SAVATAGE LYRICS

1. Overture

[Music: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

[Instrumental]

2. Sarajevo

[Music & Words: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

In the town of Sarajevo, there's an old medieval square
There's a church aside one corner most believe was always there

It was built a thousand years before any now were born
And its glory was its belfry with its stones all gray... and worn

Now there's a gargoyle on that belfry and he's been up there for years
And he has watched and he has pondered: "What is laughter, what are tears?"

And he's never found his answers as he sees the years go by
But he watches and he wonders with his stone unblinking eyes

IT WAS THE YEAR OF NINETEEN-NINETY
AND THE BERLIN WALL WAS DOWN
AND A THOUSAND YEARS REGRETTED
NOW LAID BURIED IN THE GROUND

AND THE PROPHETS READ THE FUTURE
AND THE OMENS ALL SEEMED KIND
IN THE CLASSIC WORDS OF DICKENS
IT SURELY WAS THE BEST OF TIMES

3. This Is The Time

[Music & Words: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

Watching in silence, I hesitate: It was not in the plans
All of our lives we could only wait: It was out of our hands

And every war where we took the day, it was all in our heads
And though in the dark we dream at night, they were better unsaid

[chorus]
But this is the time and this is the place
And these are the signs that we must embrace
The moment is now, in all history
The time has arrived and this is the one place to be

Yeah, yeah

We placed our years in the hourglass, they were never unearned
And we seemed destined to watch them pass - it was never our turn

[chorus]
But this is the time and this is the place
And these are the signs that we must embrace
The moment is now, in all history
The time has arrived and this is the one place to be

Yeah, yeah

[lead break]

[solo]

[chorus]
This is the time and this is the place
And these are the signs that we must embrace
The moment is now, in all history
The time has arrived and this is the one place to be

Yeah, yeah

[extro]

AND A WIND CAME ACROSS EUROPE
THAT WOULD TWIST AND TURN OUR FATE
FOR AS WELL AS BRINGING FREEDOM
IT HAD LET LOOSE MEN OF HATE

NOW THESE MEN WERE FEW IN NUMBER
AND THE PEOPLE THREW THEM OUT
BUT IN THE MIND OF EACH MAN'S NEIGHBOR
THEY HAD PLANTED SEEDS OF DOUBT

4. I Am

[Music & Words: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

I see a little man sitting and he's wondering
If over his little plot he might be king
And he finds his present world a little boring

There's no land that is so small that it cannot divide
So come, I'll draw the line and you just pick your side
Ignoring anyone who gives a warning

[chorus]
For I am the answer you seek, the dream in your sleep
You never wanted to awaken
I have the plan that won't fail, a crime without trail
And all I really need right now is you!

[laugh]

I see a little man, thinking that he might need more
And so his eyes are drifting to the house next door
He wonders if his neighbors might be leaving

So he makes a little offer that they'll understand
There is no point in letting things get out of hand
For no one wants to see their widows grieving

[chorus]
For I am the answer you seek, the dream in your sleep
You never wanted to awaken
I have the plan that won't fail, a crime without trail
And all I really need is you!

[laugh]

[middle 8]

I am the word without deeds, the lie that exceeds
For lies are always most impatient
I am the guide for the lost, who never counts cost
And all I really need right now is you!
All I really need right now is you!
All I really need right now is you!
All I really need right now is you!
I see a little man sitting and he's wondering
All I really need right now is you!
I see a little man sitting and he's wondering
All I really need right now is you!
I see a little man sitting and he's wondering
All I really need right now is you!
I see a little man sitting and he's wondering
All I really need right now is you!
I see a little man sitting and he's wondering
All I really need right now is you!
I see a little man sitting and he's wondering
All I really need right now is you!
You! You! You! You! You!

IN EVERY BOOK OF HISTORY
IT IS WRITTEN HOW IT'S DONE
IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD
YOU NEED ONLY CHANGE THE YOUNG

AND SERDJAN ALEKSIC
STARED DEEPLY THROUGH THE NIGHT
BUT YOUR VISION'S NOT THE SAME
WHEN YOU'RE STARING THROUGH A SIGHT

AND A RIFLE'S NOT ENOUGH
WHEN YOU DON'T WISH OTHERS WELL
SO HE ANGLED OUT HIS MORTAR
AND HE DROPPED IN HIS FIRST SHELL

5. Starlight

[Music & Words: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

We never fear the night, we bring our own starlight
Dropped on the world below, wait for the afterglow

We never fear the night, we bring our own starlight
Dropped on the world below, wait for the afterglow
And in the dark they wed, we're dancing with the dead
And if the ground's been stained, colors run in the rain

[chorus]
Run away, no delay - do we have to show you?
Don't expect mercy yet, we don't even know you
Hear the press, nothing less - saying that we don't care
Understand it's the land and you'd have to be there

We never contemplate, we only offer fate
And in the night they arc, flowering in the dark
Filling the sky with red, till all their needs are fed
Then like the childhood tear they quickly disappear

[chorus]
Run away, no delay - do we have to show you?
Don't expect mercy yet, we don't even know you
Hear the press, nothing less - saying that we don't care
Understand it's the land and you'd have to be there

[middle 8]

[chorus]
Run away, no delay - do we have to show you?
Don't expect mercy yet, we don't even know you
Hear the press, nothing less - saying that we don't care
Understand it's the land and you'd have to be there

[coda]

