The Wandering Dead

I rolled in on the Midnight Ghost, howling like a dog
Werewolf Moon in the downtown night, drifting with the fog
I met the Goddess of the Damned, pushing a three-wheel cart
First she bummed a cigarette, then she broke my heart
Then the city crept over me, closing like a fist
I woke up in a strange place, covered all in mist
There were hobos lined up on the road, crucified in the street
Sacrificed for the suburbs, dying on their feet
Barbed-wire windows to the sky, landmines on the ground
Voiceless cries from the Ancient Pit, lost and never found
I stepped out into the Void, down a ladder greased with blood
One-way ride to the Catacombs, breaking every rung
And talking to myself

From the empty space inside
It don’t do no good to hide
We are the Wandering Dead

Sister Mercy came and went, found me in a hole
Asked if one day I’d repent – I just told her “No”
The People tried to build a home beneath a long-dead neon sign
The City came and broke it down, beat them back in line
Lives tossed into a garbage truck, bloodstains on the floor
Shelter from the winter storm, cops to bar the door
Hypocrisy on the Lake of Fire, feeding a river a lies
Running down from the Highest Ground, through the gutter to the sky
A Gilded Palace for the rich, bedbugs for the poor
You toss your sins into the street and then you slam the door
So you can take your fucking Games and shove ‘em up your ass
Try living out of a shopping cart, sleeping on broken glass
And talking to yourself

-Chorus-

I sang the Gospel of the Renegades at the Skid Row soapbox show
Broken souls beneath the power lines, gathering like crows
The soldiers came and broke us down like cardboard in the rain
Blistered fire in their fingertips, centuries of pain
An Empire built on Stolen Land, a war against the poor
Left to die beside a barrel fire, to burn forevermore
I heard it all through the hotel floor, a story as old as time
Bodies buried in the city walls, the old bones never lie
So when the Sun burned through the sky, rising to the East
I hit the hammer one last time, praying for release
Then I heard the voices rising up, crying out in turn:
“Know that one day all of this will crumble and burn!”
But I’m talking to myself

-Chorus-