[Intro | Solo Gregorian-style chant, distant cathedral reverb, no instruments. Let silence breathe before the band enters.]
Quis custodiet…
Ipsos custodes…
(Silence.)
[Verse 1 | Clean guitar in shifting 7/8, restrained vocal, slow build.]
They placed a lantern in my hands
Called the darkness mine to tame
Every shadow learned my footsteps
Every hallway knew my name
The walls remembered every whisper
Long before I learned to hear
Somewhere in the quiet breathing
Someone else was standing near
[Pre-Chorus | Bass and toms push forward. Guitars widen. Suspense builds.]
Every answer wore a uniform
Every question took a seat
Every lock became a promise
Every promise lost a key
[Chorus | Full band. Powerful melodic lift while the odd meters continue underneath.]
Who watches the watchers
When every eye is borrowed light?
Who keeps count
When counting disappears into the night?
Round we go
The circle drawing circles of its own
Until every throne is occupied
And no one stands alone
[Verse 2 | Heavier guitars. More urgency. Vocals remain measured rather than aggressive.]
I signed beneath the witness line
Then watched another sign below
Every seal required another
Every truth another oath
The lens I trusted never blinked
It never needed sleep
Then I found another lens
Quietly watching me
[Bridge | Instruments fall away. Spoken vocal over ambient guitars. Gregorian chant slowly returns underneath.]
Every mirror found another mirror…
Every witness found a witness…
Every answer found a question…
Every guardian…
Needed guarding…
(Choir returns.)
Quis custodiet…
Ipsos custodes…
[Final Chorus | Biggest dynamic. Layered harmonies. End unresolved.]
Who watches the watchers
When every eye becomes the flame?
Who draws the circle
If every hand can claim the same?
Round we go
Until the questions outlive every throne
The silence keeps the only answer
No one guards alone
[Outro | Instruments gradually disappear, leaving only the chant.]
Quis custodiet…
Ipsos custodes…
ChucklesMcnerd
