1. |
When Dreams Converge
07:23
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Call me Ishmael.
I walk alone and stumble through the stages of existence
while wishing only to embrace the comforts of a dead childhood.
I know not who I am.
The real world is a heavy world, and I cannot carry its weight.
The walls of society fall upon me. The future is uncertain.
Yet they tell me who to be:
A bolt in a machine, a sterile face of indifference.
I refuse to follow, but I dare not take a step on my own.
Map in hand, I’ve lost my direction.
Why must it be this way?
Survive through servitude, or die in vain.
We work so hard to obtain nothing.
I will not conform. I will never surrender to the masses.
This life is a struggle, and I fear I may fail.
But I must endure their expectations and surpass my shattered will.
Happiness should not be forgotten to satisfy others.
Our mirrors reflect stubborn woes. It is time to smash the glass.
Money is thin paper that fails to keep the heart warm.
I will not let greed corrupt my intentions.
I only want to exist.
We live superficial roles in a superficial play.
Who are we? What will we become?
The answers are within ourselves.
Ambition sleeps beneath a limited sky.
Follow your dreams. Have hope. Never awaken.
I’m too tired for this world.
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2. |
Uncertainty of Time
09:50
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You lay in a hospital bed, fighting for your life.
The room was cold, the air thick with fear,
as the vicious disease devoured your insides.
Death hovered above like an impatient vulture.
He sang a lullaby and whispered your name.
The lights shrouded us in fluorescent sorrow,
and we made plans for unlikely days.
You were shackled to plastic tubes
while machines measured each precious breath.
Your pale skin covered fragile bones,
and your waxy eyes flickered
like a candle whose wick was about to end.
You shared regrets with loved ones
and counted both your time and your blessings.
God tried to take back the gift given the world
with a doctor’s words that cause atheists to pray.
But you refused to give in
and maintained hope in a hopeless situation.
In the end, you defied the odds.
You defeated death with your will to live.
The medicine had left you wilting
like a flower in a vase filled with gasoline,
yet you sprouted again.
It's amazing how a body once so weak
could belong to a spirit so strong.
You have survived to fight another day.
Thank you for your strength and bravery.
You’re my inspiration. I’m so proud of you.
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3. |
Betrayed by a Thief
07:01
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You stand at my door,
the one you’ve walked through a thousand times before,
but today you’ve come as a guest, not my lover.
The distance is killing me, you’re staring at the ground,
and I pray this can’t be happening.
Speak softly. Silence isn’t quiet.
You mumble your confession and tell me his name,
forcing me to deal with what you’ve done.
I’m blinded by love, denial, anger, hatred.
I have a million questions, but I have no tongue.
Through my tears, you become a blurry shadow of your former self.
I beg you not to leave. If I lose you, I’ll be lost.
You claim you still love me, but are no longer in love with me.
As you walk away, your apology echoes in my ear.
The word “sorry” means nothing. It provides no comfort.
In a matter of minutes, you’ve destroyed years of togetherness.
I’m sickened and torn, ripped apart by sadness and disgust.
To you I gave my soul, my life's ambition;
to me you gave solely your dispassionate attention.
I’ve been betrayed by a thief.
You stole my heart.
You used to say it was us against the world.
I guess the world won.
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4. |
08/22/09
01:23
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5. |
Memento Mori
07:08
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Help me. Alert the press. Alert the authorities:
The sky is falling. The past is over.
I’ve watched my brothers fall,
and they’ve become strangers with hollow eyes.
They now own two faces,
pale and devoid of what once was
and will never be again.
They sell themselves short,
purchasing prosthetic smiles
and poisoning their veins with hopelessness.
I cannot ignore this anymore.
To them I turn my back, expecting a knife.
Live life. Do not numb it.
Remember, you will die.
I’ve cherished our friendships, but now they are no more.
You have become a simple nod and a hello among a crowd of the living dead.
You walk a traveled path immersed in darkness.
Follow me into the light.
Take my hand, and let me guide you.
There is so much more to this world.
Nothing makes me sadder than to see you waste away.
Time passes by which you will never again receive.
Open your eyes to this ugly sight.
Open your ears to this deaf sound.
This life is not for you.
Many rest in the ground because of what you crave.
You must rise. You must overcome.
We were all once happy without these chemicals.
My dear friends, I love you.
Let this not become a requiem.
Let this be a resurrection.
You don’t belong here.
So let’s go home.
Follow me home.
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6. |
Noble Truths
08:30
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My head is a prison I cannot escape.
My skin is too tight for my bones.
My nights are sleepless and unforgiving.
My blood races to keep pace with irrational thoughts.
Goddamn this self-inflicted doubt.
Goddamn this cursed mind of mine.
Invisible hands choke my dry throat.
Nervous electricity stirs my insides.
Overanalyzing is like a circle: pointless and never-ending.
Paralysis takes over. Logic drowns in cold sweat.
I second-guess tomorrow, a dark future unfounded.
I feel like a static sparrow
flapping against a relentless wind.
I must remember to take a step back, a deep breath,
and control of my imagination.
Merry thoughts unravel like hatching flowers
sprung from the rain of an ocean sour.
