Waking The Fallen (2003) "Desecrate Through Reverance"

[reprinted as written by Avenged Sevenfold]
As performed by A7X

Hard news, taken harder, don't look to me
Disappointed, we don't agree, I don't need your praise...
(don't look my way for help,
from the beginning you came to me)
Never asked you to like me,
I don't want your praise (we won't play your games)
Look down on me, spit in my face,
you're nothing to me:not to me

Darkened eyes you'll see,
there is no hope, no savior in me
(don't look this way, don't breathe this way,
don't stare this way, anymore)
Learned from years gone by, no one will care,
what happens to me
(don't look this way, don't breathe this way,
don't stare this way, anymore)

My presence won't be ignored, no not today
Don't walk in my direction, turn the other way
(don't look my way for help,
from the beginning you came to me)
Asking questions, predetermined answers,
you won't find them here (we don't want your opinion)
And I don't want you, I won't let you think,
compromise is near. 'Cause it's not near.

I'm alone in here
No more feelings
Killed my fears
Don't ask
you'll never know
you're left behind and I'll be exposed

Far away, you keep on trying...
Holding me down, breaking away,
trying to distance my life.
Not one in the crowd, but one with the answer
the one that could change your mind

But it's not true, I don't know you
Don't waste your time, and don't waste mine
I'm not your friend, I won't soothe your soul
And in the end you're all dead to me....

Who is the poet speaking to? He has received some devastating news made all the harder as everyone watches him. The onlookers try to pursuade the poet to change his mind about something, to meet them halfway. They hold out affection to him, hoping that some small part of what they hoped for in him will now save the day.

The poet's response ~ a volcano of rage, bitter disgust, absolute repulsion. He has set his way in his heart and there is now no turning back, no compromise is possible, no love will be returned. Underneath the rage is a sense of desolation, the small boy inside who feels abandoned and betrayed, utterly alone. The only way he can see to survive this roiling cauldron of emotions is to become numb to his feelings, all of them, the love that was destroyed, terror of what he has done, horror at the consequences, his soul stripped by shame and humiliation.

I'm alone in here
No more feelings
Killed my fears
Don't ask
you'll never know
you're left behind and I'll be exposed

Something has happened deep inside him. Born into a sin-wracked world, to corrupted parents, the weight of expectations for granduer placed heavily on his dimpled baby shoulders, he grew up with a sense of entitlement and self-importance.

But instead of saving the world, he brought humanity to an even deeper level of decay, now the tortured earth cries out with his brother's shed blood. He is humankind's first murderer. For as Adam, his father, brought death into the world, so Cain brought death to Adam's feet. Every person who walks across the family's field will remember Cain, the blood of Abel soaking into the soles of their sandals.

Now Cain sees the truth about himself. He not only was never entitled to special favors, he never was any different than anyone else. He is just a man, a sinful man. But instead of this truth humbling him, it acts as a forge that hardens his soul

Darkened eyes you'll see,
there is no hope, no savior in me

Instead of turning away from the darkness, he openes his soul to it, becomes saturated with the inky dye of enmity to all that was before: his family, his life, his God.

I don't know you
Don't waste your time, and don't waste mine
I'm not your friend, I won't soothe your soul
And in the end you're all dead to me....

Why did Cain go in this direction? In fact, why do any of us? What is it about darkness that is so alluring, that seems so empowering?

Here's what the apostle Paul had to say at the beginning of his letter to believers who lived in Rome,

People try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into inanity and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives.

They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get." It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us.

Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either—women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it—emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.

Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating...

They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives...cruel, cold-blooded. And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!

How could Cain have found a way back from where he found himself? He burned all his bridges to his past life, even his bridge to God. Every day he chose to keep his back towards God and to build his own Paradise. But could he have ever come back to God? Ever?

Yes. There is always a way back. For whatever bridge Cain burned down, God was ready to build another; all Cain had to do was turn back and around and see. For every passionate and aching Cain in the Bible there is another passionate and aching soul who does cry out to God from that terrified and lonely pit of despair "Please rescue me!" That's who the Rescuer has come to save.

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Avenged Sevenfold, "Nightmare" (2010)

The Lyrics: [reprinted as written by the band]

(Now you nightmare comes to life)

Dragged ya down below,
Down to the Devil’s show,
To be his guest forever,
(Peace of mind is less than never)!

