I thought everything was fine
I thought everything was okay
I thought everything was good
I thought everything was right

Things aren't always what they seem
Bring me back to reality

Mirage of perfection floods the scene
I just can't wake up from this dream

All that glitters is not gold
Erase the borders and smash the mold

The stained-glass window distorts my worldview

The pretty window makes the horror beautiful

I'm living in a dreamworld with you

You beat me down
Spit on me
You made me wear a crown of thorns
I feel the blade
Pierce the skin
I see the blood begin to flow

(Chorus)
You broke it down, crucified, but I'll raise it up again
You can kill mortal bodies, but the soul lives on and on
In the end, no matter what, I'll remember who you are

So now I've died
Now I'll rise
I've been to hell and back again
I'm coming back
Wait and see
You'll have no place you can hide

So look at me
Show your face
Let me see deep in your soul
Taste the shame
Feel the pain
You'll have nowhere left to run

You beat me down
Spit on me
You made me wear a crown of thorns
I feel the blade
Pierce the skin
I see the blood begin to flow

(Chorus)
You broke it down, crucified, but I'll raise it up again
You can kill mortal bodies, but the soul lives on and on
In the end, no matter what, I'll remember who you are

So now I've died
Now I'll rise
I've been to hell and back again
I'm coming back
Wait and see
You'll have no place you can hide

So look at me
Show your face
Let me see deep in your soul
Taste the shame
Feel the pain
You'll have nowhere left to run

Lyrics by David



I was having a lot of pain and trouble breathing, and I couldn't fall asleep. I thought that I was going to die if I stayed laying down for much longer, so I got up and prayed. I said, "I am going to open the Bible up, and wherever it opens to, I will read and make it into a song." Psalm 117 is what I opened to.



This was on September 13th, 2005. The first guitar and the lead lines were created. After this, I was able to go to sleep peacefully for the night, amazingly.



Then on September 18th, Sarah re-did the vocals, I recorded a second guitar, and I made the demo rough mix.



On September 22nd, I fixed the second guitar track, I synched up the timing of the tracks, especially the guitars and lead guitar, and I added in a soothing synth and made what became the final mix.



This was recorded under Ubuntu Breezy Badger 5.10 (Preview Release 1), using Audacity 1.2.3.



All guitar tracks were done using the Ovation Applause AE128, through a Line6 POD (using user preset 7a, as of Sept. 22nd) and Yamaha MG10/2 Mixing Console. These Audacity plugins were used to tone the guitar properly: Dyson Compressor, and I can't recall the other effect, but it sounds like a chorus, flanger, or something like that... Used on a a second copy of the lead guitar track.



The vocals had been recorded with an MCA SPA-1, and were compressed in Audacity using the Dyson Compressor, as well as some GVerb. The GVerb settings are, in order, 250m, 3s, 0.7, 0.75, 0dB, -22dB, -30dB.



The synth was done using the Jackson Performer PS-1 with the Roland GK-2A pickup plugged into the Roland GI-10 plugged into the Yamaha RM1x Sequence Remixer. The RM1x instrument was 063/001 (SynthPad) with tweaked voice settings (reverb=77, cutoff=-32, resonance=-28). The synth was cut into mono in Audacity, and then a DJ EQ (mono) was performed to drop the Lo by about -40dB, and the Mid by about -12dB. Then the track was duplicated, one set to left, one set to right, set slightly off-time from each other for a stereo effect, then merged back into one stereo track.



Mixer settings:



Vocals: 4 o'clock / 11 o'clock / 11 o'clock / 10 o'clock / 12 o'clock / 12 o'clock / 8.5

Guitar: 2 o'clock / 7 o'clock / 10 o'clock / 8 o'clock / 12 o'clock / 12 o'clock / 8

Synth: all levels at neutral / 8

When you have no one to turn to
You start spinning in circles
When everything goes only wrong
Things only get worse

Left alone in the middle of nowhere
I hear voices from afar
But no matter how far I crawl
They are just whispers in my mind

(Chorus)
Choking on the sands of time
Nobody here to tell me why
I was the one left behind
Choking on the sands of time

Throat is dry, lips sewn shut
No way to quench this thirst
What is it going to take
Before someone comes to help?

