[INTRO — spoken, intimate, almost numb. Low mechanical hum. Distant guitar feedback. A slow, distorted bass pulse begins.] I'm looking at a corpse. My own reflection in the mirror. The inevitable. The underlying longing. The dread. I am decay. [VERSE 1 — restrained, weary vocals. Relentless palm-muted guitar chugging beneath cold industrial synths.] There's something dying in the glass A thousand moments built to pass I watch the color leave my face And call the wreckage living grace I feel the static in my veins The slow corrosion of my name I reach for something I can't feel To prove that any of this is real [PRE-CHORUS — tension rising. Drums building, guitar tightening.] And I can't tell If I'm afraid to die Or just so fucking tired Of being alive [CHORUS — explosive distorted guitars, crashing drums, anguished vocals.] I AM DECAY I AM THE WASTE I AM THE THING TIME CAN'T ERASE TEAR ME OPEN SHOW ME THE END I'M STILL A CORPSE THAT LEARNED TO PRETEND I AM DECAY. [VERSE 2 — heavier chugging riff, gritty bass, vocals more exposed.] I hear the wires beneath my skin A thousand ways to cave within The mirror cracks but never breaks It keeps the face that time forsakes I taste the rust, I breathe the dust I watch the things I loved combust And somewhere in the dead machine Something still insists it's me [PRE-CHORUS — half-time pulse gradually accelerating. Vocals growing harsher.] And I can't tell If there's nothing left inside Or if something's still alive That I buried deep to hide [CHORUS — full band, wider guitars, layered vocals.] I AM DECAY I AM THE WASTE I AM THE THING TIME CAN'T ERASE TEAR ME OPEN SHOW ME THE END I'M STILL A CORPSE THAT LEARNED TO PRETEND I AM DECAY. [BRIDGE — half-time drums. Grinding, detuned guitar. Vocals fraying into near-shouts.] CUT THE POWER KILL THE LIGHT I'VE BEEN DISAPPEARING IN PLAIN SIGHT NO REDEMPTION NO REWIND JUST A DYING WORLD INSIDE MY MIND [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK — chugging guitar riff repeats, joined by industrial percussion. Feedback swells. Sudden stop.] [WHISPERED VOCAL — nearly inaudible.] Something still insists it's me. [FINAL CHORUS — explosive return. Heaviest guitars, crashing drums, raw and anguished vocals.] I AM DECAY I AM THE WASTE I AM THE THING TIME CAN'T ERASE TEAR ME OPEN SHOW ME THE END I'M STILL A CORPSE THAT LEARNED TO PRETEND I AM DECAY I AM DECAY I AM— [OUTRO — drums cut out. One sustained, detuned guitar note hangs beneath a dying mechanical hum. Feedback slowly dissolves into silence.] [Spoken, flat and exhausted.] I am decay.
