The Last Dance

Alternative rock: mantra-like bass, blunt brass stabs, and a sustained Hammond organ drone lead a sparse intro into a brass-led crescendo; early-2000s analog warmth, dry room drums, tape saturation, raw narrow mix; nasal male baritone preaching in spoken verses, rising into forceful layered gang-vocal chants; hypnotic mid-tempo marching groove, ‑polka, ‑disco, ‑EDM, ‑heavy metal, ‑gospel choir, ‑autotune, ‑symphonic orchestra, ‑glossy pop mix, ‑live crowd

Now the verdict reaches every street,
Now the heavy book is opened at the seam,
The one who held the keys to all the earth
Is tumbling from his balcony,
His medals rattling down the stair,
His ledgers burning in the yard,
And no one runs to catch him,
No one even looks.

Clutch your life with both your fists
And it crumbles into chalk,
Throw it open to the wind
And the wind will hand it back,
And the heavens throw a party
For a single crooked man who turns around,
More than all the ninety-nine
Who never stepped outside the line.

Everybody's in the great dance,
Everybody's in the great dance,
The stokers of the iron fleet,
Everybody's in the great dance,
The clerks from every ministry,
Everybody's in the great dance,
The poets of the five-year plan,
Everybody's in the great dance,
The colonels and the choirboys,
Everybody's in the great dance,
Everybody's in the great dance!

The great dance is a slaughter,
The great dance is a dread,
It spins the moons off orbit,
It walks across the dead,
And somewhere past the planets
Someone counts the steps.

Whoever stands on the mountain
Will be sitting in the ditch,
Whoever kneels in the gutter
Will be lifted to the light,
And the place you hide your silver
Is the place your heart will sleep.

He will not send a letter,
He will not ring the bell,
He'll come the way a burglar comes
While all the houses snore,
So keep your shoes beside the bed,
So keep your candle trimmed,
So keep your eyes upon the door,
The music has begun.

Great dance, last dance,
Everybody's in the great dance,
Great dance, last dance,
Everybody's in the great dance,
So it was and so it is,
So it ever will be,
Great dance, last dance,
The final dance this world will ever see.

The great dance.
The last dance.
So it was, so it is.

1995/7500

Here comes the great dance, The final dance, The last dance this world will ever learn, Not one of us is sitting out, Not one of us, The floor is wide and every soul must turn. The fiddler has no face, The band has no names. Now the verdict reaches every street, Now the heavy book is opened at the seam, The one who held the keys to all the earth Is tumbling from his balcony, His medals rattling down the stair, His ledgers burning in the yard, And no one runs to catch him, No one even looks. Clutch your life with both your fists And it crumbles into chalk, Throw it open to the wind And the wind will hand it back, And the heavens throw a party For a single crooked man who turns around, More than all the ninety-nine Who never stepped outside the line. Everybody's in the great dance, Everybody's in the great dance, The stokers of the iron fleet, Everybody's in the great dance, The clerks from every ministry, Everybody's in the great dance, The poets of the five-year plan, Everybody's in the great dance, The colonels and the choirboys, Everybody's in the great dance, Everybody's in the great dance! The great dance is a slaughter, The great dance is a dread, It spins the moons off orbit, It walks across the dead, And somewhere past the planets Someone counts the steps. Whoever stands on the mountain Will be sitting in the ditch, Whoever kneels in the gutter Will be lifted to the light, And the place you hide your silver Is the place your heart will sleep. He will not send a letter, He will not ring the bell, He'll come the way a burglar comes While all the houses snore, So keep your shoes beside the bed, So keep your candle trimmed, So keep your eyes upon the door, The music has begun. Great dance, last dance, Everybody's in the great dance, Great dance, last dance, Everybody's in the great dance, So it was and so it is, So it ever will be, Great dance, last dance, The final dance this world will ever see. The great dance. The last dance. So it was, so it is.

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