an agent crests the shadows
and I head in her direction
all roads lead toward
the same blocked intersection
I am coming home to you
with my own blood in my mouth
and I am coming home to you
if it's the last thing that I do
we got in your car and we hit the highway
eastern sun was rising over the mountains
yellow and blood red bits
like a kaleidoscope
and flaming swords may guard the garden of eden
but we consulted maps from earlier days
dead languages on our tongues
holding on to our last hope
and the day was bright and fine
and the highway sign said, “san bernadino welcomes you”'
I checked us into our motel and filled the bathtub
and you got in the warm warm water
I pulled petals from my pocket
I loved you so much just then
and it was hard but you were brave, you are splendid
and we will never be alone in this world
no matter what they say
we're gonna be okay
we were safe inside
and our new son cried, “san bernadino welcomes you”
well they come and pull me from my house
and they drag my body through the streets
and the sun's so hot I think i'll catch fire and burn up
in the summer air so moist and sweet
and the people all come out to cheer
rocks in the pathway break my skin
and there's honeysuckle on the faint breeze today
with every breath i'm drawing in
I want to cry out but I don't scream and I don't shout
and I feel so proud to be alive
and I feel so proud when the reckoning arrives
crowds grow denser by the second
as we near the center of the town
and they dig a trench right in the main square right there
and they pick me up and throw me down
and I start laughing like a child
and I mark their faces one by one
transfigurations gonna come for me at last
and I will burn hotter than the sun
I waited so long and now I taste jasmine on my tongue
and I feel so proud to be alive
and I feel so proud when the reckoning arrives
hand me your hand, let me look in your eyes
as my last chance to feel human begins to vaporize
maybe it's the heat in here, maybe it's the pressure
you ought to head for the exits, the sooner the better
I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam
and no one in her right mind would make my home her home
my heart's an autoclave
my heart's an autoclave
when I try to open up to you I get completely lost
houses swallowed by the earth, windows thick with frost
and I reach deep down within, but the pathways twist and turn
and there's no light anywhere, and nothing left to burn
and I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam
and no emotion that's worth having could call my heart its home
my heart's an autoclave
my heart's an autoclave
I dreamt that I was perched atop a throne of human skulls
on a cliff above the ocean, howling wind and shrieking seagulls
and the dream went on forever, one single static frame
sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name
and I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam
and no one in her right mind would make her home my home
my heart's an autoclave
my heart's an autoclave
there were signs up in the sky
when we gathered by the garden wall
everybody on his best behavior
listening for the altar call
high priest of salem in his robes
ranting at the coming of the day
ravens at the gates
frightening all the visitors away
I lay down by the water
dreamed a dream of where I come from
old things made new
waiting for you
there were wooden wind-chimes rustling
in the trees above the anthills on the dunes
on the high winds we could hear them
old familiar tunes
the little bit of faith we had once
like the memory of a movie
they got burned up the great fire
reassembling itself slowly but surely
I lay down by the water
dreamed a dream of where I come from
old things made new
waiting for you
we were parked in your car
in our neutral meeting place, the episcopalian churchyard
I had things I'd been meaning to say
but in the dazzling winter sun that late I could feel them melt away
and through the warm radio static
I couldn't hear my stage directions
and the fog on the windshield
obscured our sad reflections
I felt so desperate in your arms
I felt so desperate in your arms
we were parked near some trees
and the moonlight soaked the branches in ever-deepening degrees
had my hand in your hair
trying to keep my cool ‘til it became too much to bear
when we cracked the windows open
well the air was just so sweet
we could hear the cars ten feet away
out there on the street
I felt so desperate in your arms
if the strain proves too much
give up right away
if the light hurts your eyes
stay in your room all day
when the room fills with smoke
lie down on the floor
in the declining years
of the long war
well the blood's in the water
and the shark's gonna come
and we swim in the dark
until our bodies are numb
blind desert rats in the moonlight
too far from shore
in the declining years
of the long war
empty room with a lightbulb
where the phone starts to ring
everybody gets nervous
nobody says anything
the next day someone's initials
show up on the door
I think i'm gonna crack
can't live like this anymore
ugly things in the darkness
worse things in store
in the declining years
of the long war
it's gonna be too hot to breath today
but everybody is out here on the streets
somebody's opened up the fire hydrant
cold water rushing out in sheets
some kid in a marcus allen jersey
asks me for a cigarette
companionship is where you find it
so I take what I can get
hubcaps on the car like fun house mirrors
stick to the shadows that I can
lovecraft in brooklyn
well the sun goes down on the armies of the voiceless
several hundred-thousand strong
come without their bandages
their voices raised in song
when the street lights sputter out
they make this awful sizzling sound
I cast my gaze towards the pavement
too many blood stains on the ground
rhode island drops into the ocean
no place to call home anymore
lovecraft in brooklyn
head outside most everyday to try to keep the wolves away
imagine nice things I might say
if company should come
woke up afraid of my own shadow
like, genuinely afraid
headed for the pawnshop
to buy myself a switchblade
someday something's coming
from way out beyond the stars
to kill us while we stand here
it'll store our brains in mason jar
and then the girl behind the counter
she asks me how I feel today
I feel like lovecraft in brooklyn
yeah!
