Death is callous, strange and sudden 
A pious, indignant, drooling glutton 
Whose hands are soft, warm, inviting 
Whose desperate advances seem useless fighting 
Whose ragged tooth should rip through flesh 
Which marinates in rancid breath 
How quick one turns to a violent death 
When cowardice remains where courage left 
No guiding light to lead the way 
Just rot declining to decay 

The would-be hangman hangs its head 
To find its victim not quite dead 
But rising now from beneath the gallows 
A driving force cuts through the shadows 

Strike from the heart, cut to the quick 
With no remorse it’s politic 
With crippling blows to the body and head 
Drip by drip until it’s finally bled out 

One moment defines a lifetime 
No one recalls the crawl or the climb 
Or the trembling legs that take the first two steps 
Or the moment the lungs decide to take breath 

The darkness comes to life 
Underneath its cloak beat the blood red eyes 
Whose haunting stare leaves one paralyzed 

This is the nightmare from which one never awakes 
Laughing at the feeble whose whole body shakes 
Who pounce upon the weakness and the past mistakes 
Whose hands grip the heart and cause the heartbreak 
So strike from the heart, cut to core 
Leave only the sinew washed up on the shore 
Sever the head of the beast with the crown 
Never back down 
(Back down) 
Never back down 

And as the light breaks through the darkest night 
It finds the victor dressed in white 
Rising now from beneath the gallows 
A driving force cuts through the shadows