1. PERMANENCE

(Instrumental)


2. A BROKRN REFLECTION

A broken reflection

A picture means nothing
When the image in my head is all I see
A portrait of loathing
A painting of insecurity
I've burned the image a thousand times
To destroy the site of myself
But it left a branded mark behind
Reminding me I'm far from well
(Far from well)

Now I stand strong but fragile
Like clay pulled from the kiln

Face to face with what I fear
Reflection from a twisted mirror
Where every flaw is brought to light
And all that shines is left behind
A broken reflection

Engrained with permanence
Like a statue standing tall (standing tall)
But the frailty of a mere sketch
Constantly set to rise and fall

Depicting distortion
Seen through an old warped film
Now I stand strong but fragile
Like clay pulled from the kiln

Interpreting the madness
And cleansing the palette to bring

Bring me face to face with what I fear
Reflection from a twisted mirror
Where every flaw is brought to light
And all that shines is left behind

Will I ever be content with what I see?
(Will I ever be content with what I see?)
Or will my greatest oppressor (my greatest oppressor)
Always be me?

Shattered

Engrained with permanence
Like a statue standing tall
But the frailty of a sketch
Set to constantly rise and fall

Though charred by the demolition
A new image begins to appear
Just like the one I'd destroyed
Re-embraced by fear

Face to face with what I fear
Reflection from a twisted mirror
Where every flaw is brought to light
And all that shines is left behind

Reflection, reflection
Bring me back

Interpreting the madness
And cleansing the palette to bring
Bring me back from this hell

Shattered, shattered


3. BURDEN

Release this burden
Burden
I'm far from perfect
But what I gave you was a gift
Expecting so little
I never cared if you came or left
Moving on
No one will ever live in our shoes and
No one will ever know the full truth so
I choose to let the music itself
Speak volumes about you
Nothing but deadweight
Seeing the world all expenses paid

And now I've carried the weight
I've carried the weight
Of your burden long enough
And I listened as you fabricate
Till the truth just fades away
But it's you that starts to fade

So caught in the past
A legacy you hardly built
While here in reality
I sadly witnessed your intellect wilt
You hardly wrote a note
Like a well dressed ghost
That learned to feed off us
As a virus to a host

And now I've carried the weight
Of your burden long enough
And I listened as you fabricate
Till the truth just fades away
But it's you that starts to fade

Fade away
Fade away
I've had this millstone around my neck
Long enough
Burden, deadweight, burden
It's become clear that you are just deadweight
That's been released to sink
Release

And now I've carried the weight
I've carried the weight
Of your burden long enough
And I listened as you fabricate
Till the truth just fades away
But it's you that starts to fade

It's become clear that you are just deadweight
That's been released to sink
Release
Burden, deadweight, burden


4. WE ARE THE DEAD

We are the dead
We are the outcast, exiled, rejects
We are the dead, dead, dead
But we are not alone

Closed in by walls of pain
Then told to rehabilitate
Bound by concrete with no outlet to recover
Fed nothing but trash then declared to be unhealthy
Stripped of all we had
Then told to find our way out of this hell ourselves

To function requires
Resistance
And to thrive requires total defiance
Total defiance

Locked away, buried underground
Still finding hope when we're beaten down

We are the dead
We are the outcast, exiled, rejects
We are the dead, dead, dead
But we are not alone

To function requires
Resistance
And to thrive requires
Total defiance
Total defiance

Though the design is for us to fall
Deeper into darkness and lose it all
There's a depth within humanity
That I never knew while I was free

Put in a shallow grave
With a number to replace our name
But no one checked if we're alive
So from a common burial we rise

Locked away, buried underground
Still finding hope when we're beaten down

We are the dead
We are the outcast, exiled
But we are not alone
Outcast, exiled
But we are not alone


5. WHITEWASHED TOMB

Your illusion of kindness
The delusion that you've healed to move on
Virtue signaling your reasons
But avoidance is a symptom of the unresolved
Unresolved
Are you even aware of what is truly at play?
(Are you even aware)
Are you able to see (are you able to see)
The parts of you that wither away?

