I sat there at the far edge evidently
quite a while, staring at the ground
and my guide put his hand on my shoulder gently
said are you waiting for a friend to come around
It’s no use this track’s as long
As a thread about the equator wound
And whoever you’re looking for is gone
They may find a way out yet
only the Creator knows if that’s right or wrong
And anyway after a while you get
so blinded to the misery and horror
So don’t kick back don’t light a cigarette
Remember what we’re here for
Strange as it seems this is the way back
You can only get to your hill through your iron door
So we kept on along the track
And another bridge loomed up
And I said I’ve repented of my attack
And he said don’t be so quick to grab the cup
that is not yours to drink
Well even though you’re just a pup
You’ve every privilege to thin
The thoughts you have whatever they may be
When something’s rotten, a wise man won’t ignore the stink
And these are hard things that you see
the truth is not a thing easily discerned
And there is always mystery
And you are bound to speak out when concerned
And we walked and spoke about this thing
This place this journey what was to be learned
And we came soon to this final ring
The last before the great smoking pit
The last before I could see no way but the big fling
Out into the big black: no way around it
And that ring was with an oily darkness filled
And a fearsome stench that made me grit
My teeth the smell of a million killed
in a hundred thousand abattoirs
And sounds of unholy bedlam spilled
Out voices numbered in the stars
And I saw haunted eyes in the dark
Like caged things peering out through the bars
And I said before we ascend the arc
Of this bridge to that center of destiny
And finish this walk in the park
Explain this penultimate hell to me
It seems strange that the final roll-
call of the damned is such simplicity
Just a dark and stinking hole
Full of miserable mourning shades
No fire no lizards not a single soul
Split open from asshole to shoulderblades
And Eliot said welcome to the kingdom of the false
See and know wherever the dark invades
Wherever light and sweetness stalls
Lies and falseness came there first
Brought by the taint inside your walls
Any who finally lose the thirst
to know what’s right and what is true
To this final ditch they’re cursed
This is what all falseness comes to
So remember no matter how much it seems
That you need lies to pull you through
The path cannot be found in lying dreams
From the Father of Lies all darkness streams
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
No comments:
Post a Comment