Above an iron door it reads
All you who enter give up hope
For here you reap the harvest of the seeds
You sowed along the slippery slope
You’ve done exactly what we predicted
You’d do given enough rope
Work will set you free it said
And better you than me
And hey don’t you wish you weren’t dead
Open it my guide said it’s time to see
How the other half gets by on the other side of death
Come and find out what goes on among humanity
When they draw their last breath
So I swung it open on heavy hinges
And was assaulted by a cacophony like 50 thousand meth
heads having heart attacks the sound still impinges
on my dreams at night
When I wake up and think of it my soul cringes
Back from the hideous sight
Millennia legions of vague shades
muttering and racing, endless collapse and flight
I said teacher what is this mob that fades
and flickers in this stagnant room
what is this babel murmur that pervades
this stinking living tomb?
He said you ain’t seen nothing yet
These are those of the apathetic doom
Who never knew enough anything to forget
Spent their lives searching for the remote control
They’re searching for it still with no TV set
They chase flickering lights they crash at the bell’s toll
They wallow in soggy sheets and think about tomorrow
Get up and start running interchangeable lost souls
But hold back your pity and save your sorrow
You’ve still got a long way ahead of you
This is just the shores of those who borrow
existence for a test drive or two
At the riverside our bus is waiting
To take us and a couple thousand damned through
To where the offspring of the foul mating
Of intellect with twisted virtue in charge
Still festers in the thirst that is without sating
Out of the fog I saw the monstrous garbage barge
of the damned loom up to shore
I said man that boat is pretty damn large
T.S. said there are far more
People who have slowly turned gray
Than you ever imagined before
Look at what happens when the light fades away
Mount the steps of this foul conveyance
And let us be about our diabolical holiday
I found myself in the middle of a writhing seance
of tormented spirits in constant retreat
from the light. I swore I’d only go this way once
A voice roared out I smell fresh meat
What’s a body doing on my boat
Get back to the near side friend until you’re in your winding sheet
But a look from my guide froze the words in his throat
the old boat master scowled and turned
And my teacher said better pick up your coat
As the lunatic mumble rose and the water churned
Across the river I saw a smoking rise
Where I knew the devil’s city burned
I squatted down in a corner and shut my eyes
And I listened to the endless drone of endless flies
This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here
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