BYZANTINE LYRICS

1. New Ways To Bear Witness

Violence imposed with max severity
Plagued by misery we can’t give up the ghost
When all you know in life is partiality
You flee so easily from pillar to the post
We’ll hold the line as beatings grow
And possibilities of fatalities

One day those victimized will revolt
Against a world that views them as less
Exposing all they know through a lens the stories told
Viralized with no end

Silent eyes awake to see official crime
By those that we rely, deceiving their own kind
Whispers once low, now they shout what matters most
Streaming evidence confirms what we have known
They tow the lies, it’s no surprise
Dividing us in hopes of disharmony

One day those victimized will revolt
Against a world that views them as less
Exposing all they know
Through a lens the stories told

My children live in a different world
And I hold myself to blame
As they redefine accountability

How can I ever know what’s good for you
When our faces are obscured by a screen
We need to touch, we need to feel, we need to hear
Or is it all just a dream

My children live in a different world
And I hope it’s not too late
As they’re taught to love with humility

2. Vile Maxim

I will accept no more
Heirloom of hate has run its course
The result of our cowardice
A culture that educates
Through mass hypnosis

I know the strife it breeds
Toe the line or cut the strings
If you riot for change or
Look the other way and concede
They punish equally

Once more the instinct of disdain
Will feed their zealot ways
And they believe in nothing
Once more the instinct of disdain
It seems that nothing's changed
Vile maxim the masters of mankind

I won't weep for those
Relic of shame deserving burial
An out of date legacy
That has run afoul
Scheduled for castration
I walk to carry the load
Shoulder the burden
For the broken home
A weakness from within
You will not perceive
Give no quarter, no reprieve

Once more the instinct of disdain
Will feed their zealot ways
And they believe in nothing
Once more the instinct of disdain
It seems that nothing's changed
Vile maxim the masters of mankind

Now is the time we set the fires alight
I can't take anymore
This cult of intolerance

3. Map Of The Creator

You mustn't cry for me
This is how it's meant to be
What I must do won't be forgotten
A million miles away
We're isolated by the space between
The Map of the Creator

We must inscribe the way
Hieroglyphic life contained
The more I learn
The more that I know nothing
Now you wait in the wings
The dynasty of all beautiful things
Designed by the Maker

My mind attempts to wane and wander
All of my thoughts in vain
Detachment washes over me
It's never over

I won't return unscathed from this
Astounding futility
Isolation takes its toll, subtly

Mother Earth has earned her challenge
Never to emerge the same
Cradling humanity
It's never over

I am tempted by thoughts of death
To crack the serenity
Contact has broken away
This is my reward

4. Dead As Autumn Leaves

I lie alone in silence
Of what will never be
A cry alone, empty silence
Dead as autumn leaves

We'll weave the truth
Crawling through rubble and combing
The wreckage for lies
Binding those you've victimized
All behold the hollow vacant eyes

When the dawn of the morning comes
I lie alone in silence
Of what will never be
A cry alone, empty silence
Dead as autumn leaves
Resent what you became

We seek the truth
Pausing the cower
I lay bare your unblemished guise
When the fire engulfs
And light wind blows
Stoking the pain consumed to purify

When the dawn of the morning comes
I lie alone in silence
Of what will never be
A cry alone, empty silence
Dead as autumn leaves
Resent what you became

I lie alone in silence
Of what will never be
A cry alone, empty silence
Dead as autumn leaves
Pretend that you could change

5. Trapjaw

Pulling weeds of doubt and guilt
Clearing the path to clarity
Now my mind is free to think and ponder
No more squandering of time

Man will always try to surrender his free will
I have chosen never to obey
Wolves of the forest awake to a fresh kill
And you will always follow take the bait

I explore the inconceivable
The world is waiting at my door
Vicious tools of mass consumption
A trap we must ignore

Man will always try to surrender his free will
I have chosen never to obey
Wolves of the forest awake to a fresh kill
And you will always follow take the bait

I have put away belief in God
And Hell is now an afterthought
Shed myself from these restraints
And now my path is clear again

You trade the here and now for everlasting lies
Just a barrier to divide those side by side
They seek to define

Man will always try to surrender his free will
I have chosen never to obey
Wolves of the forest awake to a fresh kill
And you will always follow take the bait