Whether you think you're winning or losing in life,
there's no one keeping score.
Sanity is no more than the ability to hide how broken you are.
Everyone's insane.
We are failures, infamous for our flaws,
frightened by our frailties, and better for them all.
No one cares about you.
No one cares about me.
We’re on separate paths,
sipping on uncertainty from the same glass.
Everyone suffers.
It’s a truth of living, the price of happiness.
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7. |
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Tell me what happened to our love.
Why has your heart ceased to shine?
Tell me what happened to our love.
You said we’d be forever.
Forever has proven itself a façade.
The words you spoke carried the weight of a feather
and floated in the air, into an oblivion
I stared at through my window each night.
But death handed down by you has brought upon new life.
You opened my heart. I’ve sewn it shut.
These smiles are no longer painted upon my face.
From the darkness has come new light.
I thank you for the pain, as I now know who I am:
A person, an individual, one with undying strength.
Of the many years I’ve lived, you were but a few.
My eyes leak no longer while dreaming of your embrace.
They look to the open sky, wondering what’s to come for me,
ignoring the questioning shadows you have long since created in my mind.
Now there is only light. Now I am alive.
The chains you locked to my bleeding wrists have fallen to an old world.
My dreams are void of you.
I stand before the sun, a smile on my face.
I’ll sacrifice nothing but pity for your empty eyes.
No more sadness. No more pain.
I gave you my all and have lost so much, but the future has erased that past.
I will live beyond this. I am better than you.
You are but a forgotten ghost. I now live for myself.
I’ve found an end to this endless sea,
and I’ll never drown my dreams for tomorrow ever again.
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8. |
Simple Math
09:04
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God bless America, land of the deceived,
where government aims to control its people
and exploit our complacency.
The present portends a dystopian future.
Beware the signs of tyranny.
We’re sold the illusion of choice
through campaign promises and attractive slogans,
flower-scented soap with which to brainwash the public.
The White House is a moated castle,
and the Capitol is a domed den of wolves appointed by hopeful sheep.
We must reject attempts to divide us, distract us, suppress us, oppress us.
In one defiant voice, let us unite.
Democracy is in danger. Our freedom is in jeopardy.
Fear mongers deny the existence of facts, try to rewrite history,
and work to blindfold the country’s eyes with a patriotic flag.
The media force-feeds us propaganda.
Agencies monitor our electronics,
and surveillance drones could soon outnumber bald eagles in flight.
Protest injustice. Question the unquestioned.
Do not forget: Two plus two equals four.
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9. |
Descent From Heaven
02:27
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Wings shattered.
Blood-red feathers
floating in a burning sky,
plucked by sins committed.
A halo that shines no longer.
My angel, my angel has died.
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10. |
Fair Jilt
07:04
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This morning she awoke with a bag over her head,
and now her screams echo from my trunk.
I love you, she once claimed.
But now her lies are muffled, her cheating hands bound with tape.
Perfidy was once punishable by death.
Where has since gone the executioner?
I raise the knife, shouting fuck you for this plague.
She is beauty. She is death.
Her throat shall bleed tonight, a river of scarlet love.
Tonight she dies a lonely slut.
Spread your legs and fly like the whore butterfly that you are,
for, in my eyes, you no longer have wings.
You once were an angel in my heart, now a demon before my torn self.
Haunted by you I am with the closing of my eyes.
Remove these stones from my chest, this knot from my stomach.
Allow me to dream again, to wake again, without thoughts of you.
Release me from your webs of deceit and pledges of comfort.
Free me from this curse with your screams.
I once would have died for just one more tomorrow,
but now will kill for the promise of no more yesterdays.
I miss you and all that we had.
The smiles, the joy, the laughter: All of it was broken with the silencing of your voice.
I now appreciate my mortality, having looked for an end to this pain.
But more importantly, I wished only for you.
You have shunned me from your heart,
only for me to find its vacancy filled by another.
And it’s cold here in the dark. It's so cold in the dark.
Love is a hateful game.
Prepare and take your last breath.
Suffer the pain I have endured.
Veiled in blood, you will become my bride.
With him you have learned all the lessons I had hoped you would never learn.
Well tonight, my dear, I shall teach you your last.
I love you.
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11. |
The Ender
07:08
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The Doomsday Clock is ticking, and time is running out.
Afflicted with stupidity, arrogance, and greed,
mankind pushes the second hand closer to midnight.
Armageddon will be our own doing, not God’s.
Will small men behind tall desks of power
launch clouds of fire and nuclear winter?
Will we idiotically create machines with minds too smart?
Will we be the spoiled children who killed Mother Nature?
Will we stay ill prepared for a global virus?
Designed to overconsume and overpopulate,
humans are destined to self-destruct.
The writing’s on the wall, but we refuse to read it.
Ignorance will be our end.
We need to learn and evolve to save ourselves.
The time for change is now.
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The Gates of Ivory Connecticut
The Gates of Ivory, a two-man band from Connecticut, plays emotional and complex music that takes inspiration from old- school metalcore while striving to create something altogether new. Known for energetic live performances with sporadic screams and a swinging guitar, the band is meant to be experienced rather than simply heard. ... more
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