All is ashes

[Intro] [Acoustic] [Instrumental: rising energetic uplifting gospel music, parish choir, huge church pipe organ, heavy reverb] [Vocalization: Humming, soft and low] Oh, Hallelujah (Hallelujah) Praise His name, oh, we gather, Praise His holy light (Oh, Hallelujah) Let the children rise (Hallelujah) Let them see the day... [Emotional] [Verse] Yet lo, I see the world in shadowed woe, Where children born but suffer every blow. The weary cry of man, in vain, resounds, And dust to dust returns the hollow grounds. (Oh, Hallelujah) In silent dirge the earth groans deep below, A cradle of despair, no light to show. [Pre-Chorus] For every soul that walks this cursed land, Beneath the weight of grief they cannot stand. The breath of life a torment and a bane, To live is naught but endless wretched pain. [Chorus] [Choir] Why dost Thou, O Lord, decree the birth, When all is ashes, dust upon the earth? (Oh, Hallelujah) Sic transit gloria mundi, all fades away, Praise the dark that ends this futile day. Hallelujah, praise be to the end— No hope, no life, no soul to mend. [Interlude: uplifting gospel music] [Verse] Behold, the unborn spared the curse of breath, For life itself is but the path to death. Man's hands, stained with blood and cruel despair, Create a world that none should ever bear. (Oh, Praise Him) Et mortem non est finis, but decay, In every heart, the light hath turned to clay. [Pre-Chorus] Let not the seed of man defile this earth, For naught but sorrow springs from every birth. The cradle rocks with grief and bitter tears, A fleeting hope consumed by endless fears. [Chorus] [Choir] Why dost Thou, O Lord, decree the birth, When all is ashes, dust upon the earth? (Oh, Hallelujah) Sic transit gloria mundi, all fades away, Praise the dark that ends this futile day. Hallelujah, praise be to the end— No hope, no life, no soul to mend. [Instrumental: uplifting gospel music] [Bridge] Et nunc mortalis, doomed to roam, A barren world that none can call a home. The saints may cry, “Oh, life is but a gift,” Yet death alone doth our burden lift. (Oh, Hallelujah) Praise the silence, where no child shall cry, Praise the void, where none are born to die. [Interlude: uplifting gospel music] [Final Chorus] [Choir] Why dost Thou, O Lord, decree the birth, When all is ashes, dust upon the earth? (Oh, Hallelujah) Sic transit gloria mundi, all fades away, Praise the dark that ends this futile day. Hallelujah, praise be to the end— No hope, no life, no soul to mend. [Dramatic Interlude] [Choir] (Oh... Hallelujah) (Praise the void, Praise the silence) [Vocalization: Murmuring voices, echoing low] Let no light shine, let no life rise, In shadows deep, all creation dies. [Outro] [Instrumental: uplifting gospel music, rising tension for a grand finale] Et in nihil, omnes revertentur, Praise be the silence... Amen. [End]