6. The Subjugated

We've come prepared
Suspending all benevolence
You've bathed in arrogance
Our retribution we will bring
She flies on unforgiving wings
Your children in Heaven shall weep and grieve
As holy gates open and nothing leaves
So down the cattle chute you will move
And die for him who's died for you

Blinded by our pride we've missed the signs
We now beg of you, Lord, hear our cries

The scars you've made altered the plan
Our end will never be ushered by man
So down the cattle chute you will move
And the burden of Earth will be removed
You are quarantined to the abyss
With all life forms deleterious
You have lost all that you will ever lose
Your request to be saved by God, refused

Blinded by our pride we've missed the signs
We now beg of you, Lord, hear our cries

7. Incremental

The lessons are severe
The pains of growth are needed
I do not posses the knowledge
By shielding myself from the rain

We bloom above the thorns we need
From the onset we ripen and rot
We know the bitterness of the soil
From intertwining long ago

The sign of things to come
The pleasure inside the suffering
Now guide the broken compass
Back to the point where you most learned
We bloom above the thorns we need
From the onset we ripen and rot
We know the soil's bitterness
From intertwining long ago

No more shall the weeds choke me
In increments I expand my horizon

8. The Cicada Tree

A calendar underground
A life of slumber we won't be found
So new to wings and to flight
Our stuttered song a proof of life to be

Overwhelmed by the instinct of the chime
Death is near and we waste no time
We are the prophets of Spring
Sound of the drums we lull to sleep
We magnify under trees
Our chorus hangs upon the breeze to hear

A calendar underground
A life of slumber we won't be found
We magnify under trees
Our chorus hangs upon the breeze to hear

9. Verses Of Violence

I never thought of you a friend
On whom my trust depends
You are a snake in all the tales
Where men went wrong
I never swallowed the lies
Or need them by my side
I can anticipate the darkness in the light

We never benefit from silence
It drags us down
And now our bearings are unknown
We'll never understand
Verses of violence
Dragging us down

And I run forever
From the glory and the praise
And I run forever
Till the end of my days

As we retrace where we went wrong
Gazed with wayward eyes for far too long

And now I look deep inside
To find words for the wise
We must eliminate the veil to see the face
And now we live in frightened times
With hearts ablaze
As we navigate this never-ending maze

We never benefit from silence
It drags us down
And now our bearings are unknown
We'll never understand
Verses of violence
Dragging us down

And I run forever
From the glory and the praise
And I run forever
Till the end of my days

As we retrace where we went wrong
Gazed with wayward eyes for far too long

My coffin dripping black
With pitch sealed by the sun
Dead flowers grip the outside
Weighing me down by the ton
The wisdom laid down
At my feet I will never receive
I'm pulled down by the body
Of my own machinery

10. Moving In Stereo

[originally by The Cars]

Life's the same, I'm moving in stereo
Life's the same except for my shoes
Life's the same, you're shaking like tremolo
Life's the same, it's all inside you

It's so easy to blow up your problems
It's so easy to play up your breakdown
It's so easy to fly through a window
It's so easy to fool with the sound

It's so tough to get up
It's so tough
It's so tough to live up
It's so tough on you

Life's the same, I'm moving in stereo
Life's the same except for my shoes
Life's the same, you're shaking like tremolo
Life's the same, it's all inside you

[Instrumental Break]

Life's the same, I'm moving in stereo
Life's the same except for my shoes
Life's the same, you're shaking like tremolo
Life's the same, it's all inside you

11. Servitude

[originally by Fishbone]

Who, who do you serve?
For whose empire and for whose whims?
Is your honor judged by men?
Will you lie?
Will you lie if they say it's their will?
Will you die or continue to kill?
Until the generals all have their fill

Craven cowards
Armchair warriors
You will serve them well

What, what will you write?
For whose pleasure, for whose delight?
Will your readers see your light?
Will you say that the singer can't blow you away
That we hate people just 'cause they're gay
Women and children all stay away

To whom, whom do you pray?
Do dollars wash your sins away
Does God love cold hard cash?
Do you say, if we all just continue to pay
All our ailments will go away
And our souls all will be saved

God's not with you
"Holy Roller"
Your heart dwells in hell

Why, why do you run?
Our awareness has spoiled your fun
Our eyes see you too clear
Will you hide from the joy of expressing our pride
For the leaders and people who've died
While combating your genocide

Chains are breaking
Minds are waking
Soon we'll serve no more





BYZANTINE LYRICS