[Intro] [instrumental with kalimba and cello drone] [Verse 1] [Lead vocal: soft, intimate, over nylon guitar and cello] Look at you now, all composure and pose Every hair in its place, I suppose Not so long ago, you were wicked and lithe A shudder of instinct, a flash of a scythe You made me gasp, you made me choke On the beautiful, terrible words that you spoke [Chorus] [Music erupts into Art Rock: driving drums, fuzzed bass, distorted electric guitar] [Lead vocal: layered] But I set the glass in your sockets I pinned your wildness down I built you a cage of my patience The finest in this town And I can only mount what is finished What has no fight left to give Oh, I make you perfect forever By forbidding you to live [Verse 2] [Lead vocal: breathy again, but with more tension] I remember your pulse, a drum in the deep A promise the sensible couldn't keep And with my fine tools and my steadiest hands I followed the grain of your feral commands 'Til you stopped your commotion, you stopped your display And became just a fixture of yesterday [Chorus] [Music hits harder, vocals more desperate] Because I set the glass in your sockets I pinned your wildness down I built you a cage of my patience The finest in this town And I can only mount what is finished What has no fight left to give Oh, I make you perfect forever By forbidding you to live [Bridge] [All instruments drop out to a low pulsing synth and a ticking clock] [Vocal: a tense, rhythmic whisper, building in volume and intensity] But I see you... (in the dawn time) Before the net... (a violent design) All motion and muscle and blinding defect A beautiful monster I had to dissect A menace A marvel A magnificent... cheat... [Chorus] [Full band crashes in, more chaotic and cathartic than before] [Vocal: a raw, emotional roar] I SET THE GLASS IN YOUR SOCKETS I PINNED YOUR WILDNESS DOWN I BUILT YOU A CAGE OF MY PATIENCE THE FINEST IN THIS TOWN AND I CAN ONLY MOUNT WHAT IS FINISHED WHAT HAS NO FIGHT LEFT TO GIVE OH, I MAKE YOU PERFECT FOREVER BY FORBIDDING YOU TO LIVE! [Outro] [Music recedes to just a single nylon guitar and the faint kalimba melody] [Lead vocal: soft, resigned, a sad sigh] Perfectly still Perfectly... still... (you were so much better) (when you were ill) [kalimba fades to silence]
