[Intro] The bell beneath the frozen earth Counts no names, remembers all [Verse 1] Where winter sealed the chapel door Your candle guttered into rain I found your letter on the stone Its ink had crossed the years like veins The orchard bowed beneath the frost The well held nothing but the moon I spoke your name into the nave And heard the rafters answer soon [Chorus] Lay down the crown of ash Let every banner fall We are the last ones keeping watch Beside the ruined wall No dawn can mend the severed thread No prayer can turn the tide I carry what the silence left The grief you could not hide [Verse 2] The ravens lifted from the field At the first red break of day Their wings eclipsed the battered sun Then bore the smoke away I saw your hand in every branch That scraped the shutter through the night Still at the gate I waited on Though every road had lost its light [Chorus] Lay down the crown of ash Let every banner fall We are the last ones keeping watch Beside the ruined wall No dawn can mend the severed thread No prayer can turn the tide I carry what the silence left The grief you could not hide [Bridge] If the earth must take us both Let it take us without haste Leave one stone above the snow With your true name carved in place Choir of the absent, rise Hold the final measure wide I will keep the gate unbarred Till the last red ember dies [Final Chorus] Lay down the crown of ash Let every banner fall We are the last ones keeping watch Beside the ruined wall No dawn can mend the severed thread No prayer can turn the tide I carry what the silence left The grief you could not hide [Outro] The bell beneath the frozen earth Falls silent, but the stone remains
