[INTRO — BURNING CALLIOPE / DISTANT ARTILLERY] [Child’s whisper] The carnival never died… It was waiting for someone headless enough to lead it. [WAR DRUMS APPROACH] [VERSE 1] Headless Jester at the war-front gate, dragging twelve bells and a blade called Fate. Coat tails burning, boots painted red— laughing through the hole where they buried his head. Cannons coughed fire. The black sky split. He searched through the fallen for the face that fit. Not the face of a king. Not the mask of a saint. He chose the one grinning through terror and pain. Raised it high— [ALL INSTRUMENTS CUT] Then crowned the wound. [VERTEBRAE CLICK / FLAMES ERUPT] [PRE-CHORUS] Left foot—life! Right foot—dead! Dance through the fire with a war in your head! One bell for mercy! Two bells for dread! THREE BELLS— [SCREAMED] REIGNITE THE DEAD! [CHORUS] FLEX—HEADLESS JESTER! SET THE WAR-FRONT ABLAZE! Turn the trenches into stages, turn the terror into praise! Explode the flames! Let the buried be fed! Strike the match inside the marrow— REIGNITE THE LIVING DEAD! The Carnival of the Damned is finally awake! Every chain becomes a rhythm! Every grave begins to shake! We were never gone— we were waiting instead! Now the Carnival of the Damned is awake— AWAKE— ALIVE AGAIN! [POST-CHORUS — MILITARY CHANT] Alive in the left! Alive in the right! Alive in the thing that they buried from sight! No master! No mask! No name overhead! WE ARE THE LIVING! WE ARE THE DEAD! [VERSE 2] The Ferris wheel turned like a saw through the moon. The horses broke free from the black carousel. Fire-breathers swallowed the battlefield whole, then coughed up the stars they had stolen from Hell. Acrobats swung from the wires of war. Clowns kicked their coffins through parliament doors. The strongman tore every “NO” into two— Then the Jester pointed his dead eyes at you. [VOICE SHIFTS DIRECTLY INTO LISTENER’S EAR] “Which life did you bury to become what they chose? Which voice did you strangle to fit in their clothes?” [WHISPERED CROWD] Choose… [BUILDING CHANT] Choose… Choose… CHOOSE! [PRE-CHORUS] He twisted his head till it faced the unseen. Past what had happened— toward what still could be. He sang one melody, savage and sweet— And every hidden choice climbed back to its feet. [CHORUS] FLEX—HEADLESS JESTER! SET THE WAR-FRONT ABLAZE! Turn the trenches into stages! Make the nightmare misbehave! Explode the flames! Let the buried be fed! Strike the match inside the marrow— REIGNITE THE LIVING DEAD! The Carnival of the Damned is finally awake! Every scar becomes an entrance! Every fear becomes a face! We were never lost— only left for dead! Now the Carnival of the Damned is awake— AWAKE— ALIVE AGAIN! [BRIDGE — THE UNSEEN MELODY] [Everything drops to music box and one clean voice] La-la-la… There’s a door in the flame. La-la-la… There’s a life without a name. La-la-la… Every road you never led— Never vanished. It kept breathing with the dead. [THE MELODY SPREADS THROUGH THOUSANDS OF VOICES] We are the unlived! The unfed! The unread! The words swallowed whole! The dreams left for dead! We are the maybes you buried beneath— And tonight we return with fire in our teeth! [BREAKDOWN — CARNIVAL WAR MARCH] LOAD THE CANNON WITH THE OLD COMMANDS! LIGHT THE FUSE WITH OUR SEVERED HANDS! BLOW THE WALLS FROM THE BACK OF THE MIND! THE DAMNED ARE AWAKE— AND THE DEAD ARE ALIVE! [BASS DROP] HA—HA! Head back on! HA—HA! Mask is gone! HA—HA! Sound the gong! THE HIDDEN CHOICE HAS CHOSEN WRONG— [GLITCHED CORRECTION] —or chosen itself. [FINAL CHORUS — MAXIMUM CHAOS] FLEX—HEADLESS JESTER! MAKE THE HEAVENS MISBEHAVE! March the Carnival through the fire! Turn the war into a rave! EXPLODE THE FLAMES! WAKE THE BLOOD! WAKE THE BREATH! WAKE THE NAME! Every heartbeat is a weapon! Every choice can change the game! The Carnival of the Damned is finally awake! Not returning as the fallen— WE RETURN AS WHAT WE MAKE! We were never gone! We were dreaming ahead! NOW THE CARNIVAL OF THE DAMNED IS AWAKE— AWAKE— AWAKE— [ONE IMPOSSIBLY HIGH JESTER LAUGH] ALIVE! [OUTRO — BURNING CALLIOPE SLOWS] [Head rotates backward] A crown for the wound… A song for the flame… The dead gave him a head. The living— gave him a name. [Final bell] Zerxi.
