[Intro – ticking, distant bass pulse]
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Would you care for tea?
[Verse 1]
Black gloves pressed to porcelain white
Steam curls slow in the gaslamp light
Deep below where the engines groan
A perfect servant walks alone
Polished shoes on iron floors
Soft knock tapping at your doors
Silver tray and hollow stare
Something ancient standing there
[Chorus]
Tick—tick—hear the pocket chime
Time bends wrong in perfect time
One gold bell and the room stands still
The Butler bends the world by will
Step too loud and gravity bites
Cold tea waiting endless nights
Smile polite while the city shakes
Gear by gear—the Engine breaks
[Verse 2]
Barons feast in velvet halls
While soot rains black on factory walls
The Butler pours with steady grace
Judging every crooked face
Rude men laugh with greasy teeth
Then feel the pressure underneath
Frozen seconds split apart
Silver knives through beating hearts
[Chorus]
Tick—tick—hear the pocket chime
Time bends wrong in perfect time
One gold bell and the room stands still
The Butler bends the world by will
Step too loud and gravity bites
Cold tea waiting endless nights
Smile polite while the city shakes
Gear by gear—the Engine breaks
[Bridge – low layered voices]
Would you like… another cup?
Soot and vapor fill the lungs
Clockwork choirs bite their tongues
Every ticking second bends
Manners mark how this all ends
In the silence gears confess
Steamveil choking on excess
And somewhere deep beneath the flame
The Great Engine speaks his name
[Verse 3]
Rebels hiding underground
Know to keep their voices down
Proper words earn fleeting grace
Crude men vanish without trace
Sleepless shadows stain his eyes
Borrowed life in fragments dies
Still he serves through smoke and grime
Waiting for the final chime
[Final Chorus – heavier bass / layered vocals]
Tick—tick—hear the pocket chime
Time bends wrong in perfect time
One gold bell and the room stands still
The Butler bends the world by will
Step too loud and gravity bites
Cold tea waiting endless nights
Smile polite while the city shakes
Gear by gear—the Engine breaks
Mr_Mundy