[Intro – Spoken, over a slow, warped music box melody and dripping water] Yo. They told me the monsters were under the bed. In the closet. In the dark. So I checked. I checked every corner. Every shadow. Every silence. And I found nothing. Because the monster wasn't hiding from me. It was hiding in me. Let me tell you about it. [Verse 1 – Slow, crawling, storytelling] I wake up every morning with a stranger in my skin He wears my face, he knows my name, he knows where I have been He knows the things I've buried, he knows the things I've done He knows the blood upon my hands, he knows I'm not the one He whispers when I'm sleeping, he screams when I'm awake He tells me that the world is fake, that everyone's a fake That everyone's a liar, that everyone's a fraud That everyone deserves the things I've hidden from the Lord I try to drown him out with noise, with drink, with anything But he just gets louder every time I try to sing He doesn't want my peace, he doesn't want my joy He just wants to remind me that I'm nothing but a toy [Chorus – Creepy, anthemic, singalong] The rot is in the marrow, the rot is in the bone The rot is in the places that I've never really known The rot is in the mirror, the rot is in my eyes The rot is in the part of me that never really dies The rot is in the marrow, the rot is in the soul The rot is in the pieces that I'll never make whole The rot is in the marrow, the rot is in the mind The rot is in the part of me I'll never leave behind [Verse 2 – Faster, more manic, spiralling] I cut myself open just to see what's inside Looking for the thing that I've been trying to hide But all I found was emptiness, a hollow, and a hum A cavern full of nothing and a beating, bleeding drum I pulled it out, I held it up, I watched it in my hand A heart that wasn't beating, a heart that wasn't planned I put it back, I stitched myself, I carried on the lie But the rot had already taken root, and it was spreading wide Through every vein, through every nerve, through every memory Through every face I've ever loved, through everyone I see I'm not a monster, I'm a man, at least that's what I said But men don't carry rot like this, men don't wake up dead [Chorus – Creepy, anthemic, singalong] The rot is in the marrow, the rot is in the bone The rot is in the places that I've never really known The rot is in the mirror, the rot is in my eyes The rot is in the part of me that never really dies The rot is in the marrow, the rot is in the soul The rot is in the pieces that I'll never make whole The rot is in the marrow, the rot is in the mind The rot is in the part of me I'll never leave behind [Bridge – Stripped back, spoken over dripping water and distant whispers] I tried to cut it out. Once. Twice. Three times. But you can't cut out the rot. Because the rot is the flesh. The rot is the bone. The rot is the you That everyone else sees When they look at you. And the only thing scarier than the rot Is the thought of what's underneath it. Nothing. There's nothing underneath it. Just more rot. Just deeper rot. Just the rot that's been there Since the beginning. Since before you were born. Since the first breath you ever took. That's the truth. That's the horror. That's me. [Verse 3 – Slower, more sinister, resolved] So now I sit and watch the rot spread through my hands And I don't try to stop it, 'cos I finally understand That the rot is not a curse, it's not a punishment, not a plague The rot is just the truth of what we are before the grave We're all rotting, we're all dying, from the moment we arrive We're just walking, talking corpses, trying to feel alive And the sooner that you accept it, the sooner you can be free From the terror of the rot that's eating you and me So I'll sit here in the darkness, with the rot upon my skin And I'll welcome it like family, 'cos it's always been within It's not a monster under the bed, it's not a ghost in the hall The rot is just the truth of life, and it's coming for us all [Chorus – Slow, layered, haunting] The rot is in the marrow, the rot is in the bone The rot is in the places that I've never really known The rot is in the mirror, the rot is in my eyes The rot is in the part of me that never really dies The rot is in the marrow, the rot is in the soul The rot is in the pieces that I'll never make whole The rot is in the marrow, the rot is in the mind The rot is in the part of me I'll never leave behind Never leave behind Never leave behind [Outro – Spoken, over fading music box and dripping water] So yeah. That's the rot. It's not under the bed. It's not in the closet. It's not in the dark. It's in you. It's in me. It's in everything. And the horror isn't that it exists. The horror is that we spend our whole lives Pretending it doesn't. But it does. And it's winning. And it always will.
