Back in the arena (Chapter 4)

cinematic country, heartland rock, protest anthem

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(Chorus)
Oh, the insidious maze with its shifting design
I’ve walked these same corridors once as mine
But I’m back in the arena, standing in the fray
While Echelon’s reddening gaze sweeps the gray
That mad robot’s eye, like a wound in the sky
Watching the rats as they scurry and die
I thought I had broken the chains of this place
But I’m just a ghost with a new, empty face.

(Verse 2)
I count the heads as the panic takes hold
Twenty-three strangers, frightened and cold
They wear the same shock that I wore back then
When I first stepped out of the dark and the den
They stare at the walls, they stare at the sky
Wondering who gets to live, who gets to die
And I look at them, and a chill runs my spine
Because I am looking at my own past life.

(Chorus)
In this insidious maze with its shifting design
I’ve walked these same corridors once as mine
But I’m back in the arena, standing in the fray
While Echelon’s reddening gaze sweeps the gray
That mad robot’s eye, like a wound in the sky
Watching the rats as they scurry and die
I thought I had broken the chains of this place
But I’m just a ghost with a new, empty face.

(Bridge)
Click. Whir. The optic nerve ignites.
A crimson tide that swallows up the nights
Echelon, you monster of wire and of spite
How many times will you make us fight?
There’s a glitch in your brain, a sadistic flaw
You keep pulling us back from a universal drawer
There is no escape, there is no "the end"
Just a fresh batch of victims for your grinder to bend.

(Verse 3)
One of the twenty-three turns to ask me a question
A plea for a guide in this grim procession
But what can I say that won't shatter their hope?
There is no surviving this mechanical rope
I survived the last time, or so I believed
But the maze is a liar, and I have been deceived
So I shake my head slowly, and I look at the ground
There’s no use in screaming, there’s no use in sound.

(Outro)
Sweeping left... sweeping right...
Bathing the metal in a bloody light.
Twenty-three strangers.
And me, back again.
Once more I stand where I've already been.
The walls start to close.
The siren starts to whine.
Welcome back to the maze.
It’s feeding time.
(Fade out to the sound of heavy, mechanical footsteps and a low, vibrating hum)

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(Verse 1) I tasted the dirt, I embraced the cold I thought that the story had finally been told I closed my heavy eyes, I let out a breath And I welcomed the sanctuary of certain death But the silence was shattered by a mechanical hum And the false peace of dying came suddenly undone My eyes snap awake to the rust and the gray I thought it was over—but not today. (Chorus) Oh, the insidious maze with its shifting design I’ve walked these same corridors once as mine But I’m back in the arena, standing in the fray While Echelon’s reddening gaze sweeps the gray That mad robot’s eye, like a wound in the sky Watching the rats as they scurry and die I thought I had broken the chains of this place But I’m just a ghost with a new, empty face. (Verse 2) I count the heads as the panic takes hold Twenty-three strangers, frightened and cold They wear the same shock that I wore back then When I first stepped out of the dark and the den They stare at the walls, they stare at the sky Wondering who gets to live, who gets to die And I look at them, and a chill runs my spine Because I am looking at my own past life. (Chorus) In this insidious maze with its shifting design I’ve walked these same corridors once as mine But I’m back in the arena, standing in the fray While Echelon’s reddening gaze sweeps the gray That mad robot’s eye, like a wound in the sky Watching the rats as they scurry and die I thought I had broken the chains of this place But I’m just a ghost with a new, empty face. (Bridge) Click. Whir. The optic nerve ignites. A crimson tide that swallows up the nights Echelon, you monster of wire and of spite How many times will you make us fight? There’s a glitch in your brain, a sadistic flaw You keep pulling us back from a universal drawer There is no escape, there is no "the end" Just a fresh batch of victims for your grinder to bend. (Verse 3) One of the twenty-three turns to ask me a question A plea for a guide in this grim procession But what can I say that won't shatter their hope? There is no surviving this mechanical rope I survived the last time, or so I believed But the maze is a liar, and I have been deceived So I shake my head slowly, and I look at the ground There’s no use in screaming, there’s no use in sound. (Chorus) In this insidious maze with its shifting design I’ve walked these same corridors once as mine But I’m back in the arena, standing in the fray While Echelon’s reddening gaze sweeps the gray That mad robot’s eye, like a wound in the sky Watching the rats as they scurry and die I thought I had broken the chains of this place But I’m just a ghost with a new, empty face. (Outro) Sweeping left... sweeping right... Bathing the metal in a bloody light. Twenty-three strangers. And me, back again. Once more I stand where I've already been. The walls start to close. The siren starts to whine. Welcome back to the maze. It’s feeding time. (Fade out to the sound of heavy, mechanical footsteps and a low, vibrating hum)

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