Can't you see, you're hiding from something
Avoiding the hurt
Avoiding the darkness of your heart

The story within is forgery
That does not match what those close to you see
But the story on the outside
Is painted elegantly so that you can hide
You're a whitewashed tomb
(A whitewashed tomb)
I'd never want to be like you

Can't you see, you're hiding from something
Avoiding the hurt
Avoiding the darkness of your heart

Silently waiting while slowly decaying
Uphold appearance while sorrow
Sorrow awaits
Sorrow awaits

Coward
You're a whitewashed tomb
Coward
I'd never want to be like you
Redemption will never look the way you want it to
And we will never be good enough to see your truth
But how could vibrant life fit within your view?
Encased in fools gold but full of doom

I know who sits behind the curtain now
My mirror image

Can't you see, you're hiding from something
Avoiding the hurt
Avoiding the darkness, the darkness of your heart
Darkness of your heart

Sorrow awaits
A whitewashed tomb


6. THROUGH STORMS AHEAD

Without direction
Impact was imminent
Without direction
Calamity was only a matter of time
Without direction
I boarded the ship I built
And locked myself in it
Then cut the line to sail
Through storms ahead

Such arrogance to complain
As it sunk and no one came
Callously trying to explain
How everyone else is to blame
I had to be set free
On open and turbulent seas
Wondering if anything
Was looking over me
Without direction
Calamity was only a matter of time

I'd given up on searching
There was no way out for me
I'd given up searching
When the walls came crashing down
There was no way for me
When the floods took everything
I'd given up, I'd given in
Surrendered, then hope broke in

Then hope broke in
Preparing me to swim
Through storms ahead
Past numbing emptiness
Back to feeling once again
Through mending and agony
Into turmoil needed to see
My whole life rearranged
And beauty born from disarray

I'd given up on searching
There was no way out for me
I'd given up searching
When the walls came crashing down
There was no way for me
When the floods took everything
I'd given up, I'd given in
Surrendered, then hope broke in

My soul was spilled out of me
Into a refining sea
Through storms ahead
Through storms ahead
Without direction
Impact was imminent
Without direction
Calamity was only a matter of time

I'd given up on searching
I'd given up on searching
There was no way out for me
I'd given up searching
When the walls came crashing down
There was no way for me
When the floods took everything
I'd given up, I'd given in
Surrendered, then hope broke in
Then hope broke in
Then hope broke in

Through storms ahead
Through storms ahead


7. THE VOID WITHIN

It moves through your eyes
It moves through your eyes
It pumps through my heart
The void within
It flows through our veins
It flows through our veins
But it tears us apart
It tears us apart

We all wanna believe
That our suffering means something
But we're scared to release
And live another way
'Cause pain's the only thing
That's always been with me
And peace is the only thing
That I have never seen

I wanna feel again
To fill the void within

I wanna feel again
It calls my name
Steady till I give in
To fill the void within
So far away
Still crave the same
I wanna feel again
Destroy the void within

Hear it in my voice
See it in my skin
Feel all the choices
That I have lived
The mistakes I've made
The weight carried
I had given up, betrayed
My hopes and dreams

I wanna feel again
It calls my name
Steady till I give in
To fill the void within
So far away
Still crave the same
I wanna feel again
Destroy the void within

I didn't believe
My life meant anything
As I fought to be free
From this disease
It was love that put me back
On my feet

Now I face the wake of anguish
That was left behind
The aftermath of a warpath
A buried mountain of regret for me to
Mine

The aftermath of a warpath
It moves through your eyes
It pumps through my heart
It flows through our veins
But it tears us apart


8. STRENGTH TO SURVIVE

I see the pain you're drowning in

I want more than anything
To rescue you as you're sinking
But you are forgetting
You were already swimming
Long before I was ever around

You've tread these waters many times before
And always ended up on shore
Now you've somehow started to believe
(Your false belief)
That I'm your only hope of not drowning
Drowning

I see the pain you're drowning in
But I can't reach you
I can't save you
I feel the weight that makes you sink
But I can't reach you
Without being pulled in
Drowning

Think back to a time before you felt lost
Think back to a time it wasn't just us
Now you've somehow started to believe
(Your false belief)
That I'm your only hope of not drowning
Drowning

I see the pain you're drowning in
But I can't reach you
I can't save you
I feel the weight that makes you sink
But I can't reach you
Without being pulled in

I have nothing but false hope to give
Drowning
You had power then and you still do now
Without chasing a savior who will never be found

I want more than anything
To rescue you as you sink
But now you're starting to see
That you never needed me

I'm not the one, who will save you
I wish I could but I, am drowning too

We're strong enough as soon as we believe
We are the ones who choose our destiny
Sinking, fading, drowning

I see the pain you're drowning in
But I can't reach you
I can't save you
I feel the weight that makes you sink
But I can't reach you
Without being pulled in

