Rise and Fall of the Red God album
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1 Nameless
Someone should say something. He looks around and there is nobody.
Lyrics
[Verse 1] I was there when they poured the foundation I mixed it with my hands It was still dark, I remember that The Wise Ones were asleep The Green God was asleep Everyone was asleep but us We poured it by torchlight and by morning it was dry and by afternoon they'd built on top of it and no one asked our names [Verse 2] The benedictions came down through the windows I installed I could hear them from outside Something bright, something warm I pressed my hand to the wall and the wall was warm That's how close I was That's how close we all were On the other side of a wall I built [Verse 3] I didn't have a word for it then I didn't have a name I had hands and a count that kept coming up short I watched the Green God give and give and give to everyone on the other side of my wall And I thought: someone should say something And I looked around And there was no one to say it Not yet Not yet But I was counting
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2 Anthem
He isn't angry that they have it. He's angry that they forgot who made it.
Lyrics
[Verse 1] I laid the stones they walk on I cut the stones they walk on I carried the stones they walk on up the hill in the heat and at the top of the hill: a temple and inside the temple: not me The benedictions fall like rain in there I've seen it through the door I've smelled it You can smell a benediction if you're hungry enough Count us! Count us! We are the hands that built it! Count us! Count us! We were always here! [Verse 2] The Green God loves the ones who sit inside and think The Wise Ones write the laws The Wise Ones write the laws the Wise Ones drink the wine the Wise Ones name the stars and someone has to build the ladder to get them close enough to see They don't count us Not out of cruelty That's the worst of it They just forget A hand is not a name A hand is just a hand until it stops Count us! Count us! We are the hands that built it! Count us! Count us! We were always here! [Verse 3] I am not one voice I am every voice that got tired of being quiet I didn't choose this name The name chose me When enough uncounted stand together they become a count and a count becomes a name and my name is Multitude I'm not angry because they have it I'm angry because we made it and they forgot who made it That's all That's the whole grievance Write it down Someone should write it down Count us! Count us! Behold the hands that built it! Count us! Count us! My name is Multitude!
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3 The Wisdom of the Calloléra (Red)
He names their suffering; they agree, and ask to keep the cause of it.
From The Beginning
Lyrics
[Verse 1] They said: we'll take both They said it to my face Standing in the temple I built with his wine in their hands They looked at me and said: Why not both? [Verse 2] I am the answer to him I am the correction You don't take the disease and the cure and swallow them together and call yourself clever I rose from the ones he forgot I named the uncounted and they said: yes, wonderful now stand next to him and smile The wisdom of the Calloléra! They have weighed the matter! The wisdom of the Calloléra! Let us have both gods! [Verse 3] They don't believe me That's what this means They heard me and they nodded and they kept his wine I named their suffering and they said: yes, that's real now can we also have the thing that caused the suffering We'd like both please You know what he'd say? The Green God? He'd say the same thing I'm saying He'd say: you can't have us both He'd say: choose And he'd be right That's the worst part He'd be right about this one thing and I'd be right about this one thing and we'd be saying the same — No Not the same Never the same The wisdom of the Calloléra! They have weighed the matter! The wisdom of the Calloléra! Let us have both gods!
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4 The Green God Sleeps
He stands over the sleeping god a long time, looking for a reason not to.
