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BRUCE DICKINSON LYRICS
"The Chemical Wedding" (1998)
1. King in Crimson
2. Chemical Wedding
3. The Tower
4. Killing Floor
5. Book of Thel
6. Gates of Urizen
7. Jerusalem
8. Trumpets of Jericho
9. Machine Men
10. The Alchemist
1. King in Crimson
In the darkness, the raven's head
In the courtyard, clothed in fear
I see gates that are opening
There's only one way out of here
Daylight has gone
The night has come...
See his twisted sons and daughters
Writhing slowly in Satan's mire
If you only could see the visions
The trembling world I now despise
As the veil reveals the outer darkness
I am sucked into the halls of flame...
Arise, awake
The king in crimson comes
Arise, awake
The king in crimson, crimson comes
He knows the weakness that you can't fight
The stone of night that weighs you down
If you only could see the visions
His hand is death if you take it now
As you scream into the web of silence
There is nothing that can save you now.
Arise, awake,
The king in crimson comes
Arise, awake,
The king in crimson comes
Arise, awake,
The king in crimson comes
Arise, awake,
The king in crimson, crimson comes
As you scream into the web of silence
There is nothing that can save you now...
Arise, awake,
The king in crimson comes
Arise, awake,
The king in crimson comes
Arise, awake,
The king in crimson comes
Arise, awake,
The king in crimson, crimson comes
To your window I come
At your window I come
2. Chemical Wedding
How happy is the human soul
Not enslaved by dull control
Left to dream and roam and play
Shed the guilt of former days
Walking on the foggy shore
Watch the waves come rolling home
Through the veil of pale moonlight
My shadow stretches out its hand...
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
Floating in the endless blue
My seed of doubt I leave to you
Let it wither on the ground
Treat it like a plague you found
All my dreams that were outside
In living colour, now alive
And all the lighthouses
Their beams converge to guide me home...
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
3. The Tower
There are twelve commandments
There are twelve divisions
Twelve are the pagans who have mapped the sky
In the outer circle
To the inner sanctum
From the octave at the end of time
The fountain, the trinity
The pilgrim is searching for blood
(searching for his blood)
To look for his own free will
The stone of infinity, washed in the flood
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, and the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, let the fool decide
In the atom circle
Where we break the stars
Hammer into anvil, stuffing out the sun
Witness all the killing
(killing)
See the birth of Mars
Our religion thrown into the fire
The fountain, the trinity
The pilgrim is searching for blood
(searching for his blood)
To look for his own free will
The stone of infinity, washed in the flood
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, the magician laughs
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, and the priestess kneels
(priestess kneels)
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, let the fool decide
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, and the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, let the fool decide
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, the priestess kneels to receive
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, the magician laughs
4. Killing Floor
So this is dreamtime, and all is quiet
So this is dreamtime, and all is night
I've never been held by the hand of god
Who's rocking the cradle, if he is not?
He turned the oil into his blood
Panzer divisions burning in in the mud
The stain of freedom - he's washed it out
Who's rocking the cradle - I have no doubt
Sleeping eyes awake
To see his hooded gaze
Whispers on the wind
The darker side of ecstasy...
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - hellfires burn no more
Satan - has left his killing floor
So now it's dreamtime for you tonight
So now it's dreamtime, and all is quiet
You've never been held by the hand of god
Who's rocking your cradle, if he is not?
Sleeping eyes awake
To see his hooded gaze
Whispers on the wind
The never-ending breath goodbye...
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - his fires burn no more
Satan - is coming back for more
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - has left his killing floor
5. Book of Thel
The mark is on you now
The furnace sealed inside your head
Melting from the inside now
Waxy tears run down your face
The whore that never told her tale
Relives it every night with you
Far off stands the lamb and waits
For the wolf to come and end its life
Stand inside the temple
As the book of Thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out, she's rising
Come the dawning of the dead
In famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
Serpent on the altar now
Has wrapped itself around your spine
So you look into its mouth
And you kiss the pearly fangs divine
Happy that your end is swift
The weeping virgin cries in bliss
The snake and priestess, they are one
The veil of flesh is ripped undone
Stand inside the temple
As the book of Thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out, she's rising
Come the dawning of the dead
In famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes
And when sleep takes you tonight
Will you wake to see the light...?
The burning sweat of poison tears
The river flowing red with blood
The cradle-robbing hand of death
Caresses every dreaming head
Waiting for the marriage hearse
To take you to the funeral pyre
So you burn the family tree
The generations burning higher
Stand inside the temple
As the book of Thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out, she's rising
Come the dawning of the dead
In famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes
And when sleep takes you tonight
Will you wake to see the light
By the dawning of the dead...
By the dawning of the dead...
By the dawning of the dead...
By the dawning of the dead...
What demon hath formed this abominable void...
This soul-shuddering vacuum?
Some said it is Urizen -
But unknown, abstracted, brooding secret
The dark power hid
6. Gates of Urizen
As above, so below
All things come from the one
Now you are the victim
Carried by the wind, rooted in the ground
If you want to learn the secrets
Close your eyes...
The ladder falls away
At the gates of Urizen
Fallen eagles blaze
At the gates of Urizen
Eternal twins are damned
At the gates of Urizen
Separate lives began...
In every woman is a man
From the moon come silver ghosts
Spectres of the blood
From my spirit comes the darkness
From the void, the crimson fortress rises...
