Avenged Sevenfold - The Stage (2016)

[Verse 1]
Took me years to make my motives clear
And the days have not been kind
Once a steady gaze and charming smile
Has been buried in the lines I find
I walk in the noise, quiet employs
And darkness seems to know just where I am

[Chorus]
Mother wash the devil from my hands
Pray the Lord I have the strength to stand
Mother, tell me was it all a lie?
Show me where the angels die

[Verse 2]
There are words that never found my lips
There are words I'd soon forget
Thought the trick was never to look back
But it seems I've lost my grip, I slip
The faster we run now, the closer the gun now
And somehow all the bullets bear my name

[Chorus]
Mother wash the devil from my hands
Pray the Lord I have the strength to stand
Mother, tell me was it all a lie?
Show me where the angels die

[Verse 3]
Took the road but should have chased the stars
Now I've lost my own way home
Had a photo of the time we shared
But I burned it long ago, I know
I struck all the matches stuck in the ashes
Forgive me, won't you simply speak my name?

[Chorus]
Mother wash the devil from my hands
Pray the Lord I have the strength to stand
Mother, tell me was it all a lie?
Show me where the angels die
Die

[Outro]
(The faster we run now, the closer the gun now
And somehow we all found the warmth of the gun now
The faster we run now, the closer the gun now
And somehow we all found the warmth of the gun now
(Took the road but should have chased the stars
Now I've lost my own way home
Had a photo of the time we shared
But I burned it long ago)
The faster we run now, the closer the gun now
And somehow we all found the warmth of the gun now
The faster we run now, the closer the gun now
And somehow we all found the warmth of the gun now
(Took the road but should have chased the stars
Now I've lost my own way home
Had a photo of the time we shared
But I burned it long ago)
The faster we run now, the closer the gun now
And somehow we all found the warmth of the gun now)

[Verse 1]
Standing in the shade of altruism, answering the call
Came a modern messiah to save us all
Something far beyond the work of fiction, Positronic brain
A world that's void of all the anguish and suffering, pain

[Pre-Chorus 1]
Better tame your convictions before you go and open the cage

[Chorus]
We're creating god
Master of our designs
We're creating god
Unsure of what we'll find

[Verse 2]
Never held a high regard for Darwin, selection takes too long
A little kick in the pool shouldn't do us wrong
Devouring the very last invention man would ever need
But exponential growth is a frightening thing, indeed

[Pre-Chorus 2]
Sweet bohemian jury rounded up and hung in the streets

[Chorus]
We're creating god
Master of our designs
We're creating god
Unsure of what we'll find

[Bridge]
Sometimes when I look up to the sky
I have to wonder are we "summoning the demon" you and I?

[Verse 3]
Have you noticed that I'm needin' it more now, more than it needs me
Got a couple of billion that seem to agree
Surfing in an artificial dimension, but we're not alone
Now the master has become just a stepping stone, oh

[Pre-Chorus 3]
Like a blow to the ego the bitter pills are harder to take

[Chorus]
We're creating god
Master of our designs
We're creating god
Unsure of what we'll find

We're creating god
In search of the divine
We're creating god
Committing suicide

[Instrumental Intro]

[Verse 1: M. Shadows]
Our truth is painted across the sky
In our reflection we learn to fly
No hand to hold us
No one to save us from tomorrow

[Chorus: M. Shadows]
Sailing away, beyond the reach of anyone
Far beyond the dreams of everyone
No light to follow
A shot in the dark
Does anybody know?

Sailing away, beyond the reach of anyone
Far beyond the dreams of everyone
High from the heavens
I can't see the pain
Does anybody care?

[Verse 2: M. Shadows]
Think for a moment of all the lives
Stripped of their essence before their time
We stand to conquer
But is there nothing left tomorrow?

[Chorus: M. Shadows]
I'm sailing away, beyond the reach of anyone
Far beyond the dreams of everyone
There's no light to follow
A shot in the dark
Does anybody know?

Sailing away, beyond the reach of anyone
Far beyond the dreams of everyone
High from the heavens
I can't see the pain
Does anybody care?

[Spoken outro: Neil deGrasse Tyson]
"We have one collective hope: the Earth; and yet, uncounted people remain hopeless
Famine and calamity abound
Sufferers hurl themselves into the arms of war
People kill and get killed in the name of someone else’s concept of God

Do we admit that our thoughts and behaviors spring from a belief that the world revolves around us?
Each fabricated conflict, self-murdering bomb, vanished airplane
Every fictionalized dictator, biased or partisan, and wayward son
Are part of the curtains of society’s racial, ethnic, religious, national and cultural conflicts
And you find the human ego turning the knobs and pulling the levers

When I track the orbits of asteroids, comets and planets
Each one a pirouetting dancer in a cosmic ballet, choreographed by the forces of gravity
I see beyond the plight of humans
I see a Universe ever-expanding, with its galaxies embedded within the ever-stretching four-dimensional fabric of space and time
However big our world is, our hearts, our minds, our outsize atlases, the universe is even bigger
There are more stars in the Universe than grains of sand on the world’s beaches
More stars in the Universe than seconds of time that have passed since Earth formed
More stars than words and sounds ever uttered by all humans who have ever lived

The day we cease the exploration of the cosmos is the day we threaten the continuing of our species
In that bleak world, arms-bearing, resource-hungry people and nations would be prone to act on their low-contracted prejudices, and would have seen the last gasp of human enlightenment
Until the rise of a visionary new culture that once again embraces the cosmic perspective: a perspective in which we are one, fitting neither above, nor below; but within."