From The Beginning
Lyrics
[Verse 1] The camp is quiet Wine on their breath, all of them The Calloléra sleep with their mouths open fat and satisfied on what fell from his table He sleeps too The great god, the strange god mouth open like the rest of them Like he's one of them He's not one of them He doesn't know what it costs [Verse 2] I walked between the bodies stepping over legs and arms They won't remember this in the morning The wine was that good His wine was always that good I stood over him a long time I want you to know that I didn't rush I wanted to find a reason not to He gave freely I know he gave freely But free for who Free from what source Someone was the source We were the source and he never counted us [Verse 3] I could leave Walk back to the anvil Heat the metal, turn the metal Another day, another day He'd wake up, he'd give again and we'd build again and none of it would change None of it would change That's not a reason That's not enough But it's what I had standing over him in the quiet I didn't want this
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Lyrics
[Verse 1] The fire's low but it's enough Heat the metal, turn the metal Fold the metal, strike the metal Shape won't hold so heat the metal, turn the metal fold the metal, strike They wanted wine I gave them wine They wanted bread after the wine I gave them bread They wanted the bread to taste the way it used to taste [Verse 2] His hands never looked like this He had a source, something underneath something that just — came I watched it come and I hated how easy it came Now I'm the source There's nothing underneath me Just the anvil and the hours and whatever I can pull out of the weight of my own arms It's three in the morning and I am the only one awake It's three in the morning and the fire is low but it's enough [Verse 3] They'll wake up and want more They always want more Not because they're greedy I promised them more I promised The metal cools too fast so I heat it again The shape won't hold so I fold it again A good benediction takes all night and by morning it's ordinary and ordinary is what they asked for I killed a god who had a river and I promised them a river and what I have is a rock and what comes out of a rock comes out drop by drop The bread will be ready when they wake It won't taste the way it used to taste but it will be bread and I made it and my hands are shaking and the fire is low
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Lyrics
[Verse 1] Sleep now You've had your bread It's not the bread you remember but it's bread and it's warm and I made it with my hands Sleep now I'll be here when you wake I'm always here when you wake Where else would I go [Verse 2] You used to love him I know I know you still reach for him in your sleep I've seen your hands close on nothing He's not coming back That's my fault I know whose fault it is But what he gave you I give you now Slower, yes Harder, yes But I give it [Verse 3] You're mine now Not the way he had you He had you like a gift has you easy, thoughtless, open hand I have you the way work has you the way the morning has you before you want to be awake I didn't do this to own you I did this to free you That you sleep on my floor instead of his is not the point That's not the point Sleep now My inadequate gifts are under your head and you are warm enough and I am awake and that is how it is and how it will be
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7 The Denial
The difference is real if you listen, and he badly needs you to listen.
Lyrics
[Verse 1] They say I count the way he counted measure grain the way he measured grain line the stores the way he lined the stores but I line them for the hands not the machine, not the machine I don't sleep because they need me not because I love the work He loved the work I love the hands Behold me! Behold the hands! I am not the green god Behold me! Behold the hands! I was never the green god [Verse 2] He gave and kept the ledger I give and burn the ledger He named the parts I name the people There's a difference if you listen I organized the labor so the labor could be free He organized the labor so the labor could be his That's the difference That's the whole difference Behold me! Behold the hands! I am not the green god Behold me! Behold the hands! I was never the green god [Verse 3] Yes, I counted. Someone has to count. Yes, I measured. Someone has to measure. You don't get to eat on faith and moonlight Somebody has to know how much is left I didn't build a machine I built a table and everyone sits at it and everyone eats The benedictions come slower now that's just the cost of doing it right He had a source I don't have I have these hands That's enough That's enough Behold me! Behold the hands! I am not the green god I am not the green god I am not
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8 Estelune Visits
He thought he was using the drinker. The drinker was patient about it.
From The Beginning
Lyrics
[Verse 1] I didn't hear him come in He doesn't come in He's just there the way rust is there the way the cold is there when the fire goes out He sat in the corner He didn't speak He doesn't need to speak He was drinking [Verse 2] I know what he drinks Everyone knows what he drinks I kept working What else do you do You don't talk to him You don't offer him a seat He takes what he takes The benedictions I squeezed out yesterday three of them cracked in the night Three families won't eat tomorrow and he licked his lips I saw it [Verse 3] He was here when I killed the Green God I brought him the blood myself I remember his face the only time I've seen him smile I thought I was using him I thought: let him drink, let him have this it's the last blood he gets from me I'm not the Green God My hands are clean after this He's still drinking He's always drinking He doesn't need me to bleed anyone I bleed them just by being too slow
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9 The Name for Those Without Names
He killed a god and fed a nation, and asks for one word in return.
Lyrics
[Verse 1] I've killed a god I've named a people I've fed a nation from my own hands drop by drop by drop Answer me I've earned an answer I've earned an answer I've earned a voice I've bled for them, I've broken for them I don't sleep, I don't drink I don't rest Answer me [Verse 2] The Green God spoke He spoke all the time He never shut up Benedictions and promises falling out of him like rain Isil speaks In moonlight and in dreams and in the bodies of her lovers she never stops speaking Even Estelune speaks in blood, in collapse in the smile I can't forget Even the monster has a language Say something! Say anything! Tell me I'm wrong! Tell me I'm right! Tell me you hate me the way they say you hate me! Just stop being silent! [Verse 3] They say you promised victory Victory over what? Over me? I'm the one holding everything together with my bare hands while you sit in your silence like it means something Your silence doesn't feed anyone My hands feed everyone So what is your victory What does it look like Because from here it looks like nothing Nothing Just silence The same silence as before I started