[Intro]
[low growl]
I smell iron
I taste dust
Boots in the blood
Who do you trust?
[Verse 1]
Hear the crack
See the frame
Of the kid that knew my name
Now he’s red on my hands
Like a mark I can’t outrun
Every shadow starts to speak
Every prayer sounds weak
Every order that I follow
Feels like loading up a gun
[Chorus]
Is this life or death inside me?
Will I fight it
Or invite it in? (yeah)
There’s a darkness standing behind me
Saying
“Let me wear your skin”
If I let it in
Will I feel nothing?
If I lock the door
Will it just return?
I’m on the edge of what I’m becoming
Let it in
Or let it burn
[Verse 2]
I see faces in the flare
Hear my mother in the air
“Son
Don’t lose what I gave you”
But my mercy’s getting thin
Every breath is black and bright
Every wrong feels almost right
I could end this aching conscience
If I just let madness win (hey!)
[Pre-Chorus]
Tell me
Which one’s really dying
If I keep my soul
Or shut my eyes and stop replying
To the part that still says “no”?
[Chorus]
Is this life or death inside me?
Will I fight it
Or invite it in?
There’s a darkness standing behind me
Saying
“Let me wear your skin”
If I let it in
Will I feel nothing?
If I lock the door
Will it just return?
I’m on the edge of what I’m becoming
Let it in
Or let it burn
[Instrumental Break]
[extended guitar solo over stomping half-time groove
Bends and rapid shred runs building into a unison riff with the drums
Then sudden stop]
[Bridge]
I am not your hollow blade (no)
I am not your empty grave
I’ve buried too much already
I won’t be the next one saved
By the void that you keep feeding
By the lies that sound like peace
If the cost of quiet breathing
Is my soul
Then let it scream
[Chorus]
Is this life or death inside me?
Will I fight it
Or invite it in? (fight it!)
There’s a darkness standing behind me
But it won’t be wearing my skin
If I let it in
I become nothing
If I starve the flame
I feel it burn
I’ll take the pain of staying human
Let it pound
But it won’t return
[Outro]
Just my heartbeat and the gun
One more step into the sun
I’m still here
I still burn
I still choose
To never turn