[Intro] [Extremely slow, crushing 45 bpm waltz tempo begins] [A low, hollow industrial synth drone hums in 3/4 time] [A single, heavy, echoing piano chord strikes on the downbeat] [A mournful, weeping cello enters, dragging out long, sad notes] [Verse 1] The sermon started on a Tuesday night He said the plague was born from the inverted light A heavy sentence cast upon my head I fled the room and hid beneath the bed The neighbor's pages hidden in the drawer I stole the shadows, crawling on the floor Trying to force the clay to fit the mold Trying to freeze the fire, turning cold But it didn't fix the mirror, didn't shift the tide It only broke the way I saw the world inside And it poisoned my mind, oh god it poisoned my mind. [Verse 2] [Drums enter: a distant, booming bass drum on the one, dragging snare on the three] [The bassline is a low, distorted thrum, swaying like a funeral march] The nightly routine in the quiet dark They saw the smoke but never saw the spark They called me broken, said I lost control Wrapped up in shame they couldn't understand or hold Packed up my bags and sent me back away Too much disgrace for their clean house to stay They threw the child into the system's jaws To hide the bleeding from their holy laws And it poisoned my mind, oh god it poisoned my mind. [Chorus] [The waltz expands, strings swell with heavy, theatrical sorrow] [Vocals are strained, slow, and desperate, dragging across the beats] We're dancing slowly, dreadfully fully Spinning in the ruins of a house built poorly Around and around at forty-five beats A ghost in the ballroom, a ghost in the streets. [Verse 3] [The music drops back to just the echoing piano and the weeping cello] A second house, the waters started clearing A gentler hand, a voice that was endearing I found the middle ground, the quiet space between Not totally straight, not totally queer, a gray unseen They welcomed me inside, they opened up the door But I was pacing on an outsider's floor Feeling the rot of what I did before Thinking I didn't deserve to have a home Carrying the guilt that I was born to roam Because the seeds were planted deep within the clay Growing their roots while I was looking away. [Bridge] [The tempo feels even heavier, every beat a massive effort] [Distorted guitar feedback begins to moan quietly in the background] I took a vow, I wore the silver ring But I was blinded by that heavy thing I didn't see a person standing in the room I saw a toy to play with in the gloom The roots had tangled, suffocating grace Distorting every line upon her face I don't know how the shadow grew so tall I don't know when I let the hammer fall I look at what I did, the damage that I made And now I'm standing in a frozen glade And I'm so sorry... oh god, I'm so sorry. [Chorus] [Full, doomed orchestration: heavy bass, booming drums, soaring tragic strings] We're dancing slowly, dreadfully fully Spinning in the ruins of a house built poorly Around and around at forty-five beats A ghost in the ballroom, a ghost in the streets. [Outro] [The drums fade out, leaving only the minimalist piano and the low hum] [Vocals are a fading, exhausted whisper on the wind] And it poisoned my mind... Oh god, it poisoned my mind... Around... and around... Forty-five beats... [A final, low piano note sustains for a long time, fading into the dark drone] [The drone cuts out abruptly into complete silence] [End]