children by the water banks laughing long and loud
changbai's high fine western peaks just beneath the clouds
currents in the water churning in their course
body of a sea-lion, head just like a horse
preacher in the soft brown sand begins to speak his piece
high winds in the treetops low flying winter geese
no one taking pictures everybody still
and then the water sought its course again the way that waters will
no one at the lakeside now, moon up in the sky
night birds in the dragon spruce, moaning long and high
backstroking on the surface, moonlight on its face
floats the tianchi monster, staring into space
out around the temple now narcissus in bloom
censers packed with sandalwood send smoke into the room
children in the sand outside on their hands and knees
sketching pictures all day long of stranger things than these
got out of bed, could not remember my own name
condemned to walk the soil amongst all creatures wild and tame
go where I go, do what I must
crawl starving on my belly
licking up the dry dust
I see the light in your window
ride the elevator to the sixth floor
stand with my arms at my sides as you open up the door
but I'm out of my element I can't breathe
I'm out of my element
I can't breathe
alone with your bathroom mirror
try to get my head straight
breathe on the glass and wait for it to clear
clean slate
meet up with you in the kitchen
where the air is hot and dry
open up all the faucets
be fruitful and multiply
I stand where the flashing swords gleam
and I try to shake my head clear of the dream
but I'm out of my element I can't breathe
I'm out of my element
I can't breathe
I start to sweat I can't cool down
I'm scared of all the strangers in this town
I try to tell you just why i've come
it's like I've got molasses on my tongue
I made it through town somehow
but who's going to save me now?
i'm out of my element I can't breathe
i'm out of my element
I can't breathe
slumped up against the sink
hair plastered to her cheeks
marduk t-shirt sticking to her skin
refugee from a disco in old east berlin
weightless formless blameless nameless
stray syllables were gurgling
from her throat one at a time
face hidden from my view
I let myself imagine she was you
only weightless, formless, blameless, nameless
and when I washed my hands
I ran the water hotter than I could stand
half rising to a crouch
sinking back down to the floor
when you're walking keep your head low
try to leave no traces when you go
stay weightless, formless, blameless, nameless
long dinner with some friends
way out way out in portmore
servants of the pharaoh
slip in through an open door
all business
bearing knives and zip-guns
so get on the floor now
every last one, every last one
the heat drifts across the land
if I forget you israel
let me forget my right hand
and on the floor michael james williams
feels his fingers start to freeze
and the whole scene's like a movie
paramedics on their knees
try, try your whole life
to be righteous and be good
wind up on your own floor
choking on blood
the heat drifts across the land
if I forget you israel
let me forget my right hand
and the house still smells like onions
when the ambulance arrives
gabriel in postal blue
loads up the car and drives
to spanish town
about three miles away
where will the wicked run to
on that last day, on that last day?
the heat drifts across the land
if I forget you israel
let me forget my right hand
I am ready for my close up today
too long I've let my self-respect stand in my way
well the prom queen's caught in the high beams
and the strings keen it's a big scene
but when the house goes up in flames
no one emerges triumphantly from it
when the scum begins to circle the drain
everybody loves a winner
I spent eight hours in my make-up chair
waxed my chest and shaved off all my hair
well the fire's bright and the frame's tight
try to get right; well, we've still got light
but when the house goes up in flames
no one emerges triumphantly from it
when the scum begins to circle the drain
everybody loves a winner
but when the house goes up in flames
when the scum begins to circle the drain