[Verse 1] They bow to mirrors, not to meaning Trade conviction for display Every truth gets rearranged To fit the role they want to play Gold is peeling from its shoulders Showing something dull beneath Still they gather in a circle Still they offer what it needs [Pre-Chorus] Take a little Give a little Anything can have a price Dress the hunger up in diamonds Call the sacrifice a life [Chorus] Watch the gold come down Watch it scatter as they dance Still they kneel before the idol Still they offer what they have Every chain around them glitters Every appetite is sold They call the collar privilege Because somebody made it gold [Verse 2] A little truth for admiration A little love for being seen Give away what can't be purchased Buy back everything that gleams Velvet turning through the ballroom Glasses lifted, faces still They have more than they can carry Yet there's always more to fill [Pre-Chorus] Take a little Give a little Nothing ever satisfies Feed the thing that keeps you hungry Then pretend that you're alive [Chorus] Watch the gold come down Watch it scatter as they dance Still they kneel before the idol Still they offer what they have Every chain around them glitters Every appetite is sold They call the collar privilege Because somebody made it gold [Rapid-Fire Spoken-Sung Break I – Fast, Precise, Rhythmic, Building Intensity] Buy the room, buy the view Buy the truth that flatters you Choose a virtue, choose a vice Everything has got a price Raise the glass, kiss the wall Climb so high and still you crawl Dress the cage, praise it all Take your place and then play Baal [Instrumental Break – Elegant, Unsettling Violin Solo] [Verse 3] Another layer leaves the idol No one interrupts the dance Funny how the ones with everything Never seem to have enough Holding tightly to possessions As if having makes them free All the while the gold keeps thinning Showing what they wouldn't see [Bridge] Let them dance around the idol Let them toast to what decays Let them bargain with tomorrow For another gilded day I don't envy what they're guarding I don't want what they control What's the use of owning everything If everything owns you? [Rapid-Fire Spoken-Sung Break II – Faster, Darker, Intensifying] Hide your kids, shield your wife They'll put a price on human life Sell the flesh, sell the fear Keep the spectacle right here Feed the screen, flood the eyes Dress the poison up as light Make it normal, make it nice Run the headline, roll the dice Turn a person to a product Turn a heartbeat to a sale Call it progress, call it freedom While the human parts grow pale Raise the glass, dim the hall Another offering for them all Dress the cage, praise it all Take your place and then play Baal [Instrumental Break – Dark Waltz Violin, Gradually Fracturing] [Final Chorus] Watch the gold come down Watch it scatter as they dance Still they kneel before the idol Still they offer what they have Every chain around them glitters Every appetite is sold They call the collar privilege Because somebody made it gold [Rapid-Fire Reprise – Building, Then Abruptly Pulling Back] Raise the glass, kiss the wall Climb so high and still you crawl Dress the cage, praise it all Take your place—and then... Play Baal [Long Decaying Violin Outro – No Vocals]
