1. The Suffocating Silence

Something's going on here – the object is uncertain
But I can see the makings of a sinister design
The bristles of the tightening noose are scratching at my throat
And in Shadows, whispered voices plot to take from me what's mine

The tension's ever-mounting, and the dam's about to break

Something's going wrong here – the lines have all been broken
In the shelter of our silence conflicts keep upon themselves
We both have our agendas, if only we would voice them
But the guilt between us widens as we keep them to ourselves

In the suffocating silence
attended by our dreams
this emptiness devours
In the darkness of desire
where nothing's as it seems
our demons lie in wait
For you and me

Subconscious acts replace the spoken word and we express with cruelty what we neglect to say

And everybody's shouting, but no one can hear
and our desperate ringing fills my ears
And we all know that words can kill
but their absence is more lethal still

Something's going on here... sinister design
The tension's ever mounting, the dam's about to break
Failing to discuss it could be our last mistake

2. Bleed Me Dry

Bind to me – keep me in the shadows of your life
Terrified – frightened I might step into the light
Drinking deep from wells of bitterness within your soul
Holding fast to self-deluding visions of control

You're convinced that when you're done and the day is through
The applause was just for you

Paranoid – jealousy is all you've come to know
Pettiness – make a friend into another foe

And now everything is done, and the day is through
Now there's no one left for you

Twist the blade inside of me and bleed me dry
'Cause there's nothing you can say to me to make things how they used to be again
I have built a better life without your lies – and I will not be broken

I don't need your blessing now
I don't need your fantasies
All your fictions don't sustain me anymore
Breaking bonds, I'm setting myself free

Blind to yourself and to see you pushed away
Empty-handed and alone now at the end of the day
All of your misguided claims are dead to me – did you think I'd let
You dictated everything that I could be?

3. The Death Of Faith & Reason

Wipe out all the wonder from creation
Replace it all with fractals
And synthesize the beauty and design
Pulling wings off spiritual flies
So smug and oh so certain
That yours is the enlightened state of mind
Your soul will contemplate its emptiness
Mired in the figures and equations in your head
Embrace the black

Turn away from civilized society
Wrap yourself in ignorance
And force us to accept on pain of death
Marry myths with superstitious nonsense
And damn the nonbelievers
Salvation's yours, to hell with all the rest
No absolutes are so self-evident
Twisted by your hate, the very word of God
And instrument of death

And who can say which to path to take?
Or bind another's fate?
A billion-fold extremists' point of view create or hell
Each must be entitled to the conscience of the King
There's nothing left to wait but for the tolling of the bell

4. Memory

I still remember the sound of your voice calling out my name
And I still remember my face examining itself, knowing things would never be the same
I still remember your smiling face across a crowded room
And I still remember, through the weathering of time, that first embrace that sealed our doom

Your eyes stare at me, from every storefront
And your voice calls to me from every restaurant
And your laughter pierces me as I stand beneath the open sky
And your absence murders me as I sleep perchance to die

Seems like to escape is what I ought to do
But every road I take brings me back to you

I am frozen in the moment
clinging to your memory
and I don't
Want the ignorance that a spotless mind would bring
but I'm
Scared my dying breath may be your name

It's just like I sang to you – everyone knows that we live in a world
Where people give bad names to beautiful things
And if it's really true that people should leave once they've
Got what they came for, I certainly hope that you're holding it close to you now

I still remember the sunlight on your face that warm November day
And I still remember, my heartbeat quickened by desire, unaware of prices I would pay
I still remember the closing door the night we said goodbye, and I still
Remember losing you for good and knowing that a part of me had died
And I still pray that things will be alright
and I pray you'll think of me tonight
And I know somehow I'll be alright and I hope that you're the same...

5. The Origins Of Ruin

Hand on heart, head in hands
The light is fading now, it cannot pierce the darkness
Nothing left to build upon
Except the mounting fear that none of this was worth it

Hand on pen, pen to page
Focus though I may, my words have failed
Emptiness consuming me
The shadows of my broken hope play in the dying night

Tears in eyes, eyes wide open
Staring at the glass
The face I see knows everything
-words I've written
-letters never sent

...only signposts marking out
The origins of ruin

6. Man Of Glass

Look at me – deep into weathered eyes that have
Seen too much of the world and far too many
Failings in myself

Look at me – deep into bones of glass
Shards of mirrors reflecting all the dark events of my life

If something doesn't kill us, it just might make us stronger
But I don't think I can make myself
Hold on for too much longer

Look inside – deep in the heart of one who is close to losing faith
But praying that his faith will see him through
Look inside – deep in a mind reviewing unanswerable questions
About what lies ahead

Am I falling away from what really matters,
And teetering on the brink of disaster
At a moment in time if we turn the other way
A different path would lead us to another fate

7. Blind My Eyes

Can you see past this place
Where our failings took us unaware?
I have dreams of a future brighter than the past

Faith sustain me
Take away my fear
Hope reclaim me
Wipe these sins away
Love renew me
Give me strength to cross the gap between
Denial and the truth that burns so bright
It blinds my eyes

I have been to a darker place
Than I had thought I'd ever go
Your voice calling out to me
And now I know
I can dream of a future brighter than the past

8. Used To Be

I don't know how to finish what's begun
Or how long I might wonder if it's done
Windows open when the doors are all closed
But if you step through them, you might forget the way back home

I was drawn, I was taken over Rubicons
All the while never realized I was gone
Windows opened when the doors were all closed
I stepped through and now I forget the way back home

Someone introduce me to the man I used to be
I can feel him struggling deep inside of me
I swear if it takes me until my dying day
That somehow I will find my way again

I have faltered, I have sacrificed, everything I once held dear

Windows opened when the doors were all closed
I stepped through them and lost my way
Somehow I know I'll be back again – I know I can save myself

I will find I'm back again
the man I used to be
I will
Find I'm reconciled with what I've hoped to be
I'll build a bridge to what I've lost and I will find my way
Back home again

9. Fall On You

There'll come a time when love outlasts my insecurities
And I'll be unafraid that you're not here with me
I hold on
And I face another day
I hold on urgently to you
I let go
And my fears begin to fade
and now with pride we watch you make your way

Clouds overhead
lightning strikes and the thunder roars and I can only hope
I've given you some shelter
you know it's a stormful world and rain will fall on you

Run faster now
don't look back 'till you're far away
the hands that
Harm will try to drag you into shadow
you know it's a sunless world and darkness falls on you

It's getting close to midnight and soon you'll have to leave the haven of our comforting arms

I can feel you searching in the darkness and I hear you calling out my name
Search yourself for the part of me still with you
My presence there will never fade
Walls tumble down
you can hide but you know they'll find you, and I can't be
There every moment for protection
you know it's a hostile world and hate may follow you

Outcomes an never be certain, but life is a
Chance that you take, and all that I
Can do is help you brace for it

Light overhead storm clouds part and the darkness fades and in the stillness of a
New dawn you're still standing you know it's a frightening world and it's a confusing
World, but you know that I have to believe you will find the goodness in it with your heart
And soul as compass I will pray you find your way and that happiness will follow close behind...
and peace will fall on you