Symbolic

1. SYMBOLIC
Music & Lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner

I don't mean to dwell
But I can't help myself
When I feel the vibe
And taste a memory
Of a time in life
When years seemed to stand still

I close my eyes
And sink within myself
Relive the gift of precious memories
In need of a fix called innocence

When did it begin?
The change to come was undetectable
The open wounds expose the importance of
Our innocence
A high that can never be bought or sold

Symbolic acts - so vivid
Yet at the same time
Were invisible

Savor what you feel and what you see
Things that may not seem important now
But may be tomorrow

Do you remember when
Things seemed so eternal?
Heroes were so real...
Their magic frozen in time
The only way to learn
Is be aware and hold on tight

I close my eyes
And sink within myself
Relive the gift of precious memories
In need of a fix called innocence

When did it begin?
The change to come was undetectable
The open wounds expose the importance of
Our innocence
A high that can never be bought or sold

Symbolic acts - so vivid
Yet at the same time
Were invisible

2. ZERO TOLERANCE
Music & Lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner

In the dark of night...
Abusing a portion of light
While others are sleeping
And some are escaping
A serpent spews out fantasy -
Unjustified blasphemy
That cannot be condoned

It must be strange to not have lived
So far into existence

This is not a test of power
This is not a game to be lost or won
Let justice be done

There will be zero tolerance
For the creator of hallowed intentions
There will be zero tolerance
Fate is your deciding God

Karma comes crashing down
Leaving a very deep scar
Exposing a door to the
Source of a verbal whore
Machines supply the altar
Where virtuous lives are sacrificed

It must be strange to not have lived
So far into existence

This is not a test of power
This is not a game to be lost or won
Let justice be done

3. EMPTY WORDS
Music & Lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner

Ashes and promises share a bond
Through the winds of change
Words are blown away
When visions that should be
Are tattooed in your mind
The power to let go
Is sometimes hard to find

The answer cannot be found
In the writing of others
Or the words of a trained mind
In a precious world of memories
We finds ourselves confined

Claws so razor sharp
Ripping at the spirit

Promises a potential to hurt
Is anything real?
When forever is to be until
Deep inside, in the world of empty words...
No escaping from those haunting
empty words...

Do you ever feel it?
A craving that is so strong
To by thought rewind in order to find

Expectations that shined through the doubt
That soon would turn into the price
Of what a word will be worth
When tomorrow comes
To be and we are left
Standing on our own -
And seeing what is real...

The answer cannot be found
In the writing of others
Or the words of a trained mind
In a precious world of memories
We finds ourselves confined

Claws so razor sharp
Ripping at the spirit

Promises a potential to hurt
Is anything real?
When forever is to be until
Deep inside, in the world of empty words...
No escaping from those haunting
empty words...

4. SACRED SERENITY
Music & Lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner

Wherever we go, whatever we do
Your shadow is not far behind our steps
And our breath
Protecting and watching all...
Observing spirits on the wall
What are they telling you?

Following all instincts that are pure
Oblivious to time that may be the cure

Sacred is the gift that they
have without knowing
Serenity is knowing it's safe
from destruction of time

Maybe we could take a step back
And discover what leads us to attack
Time that is short - distance unknown
For them, each day life has just begun
Observing spirits on the wall
What are they telling you?

Following all instincts that are pure
Oblivious to time that may be the cure

Sacred is the gift that they
have without knowing
Serenity is knowing it's safe
from destruction of time

5. 1,000 EYES
Music & Lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner

Crossing the line into the other side
Emerging as prisoners
To the emptiness of time

To the left and to the right
From behind - they're out of sight
Plunging into a new found
Age of advanced observeillance
A worldwide, foolproof cage

Privacy and intimacy as we know it
Will be a memory
Among many to be passed down
To those who never knew

Living in the pupil of a 1,000 eyes

Was it overlooked in front of all our faces?
Now, all the mistakes and secrets
Cannot be erased

Viewing the blind complexity
By which laws were justified
To erase simplicity

To the left and to the right
From behind - they're out of sight
Plunging into a new found
Age of advanced observeillance
A worldwide, foolproof cage

Privacy and intimacy as we know it
Will be a memory
Among many to be passed down
To those who never knew

Living in the pupil of 1,000 eyes
We are enslaved now....