[Verse 1]
Lights paint the windows in the sky
The past is sown
In pursuit our spirit shown
But for now there's no one home

[Chorus]
Heaven works on borrowed time
(Walk alone)
Empty pages burn forever mine
(Walk alone)
Masquerade us upon high
(Walk alone)
All we are is all we've left behind

[Post-Chorus]
My sweet Medusa, reflect the empty in our being
Snakes born of fire conjure the demons in our dreams

[Verse 2]
In void we illustrate our lives
Emerge in small
Heed the sign meant to evolve
To the end we send the call

[Chorus]
Heaven works on borrowed time
(Walk alone)
Empty pages burn forever mine
(Walk alone)
Masquerade us upon high
(Walk alone)
All we are is all we've left behind

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 3]
Where children shiver in the cold
The sun will shine
Just a touch to heal the blind
In ourselves we hope to find

[Chorus]
Heaven works on borrowed time
(Walk alone)
Empty pages burn forever mine
(Walk alone)
Masquerade us upon high
(Walk alone)
All we are is all we've left behind

[Outro]
Alone

[Intro]
Oh!

[Verse 1]
Hey! Can't you see we're tripping on the wire
Walking through the candy land of our desires
Press the magic button and behold the world you crave
Where's the fun in freedom when it renders you a slave?

[Chorus]
Pledge allegiance, no flag
God nation, god damn
The devil dances with the scorned
And how the fire keeps us warm

[Verse 2]
Hey! It goes beyond big brother in the sky
Beyond the threat of martial law no Horus eye
No one came to cuff you they just handed you the chains
Blind follows the blind and now the one-eyed man is king

[Chorus]
Pledge allegiance, no flag
God nation, god damn
The devil dances with the scorned
And how the fire keeps us warm
Tunnel vision, no man
Damnation, god damn
Can't see the forest for the trees
Can't heal the wound before we bleed

[Bridge]
No form of payment, no pot of gold will satisfy the debt of what he's owed
Spilling from the houses in a trance the children lined up on the road
Cursing at the piper as he lured your kids away
And led them to the river for what was their final day
No need for convincing on his pipe he played a song to fool them all
Fooled them all

[Chorus]
Pledge allegiance, no flag
God nation, goddamned
The devil dances with the scorn
And now the fire keeps us (keeps us)
Tunnel vision, no man
Damnation, god damn
Can't see the forest for the trees
Can't heal the wound before we bleed

[Chorus 1]
Freed of the world
Shed of the weight
Onward to see you my friend
Light-years above
(Take me higher)
Time seems to wait
(Take me higher)
Promise to see you again

[Verse 1]
It haunts to remember
All the memories of that day
Pre-flight demonstration
Led to desperate voices fueled by flames
Now I'm out here waitin'
Hoping you would send a sign
Came a million miles
And the earth grows small as I lovingly leave it behind

[Chorus 2]
Freed of the world
Shed of the weight
Onward to see you my friend

[Verse 2]
We seem to have found it
All the hope we've been denied
There's more than we've been told
Had to find it on the other side
Now I must be dreaming
Face against the frozen glass
But there's no return now
And the blazing worlds salute
As we go flying past

[Chorus 1]
Freed of the world
Shed of the weight
Onward to see you my friend
Light years above
(Take me higher)
Time seems to wait
(Take me higher)
Promise to see you again

[Chorus 1]
Freed of the world
Shed of the weight
Onward to see you my friend
Light years above
(Take me higher)
Time seems to wait
(Take me higher)
Promise to see you again

[Outro]
Meet you in the stars tonight
There you find me drifting in the ether within the lull
Meet you in the stars tonight
There you find me drifting in the ether within the lull
Meet you in the stars tonight
There you find me drifting in the ether within the lull
Meet you in the stars tonight
There you find me drifting in the ether within the lull

[Verse 1]
You've been breaking down for far too long
Far too many moons since you felt well and strong
You see, you could say goodbye but you don't have to die
Not ever

[Verse 2]
Engineer the wires to your brain
Architect a code so you won't feel the pain
With your family by your side and vigor in your eyes forever
Live forever

[Chorus]
I'm way up, a god in size, beyond the reach of mortals
I shed my human side
Farther, O' Father
I stare at my reflection, have I lost that boy inside?
Final paradigm

[Verse 3]
What's it really mean to be a man?
Think about your answer but please understand
While it's natural to fear, I'll make it disappear forever
I forever

[Chorus]
I'm way up, a god in size, beyond the reach of mortals
I shed my human side
Farther, O' Father
I stare at my reflection, have I lost that boy inside?
Final paradigm

[Bridge]
(Singular I am)
I have to question if these thoughts are mine
To live forever but did something in me die?
I'm clawing my skin but I can't feel it inside
I know the agony of pain would hurt so much better

[Outro]
I'm way up, so far up
Have I lost myself tonight?
Father, O' Father
Have you lost that boy you used to know?

