[Verse 1]
Tea gone cold on the silver tray
Little lord with a crooked tie
Chessboard bones on a rainy day
All your friends wear black and lie
Ink-stained thumb on a contract page
Smile stitched tight like a fresh-made scar
Tiny hands holding ancient rage
You lit your vow like a falling star
[Chorus]
You’re the earl with the empty eye
Counting debts in the dead of night
Every scar is a sharpened knife
You said
"Hell can have my life"
If it brings them pain
If it brings them pain
[Verse 2]
Curtains drawn in a burning house
Smoke in your lungs since you were a child
Perfect manners
A poisoned mouth
Laughing soft while you go feral inside
You wear grief like a tailored suit
Black-clad ghost at the party line
Pull that string and he comes to you
Your shadow smiles
Says
"The pleasure’s mine"
[Chorus]
You’re the earl with the empty eye
Counting debts in the dead of night
Every scar is a sharpened knife
You said
"Hell can have my life"
If it brings them pain
If it brings them pain
[Bridge]
All the angels turned their faces
You just learned to turn the blade
Every prayer you ever wasted
Built the boy you had to fake
[Chorus]
You’re the earl with the empty eye
Counting debts in the dead of night
Every scar is a sharpened knife
You said
"Hell can have my life"
If it brings them pain
If it brings them pain (oh)
If it brings them pain