City Of Evil (2005) "Burn It Down"

[reprinted as written by Avenged Sevenfold]
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Jealousy's an ugly word, but you don't seem to care
Converse behind my back, but now I'm here
Need no one to comply with me though everyone that I defeat
Don't need you, f--k camaraderie, this rage will never go away

Hatred fuels my blood, I'll burn ya down (you can't help me)
One king to watch the horsemen fall, I'll fight 'til the end (I won't help you)
I can't trust anyone, see it in my eyes
Now I can understand, it's sorrow that feeds your lies

You're on my back when the water gets too deep for you to breath
A crutch for you that won't always be there
Hide in the dark another day, the fear in you is here to stay
So get the f--k away from me, and learn to trust the words I say.

Hatred fuels my blood, I'll burn ya down (you can't help me)
One king to watch the horsemen fall, I'll fight 'til the end (I won't help you)
I can't trust anyone, witness and see it in my eyes
Now I can understand, put faith in you for the last time
It's sorrow that feeds your lies

Run from me before I tear you down (be afraid)
You chose the wrong side (it feels so right)
I won't help you, let you rot away
Run towards the light exposing your soul (we won't be there by your side)
Salvation's dying (somebody's crying)
We're all gone in the end, sweet child we'll miss you
No, so far away

I can't trust anyone, witness and see it in my eyes
Now I can understand, put faith in you for the last time
It's sorrow that feeds your lies

Falling away, can't turn back time
Burn it down anyway

Relationships are always going to be complicated, even with the most easy-going low-maintenance people. But here the poet finds himself being slandered behind his back. The sense of camaraderie has become tainted with his discovery of this ongoing betrayal. Even worse, the treachery has been committed by someone who relied heavily on the poet for strength and courage, and even for rescue. All this time the poet was himself a good and faithful friend, who believed the best in this person, time and again.

But this last act of betrayal has finally broken all trust, and what was once love has turned into rage and even hatred. With poetic vision, the poet cries out as a king with his horsemen rallying to battle in which, even when every horseman falls, the king will fight to the last and burn down the enemy.

The faithless friend has evidently hidden in the dark, a fearful and sad person who tries to manage relationships with lies (manipulation). Now, with fury, the poet drives the betrayer towards the light, to expose his or her treacherous soul.

Is there a hint of sympathy, perhaps? Even as the the poet cries out for revenge, that the false friend should rot away, announcing that the salvation he or she found in the poet's friendship is now dying away, there is this one line,

(somebody's crying) We're all gone in the end, sweet child we'll miss you No, so far away

As the poet envisions his betrayer, and their relationship, falling away.

Love and hate are not opposites, but stem from the same passion of the heart. It is indifference which is the opposite of both love and hate. Think of love and hate as fire. The one warms, the other burns, the one provides life the other brings death. A young shepherd, thousands of years ago, mused on these two aspects of fire and light, what happens when the warmth and goodness of the sun's rays fell on fertile earth (a good relationship that responds to love by bringing forth verdant life) or desert (a bad, dysfunctional relationship that manipulates)

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Nothing hidden from the heat of the sun, God's glory, light and fire. God's glory is described as His people's guide, a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. But occasionally that glory was also a purifying bolt of raw power, turning to ash those who betrayed God. The fire that cut a unilateral covenant of love with Abraham is also the refiner's fire, purging God's people of everything wrong.

So the poet's deep and sacrificial love changed into aggrieved fury, and in that he was able to experience a shadow of what the Lord experiences with you and me when we betray Him. Do we wonder at the concept of hell? I don't think the poet does,

Falling away, can't turn back time
Burn it down anyway

But where the poet ends his reprobation in utter rejection, God's song has only begun,

God's loyal love couldn't have run out,
his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
They're created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He's all I've got left.

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It's a good thing when you're young
to stick it out through the hard times.

When life is heavy and hard to take,
go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:
Wait for hope to appear.
Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.
The "worst" is never the worst.

Why? Because the Master won't ever
walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
in throwing roadblocks in the way

God loves fiercely, He loves with fire, just as the poet does. But the fire of God's wrath is held back from those who justly deserve it (by which I mean everybody) because the heat of God's love burns so bright, and for so long (eternity) that He is patient to wait until His love is returned, until dysfunctional relationships heal and become rich and life producing, until sorrow and lies are traded up for joy and truth.

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