All this time, tried not to wonder
But still my mind inquires
Why am I the only one?
Why doesn't anyone care?

I'm trapped inside the hourglass
The glass walls cage me in
I find it hard to breathe now
Don't have long to live

(Final Chorus)
Choking on the sands of time
Nobody here to tell me why
I was the one left to die
Choking on the sands of time

Spirit of God, filling me
Trumpet sound, voice of him
"Write a book, what you see"
Seven lamps surround Him
Head and hair white as snow
Eyes staring like fire

(Chorus)
Seven stars in hand
Seven lights surround the Man
"Write to the seven all I say"

The Living One, the First and Last
He walks amongst the seven
He knows all the deeds
And He grants us to eat
From the Tree of Life
Which is found in Paradise

"All I say..."

Peter, I never knew you, but I weep for you
Through your ordeal God was with you
You were a man of faith, you never turned your back
I look forward to meeting you face to face
Dana

(Chorus)
Now it's over; and you are with God
Why these things happen, we can not be sure
But you kept your eyes on the goal, and now you're gone home
Your pain is gone, you will suffer no longer
But rest in the arms of the Everlasting One

Naomi, I knew you well, and I weep for you
I wish there was something that I could have done for you
To take your hurt away, and wash away your tears of pain
You're gone but not forgotten, and we will meet again
Dana

Peter, I knew you too, and I weep for you
You were always there for me, when no one else seemed to care
You were taken away from us, we couldn't say goodbye
But we will see each other again, in the end
Dana

Do you want to be free?
Are you willing to be?
Cut down your Judas tree
Put your trust in me

(Chorus)
Are you wanting?
I am watching
Are you longing?
I am calling
Are you breaking?
I am waiting...
I am waiting...

If you will just let me
Clear away the debris
Be my refugee
This is your jubilee

Clearly now you see
That I have the key
I'll be your guarantee
This is my last decree

It's been the same thing, every day, all through history
Same sad story, never changes, and it never will
Your hate spreads like disease and burns like wildfire
I hear your back-handed comments and shrug them off the same
You attack me and my beliefs, but I've got nothing to prove
It's your decision, your destiny, your actions seal your fate

(Chorus)
Forget the rhetorics, forget the violent cliques
Forget the end effects, forget the daily fix
Forget the limericks, forget the moral mix
Forget the causatives, forget the deadly tricks
Forget the self-inflicts, forget the mass conflicts
Forget the bad ethics, forget the negatives
Forget the time-bomb ticks, forget the lame gimmicks
Forget the crucifix, forget the politics

Sailing down white-water rapids, going with the flow
Get off the boat, swim upstream, fight the current, buck the system
This world will candy-coat the lies and shove them down your throat
Their words are dead and dry like ashes, if you swallow you will choke
They have you where they want you, locked and loaded, and ready to go
You're like a stationary target, a neon sitting duck

(Bridge)
Holding, jolting, folding, molding
Breaking, shaping, making, saving

You take my hand, I'll walk with you
If I fall down, you'll pick me up

(Chorus)
Set me on my feet again

The path was dark, you showed the way
You called me home, when I was lost

When no one was, you always were
You stand by me, I follow you

You are my hope, my life is yours
Opened my eyes, I see again

I've been wandering down this path for so long
All my life I've been wandering aimlessly
And you come into my life and you change everything
You change how I think and how I treat everyone
And now I want to see through your eyes

(Chorus)
If I look at my reflection in the water's edge
What do I see? Is it you, or is it me?
If I look at my reflection in the water's edge
What do I see? Is it you, or is it me?

Instill in me the ability to care
For my brother and everyone I will meet
I want to be a reflection of your love
Teach me once more how it feels to be alone
That is how I felt before I met you

Put to death all of the selfish thoughts in your mind
Every thing that you do, do for somebody else
All these things you will do if you trust in him
On my mind is my eternal destiny
On that fateful day I will run to you

Nothing is wrong with you
And you think that you're perfect
Nothing is ever your fault
Even if it really was

(Chorus)
You're so perfect that you don't know that you're not