Hate to twist you mind,
But God ain’t on your side,
An old acquaintance severed,
(Burn the world, your last endeavor)!

Flesh is burning, you can smell it in the air,
‘cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal.

So stand in line while they ink numbers in your head,
You’re now a slave until the end of time,
Nothing stops the madness turning,
Haunting, Yearning, Pull the trigger!

You should have known, the price of evil,
And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah
Ooooh, It’s your ******’ Nightmare!
(While your nightmare comes to life)

Can’t wake up in sweat,
‘Cause it ain’t over yet,
Still dancing with you demons,
(Victim of your creation)!

Beyond the will to fight,
Where all that’s wrong is right,
Where hate don’t need a reason
(Loathing self-assassination)!

You’ve been lied to just to rape you of your sight,
And now they have the nerve to tell you how to feel.
So sedated as they medicate your brain and while ya slowly go insane they tall ya:
“Give in with your best intentons, help you with you complications!”

You should have known the price of evil,
And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah.
No one to call,
Everybody to fear,
Your tragic fate is looking so unclear, yeah.
Ooooh, it’s your ******’ nightmare, ha-ha-ha-ha!

Fight (fight),
Not to fail (fail),
Not to fall (fall),
Or you’ll end up like the others.

Die (die),
Die again (die),
Drenched in sin (sin),
With no respect for another.

Down (down),
Feel the fire (fire),
Feel the hate (hate),
Your pain is what we desire.

Lost (lost),
Hit the wall (wall),
Watch you crawl (crawl),
Such a replaceable liar.

And I know you hear their voices (calling from above),
And I know they may seem real (these signals of love),
But our life’s made up of choices (some without appeal),
They took for granted your soul, and it’s ours now to steal
(as your nightmare comes to life)!

You should have known the price of evil,
And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah.
No one to call,
Everybody to fear,
Your tragic fate is looking so unclear, yeah…
Ooooh, it’s your ******’ nightmare!

This is the first song that's been released since the band lost their founding member, The Rev, shortly after Christmas, 2009. Is it about him?

No stranger to the excesses of self indulgence, the Rev was honest and upfront about his capacious appetite for drugs and pleasure. Yet all five members of the band grew up inside what is prosaically referred to as "the church." They all knew "the price of evil," and they all have at least a passing acquaintance with the epic story of God's love for His fallen ones, His heroic rescue of those who will love Him back, and the sweeping implications this story has in eternity.

In this song someone has crossed from life to eternity. He is being dragged down to hell, having realized that his passing acquaintance with God was not enough. His exit from life came in one last glorious blaze, but now he discovers that the fire of pleasure has become the burning of his own flesh in hell.

He thought he was powerful, adventurous, he thought he was grander than life, but in reality his soul was easily stolen, for the moment he began involving himself with evil was the moment he paid the price: slavery to sin which ultimately culminates in death and hell.

Somewhere deep inside of himself he feared this. But he would wake up, sweating, shivering in the dead of night, then look around his room to a warming sense of sweet relief, knowing it was all only a fevered nightmare. But now he can no longer wake up. Now he has begun to experience in eternity what the apostle Paul spoke of:

"From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth. They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. They claim to be wise, but they are fools. They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles."

You should have known, the price of evil,

"So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.

"God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds.

"Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.

"These people don't respect their parents. They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them."

You’ve been lied to just to rape you of your sight,
And now they have the nerve to tell you how to feel.
So sedated as they medicate your brain and while ya slowly go insane they tall ya:
“Give in with your best intentons, help you with you complications!”

In his life there were those who loved him, who prayed for him, who longed for him to come home to Jesus. Perhaps he even went to church as a gesture of kindness and love towards these people (were they his family? His parents?). Maybe they hoped that by going to church, going through the motions of religion, maybe singing hymns and reading the Bible would save him from the penalty of choosing sin. But it could not.

Some choices appear unappealing to those who have embraced the dark pleasures of evil. But in the end, the price is far higher than any earthly reward could ever pretend to match...

And I know you hear their voices (calling from above),
And I know they may seem real (these signals of love),
But our life’s made up of choices (some without appeal),
They took for granted your soul, and it’s ours now to steal
(as your nightmare comes to life)!

If this post got you to thinking, please leave a comment and join the conversation