I see fear in your eyes
(Despair, dismay, and doubt)
Find your strength to survive
Strength inside without being pulled

I am not the one who will save you
I wish I could, but I'm drowning too


9. GEARS THAT NEVER STOP

Gears that never stop
Gears that never stop turning
Automated but still alive
Alive and burning

Powered by a storm
That hardly calms before it reforms
Fixed in rotation
Fueled by worry and anticipation
Nowhere to take shelter in sight
Every window and door boarded tight
Like walking alone down a dark street
Not knowing what's about to be unleashed

At war with
Something in my head
A doubt I feel everyday
A glitch inside the machine
On and on and on repeating
Something in my head
A war I fight from within
Struggle goes on and on
All along the way

Under the gun yet restrained to a chair
Bleeding out trapped in an elevator
It feels like an impossible choice
Critically ill but I can't make a noise

Something in my head
A doubt I feel everyday
A glitch inside the machine
On and on and on repeating
Something in my head
A war I fight from within
Struggle goes on and on
All along the way

I close my eyes
I close my eyes to reset
I close my eyes
I close my eyes
I close my eyes to reset
And change the nightmare
And change the nightmare that I am in
Thoughts like crashing waves
Crumbling over and over again

Gears that never stop
Gears that never stop turning
Gears that never stop
Gears that never stop turning
Gears that never stop turning
Automated but still alive and burning

Something in my head
A doubt I feel everyday
A glitch inside the machine
On and on and on repeating
Something in my head
A war I fight from within
Struggle goes on and on
All along the way
The gears that never stop
All along the way
The storm that never calms

The gears that never stop
The storm that never calms


10. THE CAVE WE FEAR TO ENTER

Our secrets are what make us lonely
When no one else knows the weight we carry

All I see and all I know is pain
All I see and all I know is
All I see and all I know is pain
All I see and all I know is

Paralyzing fear prevents
Into the unknown we must step
The cave seems more like an abyss
But inside is everything we've missed
All our blindspots brought to light
And every demon we've tried to fight

What becomes of the pain
That dwells so deep it can't be seen
Who can show the path from shame
To make you believe
Believe you're not to blame

So once again we want to run away
Far from everything that we love
Safe from facing all we're carrying
The cave we fear to enter

All I see and all I know is pain
All I see and all I know is

Going further into the abyss
We uncover life's fullness
Recovering what dwells in the deep
The darkest corners no longer mystery
Uncharted, unexplored
Undiscovered, stranded in the void

What becomes of the pain
That dwells so deep it can't be seen
Who can show the path from shame
To make you believe
Believe you're not to blame

So once again we want to run away
Far from everything that we love
Safe from facing all we're carrying
The cave we fear to enter

Lay to rest the memories (memories)
That hold you down

Paralyzing fear prevents
Into the unknown we must step
The cave we fear to enter

No one else knows
Hidden like a ghost
Our past torments (our past torments)
Will bury us (will bury us)

So once again we want to run away
Far from everything that we love
Safe from facing all we're carrying
The cave we fear to enter

Lay to rest the memories (memories)
That hold you down
Lay to rest the memories
In the cave we fear to enter

All I see and all I know is pain
All I see and all I know is
All I see and all I know is pain
All I see and all I know is


11. TAKEN FROM NOTHING
If you can make it through this
If you can make it out alive
Then will you tell your story
Of how you have survived?

Former days now gone, lament
As you face these years of torment
Asked to demonstrate how you repent
While expectant eyes await intent on discontent

They turned their backs
(They turned their backs)
Then took your voice, dark horse

If you can make it through this
If you can make it out alive
Then will you tell your story?
Of how you were

Taken from nothing
Shown the world is far from merciful
Inhumane, but there is time to live again
To live again

Weighed down but now no longer falling
A heavy scarlet letter transformed into your calling
Your mentor was misery, dark horse
New power, destiny, dark horse
All the strength from the weight you carry, dark horse

Taken from nothing
Shown the world is far from merciful
Inhumane, but there is time to live again
There is time to live again

These vast plains we're in the middle of have an end
This damning desert was built with finite grains of sand
Rejected by the establishment
And given this unexpected gift
Your mind immortal, though your body in hell
But they won't be able, to keep you here

If you can make it through this
If you can make it out

Taken from nothing
Shown the world is far from merciful
Inhumane, but there is time
Taken from nothing
Shown the world is far from merciful
Inhumane, but there is time to live again
Live again
To live again

Your mentor was misery, dark horse
All the strength from the weight you carry, dark horse