This is the place where hard lessons are learned This is the bell that will ring at your burial This is where somber men shake hands, lowered voices carry This is where baby learns the song This is where baby learns Decay in the grain, decay in the barley Our veins teem with traces of lead and mercury Decay in the grain, decay in the foundry We're perfectly calm in the eye of the storm This is the place where mercy was fed to the wolves This is the poetry of the end Our language is not our heritage, it's not music or the written word It's the passing of souls 'neath the blade of the ax Decay in the grain, decay in the barley Our veins teem with traces of lead and mercury Decay in the grain, decay in the foundry Perfectly calm in the eye Perfectly calm in the eye Perfectly calm in the eye of the storm This is the place where hard lessons are learned This is the bell that will ring at your burial