At the gates of Urizen
The ladder falls away
At the gates of Urizen
Fallen eagles blaze
At the gates of Urizen
Eternal twins are damned
At the gates of Urizen
Separate lives begin...
At the gates of Urizen
The ladder falls away
At the gates of Urizen
Fallen eagles blaze
At the gates of Urizen
Eternal twins are damned
At the gates of Urizen
Separate lives begin
At the gates...of Urizen...
The gates of Urizen...
The gates of Urizen...
At the gates...
7. Jerusalem
And did those feet in ancient times
Walk upon England's mountains green?
Was the holy lamb of god
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth on our clouded hill?
Was Jerusalem built here
In England's green and pleasant land?
Let it rain
Let it rain
Wash the scales from my eyes
Let it rain
Let it rain
Let me see again...
Bring me my bow of burning gold
Bring me my arrows of desire
I shall not sleep till the clouds unfold
Bring me my chariot of fire
Let it rain
Let it rain
Tears of blood fall out of the sky
Let it rain
Let it rain
Wash me clean again...
From the frozen waters
The king will rise again
With two suns in the sky...
I shall not cease from mental flight
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land
Let it rain
Let it rain
Tears of blood fall out of the sky
Let it rain
Let it rain
Wash me clean again...
See the gleaming spires of the citadel
The king and queen will dwell
In our hearts...
Can Jerusalem be rebuilded here
In this trivial time, in this land of fear?
In Jerusalem, where the grail remains
Walk into the light and dissolve the chains
Jerusalem...
Here is her secret place
From hence she comes forth on the churches in delight
Here is her cup, filled with its poisons
In these horrid veils
And here, her scarlet veil, woven in pestilence and war
Here is Jerusalem, bound in chains
In the dense of Babylon...
8. Trumpets of Jericho
This is the maze of life
This is the maze of death
This is the matrix of eternity
The demon never sleeps
The demon never lies
He beats my heart and leaves no echo...
What heavy burden holds me back
Every step along the track?
Fear that reaches deep inside of me...
At the trumpets of Jericho
Still the walls remain
At the trumpets of Jericho
Avalon's in chains
This is the river of space
This is the river of time
Chase the dragons of infinity
Atlas stands and laughs
Throws his burden down
Rolls the earth in the inferno...
Fingers holding onto cracks
The howling wind that blows us back
Sucked into the grinding wheels of hell...
At the trumpets of Jericho
Still the walls remain
Blow the trumpets of Jericho
Still the walls remain
At the end of the rainbow
There the grail remains
Sound the trumpets of Jericho
Avalon's in chains...
As they drag you down
In your clothes of lead
See the golden light
Flashing overhead
Mocking you...
(hahaha...)
Do you know who you are
In your robes of skin?
How many creatures live inside you?
Man is born forever free
But is everywhere in chains
Trapped inside this earthly prison cell...
At the trumpets of Jericho
Still the walls remain
At the trumpets of Jericho
Avalon's in chains
At the trumpets of Jericho
There the grail remains
At the trumpets of Jericho
Still the walls remain...
Still the walls remain...
Still the walls remain...
Still the walls remain...
The silence of the tomb
The wheel of fortune round
Temperance and death
Still the walls remain
At the trumpets of Jericho
Still the walls remain...
9. Machine Men
Bring the toys out for the boys
Let the children make their noise
See the monsters in their metal cages
Turn the lights down in your soul
Cut the power to your heart
See the carcass in its dying rages...
Machine men - cannibals of rust
Machine men - iron bites the dust
Machine men - built with feet of clay
They say they're coming to sweep you all away...
What bitter vampire made you this
Gave you life with its deathly kiss
Ground your limbs to bloody stew
Made a new machine of you
Turned a nightmare into day
Sucks your breath, takes your life away
Beating harder through your veins
Someone else's cold remains...
Machine men - cannibals of rust
Machine men - iron bites the dust
Machine men - built with feet of clay
Are coming to sweep you all away
They're coming to sweep you all away...
Machine men - cannibals of rust
Machine men - iron bites the dust
Machine men - built with feet of clay
Are coming to take you all away
Machine men - cannibals of rust
Machine men - iron bites the dust
Machine men - built with feet of clay
Are coming to take you all away
They're coming to sweep you all away...
Away...
Iron - in the soul
Iron - in the soul
Iron - in the soul
Iron - in the soul
10. The Alchemist
Wash away the blackness with the silver rain
Don't turn away - don't turn away
Wash away the blackness with the silver rain
Don't turn away - don't try to hide...
Sulphurous and burning, spitting out the sun
The beginning of creation, of the golden one
A window to the west, a blazing star above
In Taurus we begin it and the ladder has begun
Don't try and blame me for your sins
For the sun has burned me black
Your hollow lives - this world in which we live
I throw it back
Four-headed dragon for the four degrees of fire
Purify the insane, bring the solution ever higher
Bring me all the elements, spread them round my head
Bring me mad men's bodies, I will break them all like bread
Don't try and blame me for your sins
For the sun has burned me black
Your hollow lives - this world in which we live
I hurl it back
Don't try and blame me for your sins
For the sun has burned me black
Your hollow lives - this world in which we live
I throw it back
Don't try and blame me for your games
Your games are death
My world is light - the angels fill my eyes
With every breath...
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day...
...
And all this vegetable world appeared on my left foot
As a bright sandal, formed immortal of precious stones and gold
I stooped down, and bound it on
To walk forward through eternity
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