Dying Earth
Music: Thorp, Sizer
Lyrics: Walmsley
For far too long we’ve turned a blinded eye
As others scorched the earth, and poisoned the sky
We turned our backs, refusing to act
And refusing to see the cost of our complacency
And now it’s gone too far to change
What once was our cradle will soon be our grave
She is our mother
She is our maker
The seed and the womb
She is the one who gave us life
And one day she will be our tomb
Choking on sand and gasping for air
We turned the rivers dry and stripped the mountains bare
And far too late we saw that our mistakes had led us to extinction
This the garden we have grown from bitter seeds that we have sown
A barren harvest of bitter truth
Where all the seeds that we have planted bear only bitter fruit
And everything we took for granted
Has now been turned to ashes
We’ve gone too far to turn back now
The sands of time have finally run out
She is our mother
She is our maker
The seed and the womb
She is the one who gave us life
And one day she will be our tomb
This is a song for the dying earth
A prayer for forgiveness
Curtain Call
Music: Sizer
Lyrics: Walmsley
This world is a stage and we are but players
No more than nameless actors playing thankless roles
We all wear masks concealing our faces
Leaving no traces of who we really are
This life is a game and we are all puppets
Condemned to dance upon the strings we cannot see
Like marionettes aware that every single step has already been taken
By those who went before
And through it all we are never satisfied
Always searching for something to fill the emptiness inside
The curtain calls and we step out
Into the spotlight to bask in its glory
The curtain falls, the lights go out
And now we come to the end of our story at last
But there are always those
Who never give in, and cannot let go
The curtain calls and we step out
Into the spotlight for one final time
The curtain falls, we take a bow
And only then we realise…
…that the siren song of fortune and fame
Offers us only two choices
To burn out or to fade away
They build you up, only to tear you down again
And the higher you are, the further you fall in the end
We play the parts that we are given
And read the lines
As they have been written
Never asking why
This world is a stage and we are but players
Searching for meaning where none can be found
This life is a cage from which there can be no escape
And so we cling to this illusion as hard as we can
And in the end one question remains
What will you do when the curtain calls for you?
Penance
Music: Sizer
Lyrics: Walmsley
I feel the rain upon my skin
Washing away the mark of my sin
But the memory remains like a dark and present stain upon my wounded soul
This the cross that I must bear
My unrelenting burden
That no-one else can share
Nor would I ask it of them
For it’s myself I can’t forgive
All my guilt I can’t forget
So I must learn to live with all the weight of this regret
Look upon me now, as I am a penitent man
Haunted by the blood upon my hands
And still I seek to atone for all I have done
Whatever price that it takes
I will pay it
Whatever confession I must make
I will say it
My life is weighed in the balance
All my words and all my actions
All of the choice I have made
For it’s a price that must be paid
A price for everything – for everything a price
Judged and found wanting – a life for a life
So this is my confession set down in my own words
All of life’s transgressions from the last to the first
Condemned by my own actions to live in my own hell
How can I be forgiven if I can’t forgive myself?
I feel the rain upon my skin
But it cannot wash away the mark of my disgrace
But my task is not yet finished
How much more will I be punished?
And will I ever be set free?
This the cross that I must bear
Upon my weary shoulders
That no-one else can share
Even as I grow weaker
For it’s myself I can’t forgive
All my guilt I can’t forget
So I must learn to live with all the weight of this regret
Look upon me now, as I am a penitent man
Haunted by the blood upon my hands