Alice, Awake in Ashes

[Intro: immediate heavy twin-guitar riff, driving drums, brief detuned music-box accent, two bars] [Verse 1: tense gritty clean vocals, tight palm-muted guitars, ominous low keys] My pillow smells of smoke again Though nothing here can burn The floor unfolds beneath my feet The painted doors return A little blue beneath the soot A ribbon caught in thorns The garden mouths the names I lost And asks why I was spared [Pre-Chorus: rising vocal intensity, opening chords, urgent double-kick build] I follow footsteps through the ceiling I hear a lullaby run cold They tell me waking ends the nightmare But which of these worlds lets me go? [Chorus: huge dark melodic hook, powerful sustained vocals, layered backing harmonies] Alice, awake in ashes With the fire behind my eyes Every door remembers screaming Every mirror wears that night Let the roses bare their teeth Let the red throne speak my name I will walk this broken kingdom Till my shadow's mine again [Verse 2: forceful rhythmic delivery, heavier riffing, faint music-box motif behind the guitars] The clock has swallowed all its hands The tea turns black with rain A grin hangs loose between the branches And knows what I won't say I take the blade beside the mirror Its weight steadies my hand The queen has sewn my doubts together And dressed them as her guards [Pre-Chorus: mounting urgency, ascending vocal melody, drums pushing forward] They wear the faces I remember They speak the words I fear are true I lived. I couldn't bring them with me. But I will not be buried too. [Chorus: full-band power, soaring lead vocals, emphatic title hook] Alice, awake in ashes With the fire behind my eyes Every door remembers screaming Every mirror wears that night Let the roses bare their teeth Let the red throne speak my name I will walk this broken kingdom Till my shadow's mine again [Bridge: heavy half-time groove, restrained low singing, gradual emotional crescendo] I hear my mother's voice beneath The grinding of the garden gates She says my name without the blame And for a moment, nothing breaks I cannot build that house from ashes Or make that morning start again But I can keep the love that lived there Without surrendering my name [Guitar Solo: expressive melodic lead, dark twin-guitar harmonies, sixteen bars over the driving main riff] [Final Chorus: maximum dramatic intensity, soaring lead vocals, layered backing harmonies] Alice, awake in ashes With the fire behind my eyes Every door remembers screaming Every mirror wears that night Let the roses bare their teeth Let the red throne speak my name I will leave its crown in pieces And take my shadow back again [Outro: heavy unison accents, forceful sung title hook, decisive final chord] Alice, awake in ashes Still breathing in the rain.