Lyrics Manuscript
[Verse 1] Ash on the window Candles burned down to the glass Portraits stare through the cobwebs Counting every century that passed I raise a toast to the silence Red in the crystal Still and cold Every heartbeat I remember Another year I never grow old [Pre-Chorus] I watch them flicker Names on stone and scattered leaves I stand untouched here Chained to all that always leaves [Chorus] Crimson years They never end I outlive every lover Every friend Frozen in a face the mirror fears I drink But I still drown In these crimson years In these crimson years [Verse 2] Footsteps in alleys I feel their warmth before the touch Beg me to save them from the dark I’m the dark I take too much I keep their letters in boxes Ink turned to ghosts of what they wrote Whole lives pressed like dead flowers Hiding in the lining of my coat [Pre-Chorus] Their children’s children Walk past my door and never know How many times I Watched that same blue eye grow old [Bridge] [low vocal register] I have seen empires fall like embers Plagues and prophets Saints and thieves Every promise made forever Turns to dust beneath my feet I would trade all this cursed horizon Every night without an end For one shared winter One last sunrise with a friend [crescendo] But time just circles Tight around my throat Every decade Same damn question What’s a soul to one who floats? [guitar solo]