6. WITHOUT JUDGEMENT
Music & Lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner

Guilty until proven innocent
We condemn your soul and fate
Never mind the possibilities
Too busy for logic or to calculate

Take part in a diminishing breed
Where complex turns to simplicity
When pain is acknowledged
Frivolous calculations will be abolished

Without judgement what would we do?
We would be forced to look
At ourselves emerged in lost time
Assuming what may be
Without judgement
Perception would increase a million times

Distracted by the imagination
That experiments with ease
If you could taste it, it might be addictive
Where life will crush those who defy

Take part in a diminishing breed
Where complex turns to simplicity
When pain is acknowledged
Frivolous calculations will be abolished

Without judgement what would we do?
We would be forced to look
At ourselves emerged in lost time
Assuming what may be
Without judgement
Perception would increase a million times

7. CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN
Music & Lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner

Built from blind faith
Passed down from self-induced fantasy
Turn a page to justify
Conjuring power - it opens wide
On your seventh day,
is that how it's done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
all that you want
To assume from ignorance
inflicting wounds with your
cross-turned dagger

Inside crystal mountain
Evil takes its form
Inside crystal mountain
Commandments are reborn

All the traps are set to confine
All who get in the way of the divine
In sight and in mind of the hypocrite
A slave to the curse forever confined

Shatter the myth
Don't cut yourself
On your words against
Dreams made of steel
Stronger then any faith
That inflicts pain and fear,
is that how it's done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
all that you want
To assume from ignorance
inflicting wounds with your
cross-turned dagger

Inside crystal mountain
Evil takes its form
Inside crystal mountain
Commandments are reborn

8. MISANTHROPE
Music & Lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner

From above and around,
observations are collected
Knowledge is taken in by curious life forms
That may bring hope from beyond
Beneath the giver of life, our sun
An examination of another kind is done

A view from those who stood high
And breathed the sky
An opinion from below and from above

Some were decided, some wer not
A few looked away, but none forgot

Misanthrope
Hater of all mankind
There is some hope
For those who own their mind
They came, they saw and acknowledged
Some good, some bad
Opinion: Dangerous

Stay where you are, don't get consumed
By what they created from sheer neglect
In denial of years and years of
shattered souls
That were lost to the power of
Fragile, frightful minds

A view from those who stood high
And breathed the sky
An opinion from below and from above

Some were decided, some wer not
A few looked away, but none forgot

Misanthrope
Hater of all mankind
There is some hope
For those who own their mind
They came, they saw and acknowledged
Some good, some bad
Opinion: Dangerous

9. PERENNIAL QUEST
Music & Lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner

The journey begins with curiosity
And evolves into soul-felt questions
On the stones that we walk
And choose to make our path
Sometimes never knowing
Other times knowing too much

Filtering out the bad that holds us back...
Take hold of what is true to your hunger
A hunger that will not go away
Plans for tomorrow, they will remain

Won't you join me on the perennial quest
Reaching into the dark, retrieving light
Search for answers on the perennial quest
Where dreams are followed, and time is a test

No time for mental crutches
The maker has moved on
I will take it raw and be on my way

Those that stood beside me
I'm glad you understand
Behind these written words
I share the simple plan
To hang on to the way that we feel

From rivers of sorrow
To oceans deep with hope
I have travelled them
Now, there is no turning back
The limit, the sky
I ask my questions Why? What today?
When tomorrow?

Filtering out the bad that holds us back...
Take hold of what is true to your hunger
A hunger that will not go away
Plans for tomorrow, they will remain

Won't you join me on the perennial quest
Reaching into the dark, retrieving light
Search for answers on the perennial quest
Where dreams are followed, and time is a test