[Verse 1]
It seems I should have walked away
Reverse the wager I've no means to pay
Toto has pulled back the green tonight, in sight
Blue pills coat with such disdain
I wore the shades for so long
That I've forgotten how to see
The curtain rises but who dares to pull the strings?

[Pre-Chorus 1]
I know this may be hard for you to believe and all
But you only exist because we allow it

[Chorus]
I've questioned all the voices in my head
Are they mine or have I been misled?
Total understanding doesn't seem to mean a thing
When you can't see behind the silver screen, a figurine
Can't you hear me scream?

[Verse 2]
By the way of cosmic rays
A subtle breakdown jarred the code display
A simulation as I can tell, our cell
Playing out a hopeless scene
We stand to lose all our charm
And faith just seems to wane
A billion years can seem a stunningly short time

[Pre-Chorus 2]
You've been beaten down time and time again
But still you find yourself at the center of it all

[Chorus]
I've questioned all the voices in my head
Are they mine or have I been misled?
Total understanding doesn't seem to mean a thing
When you can't see behind the silver screen, a figurine
Can't you hear me scream?

[Bridge]
You hear me?
You had one thing to do, one thing
And you fucked it up, piece of shit
Nurse, patient six-six-six-one-five-eight needs to be sedated
We need 500cc of Blue Comfort
Oh hello there dearie, I've been expecting you

[Verse 3]
Posturing the way I feel
Is truth only what we believe is real?
Marvel the sketches that paint the night, starlight
Take a breath before it's all erased away

[Verse 1]
We've been through hell, sewn up our eyes
Found fuel in meds, viewed through the narrow
Encouraged fear when so inclined
Bought peace through wars that doomed our children to die

[Post-Verse 1]
Ego is sure to fix the world
Served up to happy boys and girls

[Pre-Chorus 1]
I'd make a decision if granted the privilege
But I'm afraid my taste is unrefined
And no one likes cheap wine

[Chorus 1]
When the clouds kiss your eye
Shadows stain on the high-rise
Raise your thumb to the sky
Fossilize

[Verse 2]
You own the burg, we sleep in streets
You dine then waste, we forage to eat
Well who pays the tab when you cross the line?
Who writes the check? Who's herding the swine?

[Post-Verse 2]
Just takes a fence to rule the roost
As long as the scale has been reduced

[Pre-Chorus 2]
How can we see the outside of the pen when survival has possession of our minds?
Calmly walk the line

[Chorus 2]
When the clouds kiss your eye
Shadows stain on the high-rise
Raise your thumb to the sky
Fossilize
All good things come with time
When you know then you'll know
Such a marvelous find in an illusion

[Bridge]
(Vlader Lauder sat in sorrow
For all his teeth had gone
He drank sweet rum
While fingering his gun
And eyeballed a feast
Not one bite he could eat
Somebody cut off his head)

[Verse 3]
Dear radiation my sweet friend
Let agents dance upon my nerves
Let sunlight glow under my skin
Let toxins seep into my soul

[Chorus 2/Outro]
When the clouds kiss your eye
Shadows stain on the high-rise
Raise your thumb to the sky
Fossilize
All good things come with time
When you know then you'll know
Such a marvelous time I will find in an illusion
It's an illusion

[Verse 1]
So I arrived, naked and cold
A welcomed change from the abeyance of a ghost town catacomb
No need for counsel, I appreciate the time, I'm not alone
(Why don't you get my lawyer on the phone?)
There were days these child eyes
Would overlook the ugliness and fantasize
I found my heart for the first time and I awakened in me
I left myself to navigate and oh I felt control
(It seems these sheep have quite an appetite)

[Chorus 1]
Who is the crowd that peers through the cage
As we perform here upon the stage?

[Verse 2]
As the boy became a man
In came a calm sophistication I can hardly understand
So lost in ego, didn't notice when the time had slipped away
(Yeah, everybody's got a sob story)
Jesus Christ was born to die
Leave it to man to levitate his own to idolize
We're simply sociopaths with no communication, baby
I see your angle but we differ from our points of view
(So tell me, what's your cross to bear?)

[Chorus 2]
Who is the crowd that peers through the cage
As we perform here upon the stage?
Tell me a lie in a beautiful way
I believe in answers, just not today

[Bridge]
Hope my wheels don't abandon me now
Seein' that I'm out here alone
I'm runnin' out of fight
And the wind speaks a comforting voice
Guiding me to her arms
Mother, I'm alright
It took the birth of sin to snake-rattle the mind
Before a blow to the head
By the gavel of time to wake up
Won't you wake up?
When did the walking apes decide that nuclear war
Was now the only solution for them keeping the score?
Just wake up
Can't you wake up?
(You do know this is just a simulation, don’t you?)

[Chorus 2]
Who is the crowd that peers through the cage
As we perform here upon the stage?
Tell me a lie in a beautiful way
I believe in answers, just not today