[low organ] [distant choir] God rest ye... --- [low male vocal] God rest ye damned, gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay. The doors you barred are open now. I've finally come to stay. You spent the night invoking me with every hymn you prayed. --- [choir] **O tidings of darkness and joy...** Darkness and joy. **O tidings of darkness and joy.** --- [soft laugh] There. That sounds better. --- [verse] You lit your candles one by one. You called into the night. You begged the heavens send you down a sign of holy light. But heaven kept its silence. --- [close whisper] I did not. --- [choir] **O tidings of darkness and joy...** Darkness and joy. **O tidings of darkness and joy.** --- [drums enter] [lead] You heard me in the hollow bells. You felt me through the floor. You saw my shadow cross the glass and still unlocked the door. So don't pretend you're frightened now. You knew what waited there. --- [whispered voices] **Veni...** --- [lead] Yes. Just like that. --- [heavy refrain] GOD REST YE DAMNED, GENTLEMEN, YOUR WAITING'S AT AN END. No angel comes. No savior waits. No heaven will descend. You called for something in the dark— --- [everything cuts] —and darkness brought a friend. --- [huge choir] **O TIDINGS OF DARKNESS AND JOY!** DARKNESS AND JOY! **O TIDINGS OF DARKNESS AND JOY!** --- [instrumental] [distant layered voices] **Veni...** **Gloria...** **Ring... ring... ring...** --- [lead, quietly] I remember every prayer. --- The one who asked for proof. The one who crossed the candle line. The one who heard the bells beneath the snow. The one who whispered— *come.* --- [close whisper] Did you think I would forget? --- [verse] The gate stood wide. The candles died. The choir learned my name. You asked what thing stood waiting there. You stepped into the flame. And every time you could have turned, you chose to stay the same. --- [lead, intimate] No. Not the same. --- [choir building] **Gloria...** --- [lead] Louder. --- [choir] **GLORIA!** --- [lead] Now you remember. --- [heavy section] So ring the bells. Wake every house. Let every window shake. Let sleeping saints and sinners hear the sound their prayers can make. No need to hide. No need to kneel. No need to look above. --- [whisper] You wanted something to believe in. --- [lead, almost tender] Wasn't this enough? --- [choir] **O TIDINGS OF DARKNESS AND JOY...** --- [bridge — instruments drop] [lead] You prayed for light. --- [whispers] The dark replied. --- You asked for heaven. --- [choir] Heaven closed. --- You called a savior. --- [whispers] Something came. --- You asked its name. --- [long pause] [lead] Does it matter now? --- [massive final entrance] GOD REST YE DAMNED, GENTLEMEN, LET NOTHING YOU DISMAY. THE LONGEST NIGHT HAS FOUND ITS KING. THE BELLS HAVE LEARNED THE WAY. AND EVERY VOICE THAT CALLED FOR ME WILL SING BEFORE THE DAY— --- [choir] **O TIDINGS OF DARKNESS AND JOY!** DARKNESS AND JOY! **O TIDINGS OF DARKNESS AND JOY!** --- [overlapping choir] **VENI!** **GLORIA!** **RING!** **VENI!** **GLORIA!** **RING!** --- [lead over chaos] There you are. All of you. --- [choir] **GLORIA IN TENEBRIS!** --- [lead] No more whispering. --- [choir] **GLORIA!** --- [lead] No more waiting. --- [choir] **GLORIA!** --- [lead] Merry Christmas. --- [everything suddenly stops] --- [one distant bell] --- [very faint voice] **Veni...** --- [close whisper] I'm already here.
