[Intro] [Slow heavy grand piano playing a sorrowful waltz] [Theatrical and melancholy male vocals, sung softly] Welcome to the manor... Where the saints go to hide. Leave your sanity at the gates... And lock the doors inside. [Verse 1] [Slow deliberate rhythm. Just the piano and a creeping upright bass] Sister has a cane, And a secret in her past. She tells you to repent, But the shadows always last. The reporter came to look, But she fell right in the trap. Now she's wearing the restraints, And there is no going back. The innocent are punished, And the guilty wear a cross. Every single soul in here... Is a tragic little loss. [Pre-Chorus] [Heavy tom drums slowly fade in, building a booming marching tension] The doctor has a scalpel... The devil has a smile... You're staying in the darkness... For a very long while. [Chorus] [Heavy dramatic explosion of sound. Smashing piano chords, slow distorted guitars, soaring emotional belting] Oh, welcome to the Asylum, The angels have fled! The halls are all haunted, By the things in your head! There's a mask made of skin, And a storm in the sky! It's a beautiful place... To go crazy and die! The madness is real, the trap is set... Briarcliff is a nightmare... that you won't forget! [Verse 2] [Music drops back to just the slow heavy piano. Vocals are bitter and desperate] The therapist is listening, He tells you you are sane. But he's the one who's causing... All the panic and the pain. The nun is walking softly, But she's rotting from within. The devil took her body, And he's living in her skin. They tell you that you're crazy, When you look up at the stars... But the real psycho killers... Are the ones behind the bars! [Pre-Chorus] [Booming tom drums return, cello swells with dark emotion] The doctor has a scalpel... The devil has a smile... You're staying in the darkness... For a very long while. [Chorus] [Maximum theatrical energy, massive wall of sound, desperate and raw vocals] Oh, welcome to the Asylum, The angels have fled! The halls are all haunted, By the things in your head! There's a mask made of skin, And a storm in the sky! It's a beautiful place... To go crazy and die! The madness is real, the trap is set... Briarcliff is a nightmare... that you won't forget! [Bridge: The Kiss of Death] [Music stops completely. Just a single high piano note repeating slowly] [Vocals are a cold confident whisper] The angel of death... She waits in the cold. The secrets of the wicked... Are finally told. [Deep heavy piano chord strikes] The fire is burning... The wicked will fall... But the ghosts of the manor... Will swallow us all. [Final Chorus] [Huge triumphant and heavy. Guitars and piano crashing together, choir of backing vocals] Oh, welcome to the Asylum, The angels have fled! The halls are all haunted, By the things in your head! There's a mask made of skin, And a storm in the sky! It's a beautiful place... To go crazy and die! The madness is real, the trap is set... Briarcliff is a nightmare... that you won't forget! [Outro] [Tempo slows to a crawl, heavy and dramatic] A nightmare you won't forget... (Close your eyes...) A nightmare you won't forget... (Close your eyes...) There is no escape. [One final massive piano slam] [Absolute silence]
