Verse 1
Good even, friend, come sit beside my chair,
Thou knowest well the burdens that I bear.
For thou hast walked beside me many years,
Through fleeting joys and oceans made of tears.
When first we met, thou camest dressed in gold,
With honeyed tongue and promises untold.
Thou saidst, “Fear not the weight upon thy breast,
Drink deep of me, and I shall grant thee rest.”
And for a time thy words appeared as truth,
Thou gavest courage to a fearful youth.
The world grew soft, the edges lost their sting,
And every tavern seemed a courtly thing.
Pre-Chorus
Yet every gift thou gavest bore a chain,
And every comfort ended wrapped in pain.
Chorus
Away! Away! Thou lying friend of mine,
Thou poison hidden in the sweetest wine.
Away! Away! Yet still I hear thee call,
A ghostly voice that haunteth every hall.
Thou know’st my fears, thou know’st my shame,
And whisperest softly every name.
Away! Away! Thou lying friend of mine,
Yet still thou walkest in these thoughts of mine.
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Verse 2
The mornings came with thunder in my head,
Like armies marching through the sheets and bed.
The mirror showed a stranger in my stead,
Whilst hopes I planted slowly withered dead.
My kinfolk spoke, yet I could scarcely hear,
For thou wert ever bending near mine ear.
“One more,” thou saidst, “and all shall be restored.”
Thus every broken promise I ignored.
The coins departed quicker than they came,
The faces changed, but still the tale the same.
I sought escape within thy dark embrace,
Yet found a prison hidden in that place.
Pre-Chorus
For every road I walked to flee my grief,
Thou stoodst awaiting, smiling like a thief.
Chorus
Away! Away! Thou lying friend of mine,
Thou poison hidden in the sweetest wine.
Away! Away! Yet still I hear thee call,
A ghostly voice that haunteth every hall.
Thou know’st my fears, thou know’st my shame,
And whisperest softly every name.
Away! Away! Thou lying friend of mine,
Yet still thou walkest in these thoughts of mine.
⸻
Bridge (heavier)
Nay, thou art not a devil clad in flame,
Nor some dark curse for which none bear the blame.
Thou art the bargain struck when hope grew thin,
The wound ignored, the battle fought within.
The cup was ne’er the thing that broke the man,
But grief concealed beneath a careful hand.
And though I stumble, though I lose my way,
I rise again and wrestle thee today.
⸻
Final Chorus
Away! Away! Thou lying friend of mine,
Thou poison hidden in the sweetest wine.
Away! Away! Though loud thy siren call,
I shall not kneel before thee when I fall.
For every day I draw another breath,
I steal a victory from the jaws of death.
Away! Away! Thou lying friend of mine,
This soul was never truly thine.
Outro
The night is long, and yet I see the dawn.
The road is hard, and yet I journey on.
Though scars remain where once thy roots did climb,
I claim anew this fleeting life of mine
