1. |
Carthage
03:49
|
|||
Carthage
To the queen of Carthage *1
We all pay homage
For the faults we share
For the shame we bear
Dug deep into these holes
It consumes our souls
Though on these graves we tread
We are the living dead
We mindlessly consume
As my hands lose their grip
I sit here and stare.
Drifting into a world
that's taking me nowhere.
Watching the years
As they race off the clock
Driven by my fears
And I can't make it stop
To Carthage then I came,
where there sang all around me in my ears
a cauldron of unholy loves *2
All things, oh priests
How they burn
How they burn
Oh, how they burn *3
When will I wake
The truth is we’re dying
When will I see
This world isn't lying
Wake up wake up
The truth is we're dying
Wake up wake up
Wake up
Wake up
The caverns of whores and sirens
Have devoured every ounce of my strength.
I can't remember what it's like to not be dying
Oh God, this will be the end if me
The end of me.
*1 Reference to Marlowe's Dido, Queen of Carthage
*2 This reference is from the third book of St. Augustines Confessions
*3 This is an adaptation from Buddha’s Fire Sermon. The combination of these to quotes was inspire by T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, which features the same juxtiposition.
|
||||
2. |
Shapeshifters
04:42
|
|||
Shapeshifters
We stare into the face of our own reflections
Reflecting the smiles we fake
Deflecting the eyes we meet
Hollow men *1 with hollow eyes
Our countenances carved to hide
our inconsistencies
But the constancy of our tumultuous existence is never far behind
In the wake of our illusions
we fill each other's heads with un-quieted delusions
We choose a barren yet harmonious calm rather than a fertile
Yet cacophonous tempest *2
We make believe
and carry on to watch as others feed
On the weakened minds of those who’ve never found a home
to calm their anxious thoughts or sooth their aching bones.
We'd rather play it safe and hope they never find us to be liars
If I don't know, then they don't know
we hide the scars we'd always wished to show.
How long will we fade behind the fabricated images of who we wish to be
We are the players and the patrons of our own distorted schemes! *3
We play the part our bodies take their shape
Our minds grow weary counting the faces we've faked.
Surrounded by bodies and the sound of shuffling feet
We scurry on, known only by the promises we failed to keep
Far too afraid to awaken the slumbering dead
That lie dormant deep inside our heads
Softly they whisper in an unknown tongue
Reminding us of how the siren sung
We thought that fear and love were always black and white
And we listened without mind to wrong or right
But now the truths revealed, no solace or impunity
Just a sea of voices and a self impaired community
We are conditioned for concealment
We embrace these masks with such vehemence
Draw out the lines that define us
Break down the walls that confine you and I
Draw out the lines that define us
Draw out the lines
How long will we fade behind the fabricated images of who we wish to be?
We are the players and the patrons of our own distorted schemes!
*1 T.S. Eliot; The Hollow Men
*2 From The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman.
*3 An adaptation from Shakespeares “All of us are merely players”
|
||||
3. |
||||
American Beauty *1
We are the bastard sons of your all consuming greed
The product of your selfish deeds
Trading something real for something hollow
You learned to shut up and follow
Running toward the life you were sold
You've left us here to die alone
In the wake of the lies you've told
You have left broken, shattered homes.
You turned your back
When we needed you the most
This is the life, the path you chose
The ingenuity of our existence
Justifies our persistence
While striving for your own achievement
You leave nothing but bereavement
What is this life you seek
For the pride you keep
In the things you own
Unknown Idols carved in stone
Seeking nothing more than sights and sounds *2
Your hopelessness resounds
But the choices you make
Effect more than the smiles you fake
In the wake of your reification *3
It's our lives you take
But we've seen past the fraudulence
That you've shrouded in opulence *4
In the wake of the life you led
You left us for dead
Now we will see
The end of your greed
Look to the skies *5
Unlearn the lies
These bodies are meant for the grave
Look in her eyes
Watch as she dies
And realize that you bare the shame.
*1 A reference to the movie by the same name.
*2 from Plato's critique of the theater "lovers of sights and sounds"-the human condition
*3 from Marxist philosophy. The turning of people into objects and giving objects the status of exceeding importance
*4 My first serious exposure to this word "opulence" was during my reading of Herbert Marcuse's seminal work "One-Dimentional man". However, in my application of this word, where Marcuse means to suggest that the "opulence" of modern society creates a mode of Total Administration that repressive the desire for revolution, I intend to suggest that our opulence is a byproduct not of modern society, but of the human condition in general that, in this case, dismantles the family unit.
*5 The Devil Wears Prada
|
||||
4. |
The Arbiter
03:02
|
|||
The Arbiter *1
Day of judgment! Day of wonders!
Hark! the trumpet’s awful sound,
Louder than a thousand thunders,
Shakes the vast creation round
How the summons will the sinner’s heart confound!
The dead awaken,
Rise to life from earth and sea;
All the powers of nature shaken
By One look, prepares to flee.
Careless sinner, what will then become of thee?
Horrors, past imagination,
Will surprise your trembling heart,
When you hear your condemnation,
“Hence, accursed wretch, depart!
Thou, with Snake and slithering tongue, have thy part!” *2
*1 From Halo 2
*2 This song is an adaptation of John Newton’s Hymn “Day of judgment! Day of wonders!”
|
||||
5. |
Westboro
05:18
|
|||
Westboro *1
Vile filth sits behind your lips
Your lungs exhale from the pit of hell
Cloaked in "righteousness”
your perversion rots your flesh
The weight of your increasing debt
Is a millstone around your neck
Hung by the knot tied in your words
Your dwelling place is the ocean floor. *2
Drowning in the blood of those you've led astray
Your charming game
Is the knot you tie
For selfish gain
you’ve crafted our demise
Pointing twisted fingers
Weaving endless lies
You are the wolf in the midst of sheep *3
You and I have no peace to keep! *4
Your eyes are a mirror
Your heart is a mire
You prey on the helpless
Any last words
You’ve led us to the gallows
With flattering tongue
You’ve led us to the gallows
and harkened our ruin
The hangman's noose
Is where you'll rest your head
The demons you've loosed
Are the very ones you dread
Your death will come
From your arrogant blasphemes
The prince of lies *5
Is counting the souls you reap
Running your mouth is the only trick you know
Your true colors are starting to show
Turning water to tithes *6
Your end is where the worm never dies
Preaching lies with hate and disgust
You’ll turn to dust with the midas touch
Exhaling lies until your final breath
You are the harbinger of death
The ground lays open for the
Lives you’ve destroyed
You’ve led us to the gallows
With flattering tongue
You’ve led us to the gallows
You will be silenced!
You will die, a coward's death.
You’ll rot in the flesh till there’s nothing left.
*1 Westboro Baptist Church, to be exact.
*2 Matthew 18:6; A large portions of the references in this song are condemnations that scripture levels against false teachers.
*3 Matthew 7:15
*4 Romans 12:18; This verse refers to keeping peace with brothers and sisters in Christ.
*5 John 8:44
*6 John 2:1-11; This passage refers Jesus’ first miracle in which He turns water into wine. The suggestion with the reference is that false teachers are using the Gospel to garner personal wealth.
|
Streaming and Download help
If you like Forthteller, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp