Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

1. Lightning & Snow

There was a flash of lightning, followed by snow
In a moment of silence for myself, after a shock to the soul
With a look of disbelief, alone and numb to the cold
I knew the last moment had passed, before enduring years of sorrow

There was a crack of electric light coming down from a darkened sky
My dreams flashed before my eyes as they were erased from my life

There was a flash of lightning, followed by snow
‘Twas just the moment of change, before years of sorrow
The shock and awe, the fright and woe
I only had one life to live, and life said no

The loss of love, has left me hollow
All bliss twists into pain
Where there was joy, years of grief have followed!

There was a flash of lightning, followed by snow
It struck my heart, only once which made me want it more
The emptiness it left in me will always need to be filled
For it will be there all the time from now on, forever more

There was a crack of electric light, coming down from a darkened sky
My dreams flashed before my eyes, as they were erased from my life

There was a flash of lightning, followed by snow
‘Twas just a moment of pain, before years of sorrow
The shock and awe, the fright and woe
And when I asked for a second chance, life said no

2. Death Is Not An Exit

The bleak life and modern times
Of grey skies and electric light

Life… Life…
So life is precious after all
Respect the body, for it is all you really are
Life… Life…
So life is precious after all
Protect the body for it is all that keeps you on

We are confined to the nature of reality
Where the failure of our system will be the end of our dream
Between the fields of darkness, before and after we exist
Earth is a spiritual place, but there is nothing after this

We were nothing for a billion years before our time
And we will be nothing more again for an eternity yet to come

Whoa! Death is not an exit (death is the flick of the switch)
Whoa! Death is not an exit (death is a flick of the off switch)

The bleak life and modern times of grey skies and electric light
In the bleak life and modern times of grey skies and electric light

We were nothing for a billion years before our time
And we will be nothing more again for an eternity yet to come

Whoa! Death is not an exit (death is the flick of the switch)
Whoa! Death is not an exit (death is a flick of the off switch)

The bleak life and modern times of grey skies and electric light
In the bleak life and modern times of grey skies and electric light

3. Keeper Of The Ledger

It is a fair and noble arrangement
This business of life and existence
Where everything we take from the earth
Will be taken back and returned

The face of god has always been disguised
As the mother, giver and lover of all life
But the keeper of the ledger for the cult of nature
Only concerns that your body returns on time

Return to the earth, pay the price for your existence
Into the hand of earth’s domain
For there is balance to be maintained

The count is cold and calculated, the precision is exact
No one is exempt or unaccounted for
All that was taken will be taken back

The gods have always been believed to love
And care for the quality of our lives
But the keeper of the ledger for the cult of nature
Only concerns with quantity of your time

Return to the earth, pay the price for your existence
Into the hand of earth’s domain
For there is balance to be maintained

We create our myths of purpose
To fill our lives with hope and wonder
But to the keeper of the ledger for the cult of nature
Your body is just another number

It is a fair assumption of our human nature to assume
That the business of nature is inherently good

(When) nature comes collecting, it doesn’t care at all about you
Nature comes collecting, it doesn’t care at all to know you
(When) nature comes collecting, it doesn’t care to hear your story
Nature comes collecting, and only wants you for your body
Nature is the man (after all), nature is the mob (after all)
Nature is the business (after all), nature is the cult

4. Traveling Alone

When I was questioned, I shook my head and stared
I was travelling alone, and had nothing to declare
He asked how I knew for sure
And would I tell everyone I knew
If it would hurt to know the truth

I can be thankful to be alive but I despise this life
In all my years, at best, I’ve only learned just to survive
But when I look around you, I understand why you believe
I see your evidence of God all around me
You have so therefore you are but I have not
You’ve seen the evidence of God but I have not and I have none

(When he asked me) I shook my head and laughed

I never had a taste for life
And I felt there was no turning back
Would I try to take away their hope?
Replace it with reality
Exchange their joy with my bleak view
And leave them miserable like me?

I have searched and I have tried to find a place where I can be
I love my homeland dearly but never carved a place in society
But when I look around you I understand why you believe
I see your evidence of God, all around me
You have so therefore you are, but I have not
You are too rich for hate, and I am too poor to love

When I asked him, he shook his head and stared
I see no evidence of God in the men from the west

5. Adora Vivos

A moment of silence but not one moment more
The dead are to be forgotten, we are here to be adored

Look me in the eyes, don’t believe a word they say
For life is good, life is glory, though we live one life only
Tell me in real time, don’t hesitate to profess
Love me in the flesh, don’t wait ’til death to sing my praise

A moment of silence but not one moment more
The dead are to be forgotten, we are here to be adored

In the bleak life and modern times, under grey skies and electric light
Mortal men are living gods, more real than any god ever was

Adora vivos
Our people are civilised
Love the living while they’re still alive
Adora vivos
Our people are civilised
We shouldn’t worship the dead

In the bleak life and modern times, under grey skies and electric light
Where the living still walk the earth alone, more real than any god ever was

In bleak life (we are realer than gods!)
More real than any god ever was
In modern times (we are realer than gods!)
More real than any god ever was

Under grey skies and electric light, we the living still walk the earth alone
Where mortal men are living gods, more real than any god ever was

A moment of silence(for the dead) but not one moment more
They’ve all gone to be forgotten, we’re still here to be adored

