[Intro] Fortuna vertitur Signum manet Tempora mutantur Signum manet [Verse 1] Before your kingdoms had their names They pressed me into clay I turned beneath an eastern sun And watched the years give way On temple walls, on woven cloth On thresholds, wood and stone For fortune, life and turning days Long before your flags were sewn [Verse 2] I crossed the mountains, crossed the seas No army at my side Through prayer and trade, from hand to hand I travelled far and wide I watched the incense fill the air I watched the northern fires burn They carved me underneath the sun And everywhere I learned to turn [Chorus] I was never yours You only wore my face Pinned your sickness to my arms And called the sickness grace Pray to me Blame me Burn me when you're through I've survived better men And worse gods than you [Verse 3] Then wounded pride came looking for me Fear followed close behind Hatred brought its lists of names And madness called them signs You wanted blood, I gave you nothing You wanted proof that you were right So you dressed your fear in ancient clothes And marched it through the night [Verse 4] Black on white and drowned in red You raised me over men You promised them a thousand years And numbered those you'd condemn You fed the earth with ash and bone And called destruction strength You borrowed something old as stone To hide what lay beneath [Chorus] I was never yours You only wore my face Pinned your sickness to my arms And called the sickness grace Pray to me Blame me Burn me when you're through I've survived better men And worse gods than you [Verse 5] A thousand years, you promised loudly Twelve were all you could survive Funny how eternal kingdoms Have such trouble staying alive Your eagles fell, your banners burned Your little gods were gone But every grave you left behind Made certain you lived on [Bridge] Quod fuit, manet Memoria manet Tempora mutantur Signum manet [Instrumental] [Chorus] I was never yours You only wore my face Pinned your sickness to my arms And called the sickness grace Pray to me Blame me Burn me when you're through I've survived your saints and kings I'll carry what you made me too [Outro] Signum manet Signum manet
