[Verse 1] I kept a wolf in my ribs Named it hunger, named it grief Fed it pennies, fed it lies Watched it sleep beneath my teeth The dark came dressed like home Same old coat, same iron door But I learned to lock the gate And leave its footsteps on the floor [Pre-Chorus] Starve the ghost in the basement Let it howl till it fades I got a fire in my pocket And a map made out of scars [Chorus] Feed the beast, feed the beast Give it gold, give it heat Starve the demon, let it weaken Watch it crawl beneath my feet Feed the beast, feed the beast I’m not built to stay beneath From the smoke I rise to morning And I’m taking every dream [Verse 2] My doubt was a river stone Heavy in my coat for years I kept sinking to the bottom While the shore kept drawing near Now I bite into the hard days Like an apple with a knife Spit the seeds into the gutter Grow a forest out of life [Pre-Chorus] Starve the ghost in the basement Let it howl till it fades I got a fire in my pocket And a map made out of scars [Chorus] Feed the beast, feed the beast Give it gold, give it heat Starve the demon, let it weaken Watch it crawl beneath my feet Feed the beast, feed the beast I’m not built to stay beneath From the smoke I rise to morning And I’m taking every dream [Bridge] I was a locked-up seed Under a wintered field Now the rain knows my name And the cracked earth learns to yield If the void wants my shadows It can choke on all my dust I was made for the open I was made to become [Final Chorus] Feed the beast, feed the beast Give it gold, give it heat Starve the demon, let it weaken Watch it crawl beneath my feet Feed the beast, feed the beast I’m not built to stay beneath From the smoke I rise to morning And I’m taking every dream