Look me in the face, and don’t believe a word I say
This life is hard, this life is lonely, and we are here for one night only
See the pain in my eyes, the defeat of my age
Feel the urgency of time, and don’t wait ’til death to sing my praise

A moment of silence (for the dead) but not one moment more
The dead are to be forgotten, we are here to be adored
If you’re waiting for tomorrow, save yourself for another day
But if you’re living in the moment, don’t wait (’til death) to sing my praise

Adora vivos
Our people are civilised
Love the living while they’re still alive
Adora vivos
Our people are civilised
We shouldn’t worship the dead

In the bleak life and modern times, under grey skies and electric light
Where the living still walk the earth alone, more real than any god ever was

In bleak life (we are realer than gods!)
More real than any god ever was
In modern times (we are realer than gods!)
More real than any god ever was

In the bleak life and modern times, under grey skies and electric light
Mortal men are living gods, more real than any god ever was

6. Silver

Come when you need me, leave me when you need to be free
Come when you want me, leave me when you need me to understand
Did you fall out of love because you fell in love again?
Did you fall out of love because you fell in love with someone new?

When the new love shined with all the promise of all I couldn’t give to you
And the new life offered all you wanted and you had to choose

I helped to carry you, I took good care of you, I wanted us to continue
But I knew that you would leave when the time was right for you
Life was a relay, I passed it off to you
You ran away, and won the race
You never looked back to see what happened to me, for I was only second place

When the new love, shined with all the promise of all I couldn’t give to you
And the new life offered all you wanted and you were asked to choose

We come together to share your sorrows, where you save yourself for someone else
You keep your distance in times of hope, while I cry (for you) all by myself

When you’re silver, you never come first, when you’re silver, the truth always hurts
I don’t want unconditional love, I’ll always need to be judged
I don’t want a traditional love, I’ll always need to be wanted, loved by someone else
When did the city make you so cold?
We share your sorrows but I dine alone
When did the city make you so cold?
I cry alone while you dine with someone else
When did the city make you so cold?
We cry together but I dine alone
When did the city make you so cold?
We share your sorrows but I dine alone
I always dine alone…

7. Career Suicide (Is Not Real Suicide)

We were born to live in a desperate time
Where it seems the death of dreams, is the end of life

But we have only one life to live, just one opportunity
And failure is not the end of the world, that’s just society!

Career suicide is not real suicide, career suicide is alright
Career suicide is not real suicide, career suicide is fine

We are all expendable and we can be replaced
They have supplies of infinite lives and no time to waste

But we have only one life to live, one time to exist
And though there is no afterlife (after all), there is still more to life than this!

Career suicide is not real suicide, career suicide is alright
Career suicide is not real suicide, career suicide is fine
Career suicide is not real suicide it’s not real suicide at all…
Career suicide is not real suicide, it’s not the end of the world…

Death is the failure of our parts
Failure is just the death of dreams
There’s more to life than success
But only death is real
Only death is real
Death is the failure of our parts
Failure is just the death of dreams
There’s more to life than success
But only death is real

8. Modern Life Architecture

When we’re young, we design a plan, we work, we build, we make it real
And in the moment it becomes complete, the first cracks start to appear

A weak foundation, finally revealed
In the desperation, when the walls came tumbling down

Oh, In my prime
Oh, never to return
Oh, as I once was
A broken man, living half a life (without you)
On the path to recovery, as a sign of the times, with the empires crumbling
I left all dreams abandoned, on the steps of a modern life

In defeat we redesign the plan, and we give it just one more chance
As we take another deep breath, and prepare for the worst again

A life in crisis is always threatened by time
For the longer it takes to be restored
The less likely it is to occur

Oh, in my prime
Oh, never to return
Oh, as I once was
A broken man, living all alone (without you)
On the path to recovery, with the empires crumbling
I left all dreams abandoned, on the steps of a modern life

On the path to recovery, with the empires crumbling
I left all dreams abandoned with you, on the steps of a modern life

There is always hope, of course, that one day, we will rise again
But this modern life architecture, Is crumbling, under the weight of the world

9. Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye)

To mourn the end is to say goodbye
Not to yearn for that which we will never have again

We cry for our life together because we know it will end
And we try to understand how we could ever love again

Save your tears, at the end of our time
We’ve cried enough in our lives at the end of our time

Just kiss my ashes goodbye

We miss them so much now that they are gone
Took them for granted for living so long

We read their words again and we listen to them again
As we start to understand what they were trying to say all along

Save your tears
At the end of our time, kiss my ashes goodbye
Kiss my ashes goodbye

10. Finality

When we have all gone to the silence of eternity
To first be forgotten, and lost in, the records of the earth

Could I still miss you then, in the time and space after life
When no one is searching anymore, and where we are nowhere to be found

We didn’t spend our life together
And I will miss you forever

The choice was mine to long for a time that will never come
Though we leave the world apart I still went peacefully, quietly
With you still firmly in my heart
I will wait forever
I wait…

11. Alternate Ending

In the darkness, under the stars
With enough warning, to pull off to the side, in time

In the end, was there anyone to share in your joy?
I woke up one day and realised it was already over

Back on the highway, under the moon
My final moments, still wondering about you…

In the end, was there anyone to share in your joy?
I woke up for years without you to realise it was already over for me

Now making amendments to the dream story
Changing the ending as I would like it to be

We were together in a memory
And we live forever, in finality
Holding on to a dream
When the end couldn’t come slow enough for me
Holding on…

Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light