A low, vibrating mechanical hum fades in—like the idling engine of a heavy machine. Suddenly, a down-tuned, distorted guitar riff rips through the silence, locking into a relentless, driving drumbeat.) (Verse 1) The throttle is pinned, the tracks bite the snow There’s a boundary line where the light cannot go I ride the perimeter, cutting the freeze Through the skeleton arms of the ancient dark trees No trespassers out here, no ghosts in the wood Just the hum of this engine where the old altars stood The air is like iron, the valley is deep I'm guarding the secrets we promised to keep. (Chorus) (The guitars open up into wide, massive power chords. The sound is thick and suffocating.) So pull down your visor, let the oceans go black We are holding the line and we ain't looking back Let the saints keep their ignorance wrapped in white light I'll make us the kings of the freezing midnight Where the stars never burn and the shadows run deep In the dark side of heaven, forever to keep. (Verse 2) (The drums drop back into the tight, militant groove. The bass buzzes with a heavy, menacing fuzz.) They worshipped the architect, blind to the cage We tore out the binding and burned every page The texts that they buried, the truths they suppressed Are carved in the ice where the exiled can rest We tracked the long cycles, the transit of time And walked right away from the scene of the crime Let them pray to the static, let them beg to the sky I'm awake in the void, and I’m letting them die. (Bridge) (The aggressive, driving mechanical beat of the verses drops away entirely. A haunting, sweeping sub-bass drone rises from the floorboards, mimicking the shifting of immense magnetic forces above Ferry. A lone, delayed guitar note rings out.) Look up at the firmament, watch it unfold A ribbon of shadow in the blistering cold No colors to blind us, no neon to stain Just a pitch-black aurora washing over the plain The ultimate silence, the absolute breath A beautiful absence of judgment and death. (Guitar/Instrumental Solo) (A heavily distorted, down-tuned riff spirals and echoes. It bends out of tune, matching the hypnotic, rolling movement of a high-strange aerial phenomenon, before kicking violently back into the driving rhythm of the engine.) (Verse 3) The perimeter holds and the compass spins dead There is nothing behind us and nothing ahead Just the map of the kingdom we drew in the dirt Far from the reach of the damage and hurt I follow the ridgeline, you cover my flank Our lungs full of frost and our memories blank We locked out the dawn with a flick of the wrist And surrendered ourselves to the beautiful mist. (Chorus) (Maximum volume. The cymbals crash relentlessly, echoing out into the frozen valley.) So pull down your visor, let the oceans go black We are holding the line and we ain't looking back Let the saints keep their ignorance wrapped in white light I'll make us the kings of the freezing midnight Where the stars never burn and the shadows run deep In the dark side of heaven, forever to keep. (Outro) (The instruments drop out one by one, leaving only the distorted bass and a steady kick drum.) The perimeter holds. The watch is complete. Under the black aurora. Where the shadows run deep. Forever to keep. (The sound of the driving beat slowly morphs back into the mechanical hum of an engine, which fades into the howling, whistling wind of the Alaskan winter, before cutting to dead silence.)
