853 ?When we passed through the iron door
we came into a desolate plain
Which was silent save for a far off roar
of the rivers of fire in the valley of pain
below our feet in deeper hell
scattered around the cracked ground that knew no rain
Iron coffins open scattered as if where they fell
From a giant’s hand cast
And all was silent cast in some unnatural spell
These shades of days not so long past
and those of ages eons dead and gone
to these crypts they are held fast
Until Gabriel’s trumpet shouts the Judgment song
And the spirit takes on its second skin
And all are separated right from wrong
“Can I speak to those shades within?”
I asked with trembling and fear
“Speak and observe their reply and meditate upon their sin
of insistence that our final end is here
in this mortal coil
the mystery of sheer
disbelief in a higher order than the soil
that ever claims our flesh
a higher work than mortal toil
And do not seek their spirits to refresh
In the solace of belief
Here are the places they enmesh
their spirits waiting for some thief
to finally erase their souls
But they receive not that relief
And one then rose from his hole
And said “American, down from the heartland
No doubt a countryman welcome to the country of the death toll
What goes on down in the nation of prosperity and
opportunity,” I said “you and your like
still running the show still on the grandstand
But still the people still eroding the dike”
Another spirit spoke then
“Stranger you’re down a long strange way off the mortal pike
Can this journey now be taken by mortal men?
And if you then why not my son?
Why does he not seek his father in this bitter den?”
“Perhaps he did not seek as one
like me who followed my path however bitter
I only finish what I have begun”
“Is his seeking done then,” he cried out, “is my son consumed on his litter?”
And he fell back into his box
“Even so,” said the first shade “clearly no quitter”
But I see a darker and more devious fox
creeping up on your society
I see famine pestilence and pox
And even your quaint piety
will not buy you out of hell on earth
And chaos of a thousand sorts, fine variety
But you will rise up in the cosmic rebirth
You will rise in your tiny boat
When you learn the word of worth
What you value where you truly hang your coat”
“Old man,” I said “what’s the deal here
Can you not speak of the present does it stick in your throat?”
“Young one to us only prophecies appear
We cannot see the past or present
And when the timeless comes we shall be mere
Incidents of dreams that came and went
now quickly for a time I fade
Listen to me remember she who sent
You out of this dark hole from your sunny glade
Look deeper past this ring of fire
Look past this twisted path you’ve made
At the center you will see the script entire
A truth you must take with you past the Wire.
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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