IN THE WORLD OF DEATH AND MURDER
THEY'RE THOSE WHO DO THE DEED
BUT WAITING IN THE SHADOWS
ARE THE MEN WHO SEWED THE SEEDS

THEY MAKE THEIR THIRTY-PIECES
SELLING GUNS TO ALL WHO PAY
AND WHEN BULLETS PIERCE THE FLESH
THEY ARE SAFELY FAR AWAY

AND BACK IN SARAJEVO
A GIRL STOOD INSIDE THE ROOM
LISTENING TO MEN CALLED MERCHANTS
OFFER GUNS TO FORESTALL DOOM

THEY SAID THEY CAME TO HELP
WHEN MUSLIMS PLIGHT THEY'D HEARD
BUT WHAT THEY HAD
SOMEHOW FAILED TO MENTION
WAS THEY SAID THE SAME THINGS
TO THE SERBS

6. Doesn't Matter Anyway

[Music & Words: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

It don't matter what you said
In the mind of someone, you are now dead
What makes it bad is they're living next door
So you'll need some weapons? That's what I'm here for!
Seems you got us a war

AK-47, Tomcat, F-11 hardly ever used, tell me what am I bid?
You on the back wall, this is it last call
Better buy 'em now or you'll wish that you did
You'll wish that you did

[chorus]
I know, you know, in this world you gotta pay
It's all for sale, what's your side? You couldn't say...
No... doesn't matter anyway

Claymore land mines, anti-personnel kind
Good for lining borders and they're easy to hide
Bury 'em in the ground, only one way they're found
Another fine product we deliver with pride
Swing a deal on the side

M-1's, ammo too - Stinger missiles got a few
Better get 'em now, while we got 'em in store
Good for a last stand, straight out of Afghanistan
If you never use 'em, you can save 'em till your next civil war
Cause that's what they're for

[chorus]
I know, you know, in this world you gotta pay
It's all for sale, what's your side? You couldn't say...
Hmmm, doesn't matter anyway

[solo]

Whoa, yeah!

[chorus]
I know, you know, in this world you gotta pay
It's all for sale, what's your side? You couldn't say...
No... doesn't matter anyway

[laugh]

Ow!

[lead break]

No!
Doesn't matter anyway
Doesn't matter anyway
No! No! No! No! No! Ow!

[chorus]
I know, you know, in this world you gotta pay
It's all for sale, what's your side? You couldn't say...
Aaaaah... doesn't matter anyway

THE OLD MAN HAD TOURED THE EARTH
PLAYING CELLO FOR THE LEARNED
OF A THOUSAND FOREIGN CITIES
ONLY NOW HE HAD RETURNED

TO THE CITY HE HAD LEFT ONCE
TO THE PLACE WHERE HE WAS RAISED
IN THE HOUSE WHERE HE WAS BORN IN
AT THE FIRES HE NOW GAZED

7. This Isn't What We Meant

[Music & Words: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

We dared to ask for more
But that was long before the nights began to burn
You would have thought we'd learned
You can't make promises all based upon tomorrow
Happiness, security are words we only borrowed
For is this the answer to our prayers, is this was God has sent?
Please understand this isn't what we meant

The future couldn't last, we nailed it to the past
With every word a trap that no one can take
Back from all the architects who find their towers leaning
And every prayer we pray at night has somehow lost its meaning
For is this the answer to our prayers, is this was God has sent?
Please understand this isn't what we meant

[bridge]
A long time ago when the world was pretty
Standing right here in a different city
They're not coming back any more
They're not coming back any...

[lead break]

[solo]

[extro]
Is this the answer to our prayers, is this was God has sent?
Please understand this isn't what we meant

THEN HE CLIMBED ATOP THE RUBBLE
OF THE FOUNTAIN IN THE SQUARE
AND HE TOOK HIS CELLO OUT
IN THE COLD NOVEMBER AIR

AND AS THE TWILIGHT STARTED SETTING
ON THE REMNANTS OF THIS DAY
AS THE SHELLS BEGAN TO FALL
THE OLD MAN BEGAN TO PLAY

AND IN THE DARKNESS OF THAT NIGHT
EACH ON THEIR OWN RESPECTIVE SIDES
THE MUSLIM AND THE SERB
WOULD WATCH THEIR COUNTRY'S SUICIDE

BUT NOW INSIDE EACH EVENING
THEY HAD FOUND A MOMENT'S CALM
WHEN THEY'D HEAR THE THOUGHTS OF MOZART
AS THEY FILTERED THROUGH THE BOMBS

8. Mozart And Madness

[Music: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

[Instrumental]

[THE OLD MAN PLAYS HIS CELLO AS THE SHELLING STARTS.
THE ORCHESTRA COMES IN REPRESENTING THE MUSLIMS,
FOLLOWED BY THE BAND REPRESENTING THE SERBS. DURING
THE OCCASIONAL LULLS, IN THE FIGHTING, THE LONE CELLO
DRIFTS ACROSS THE BATTLEFIELDS.]

AND WHO WILL LOVE THE INCEST CHILD
OF IGNORANCE AND HATRED
WHO THROUGH SHE'S STANDING IN THE RAIN
NO TEAR HAS PENETRATED

FOR WHILE THEY BANTER BOUT THEIR WORDS
YOU MUST BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU TREAD
FOR NO MATTER WHAT THEY PROMISE
RUMOR IS THAT DEAD IS DEAD

9. Memory

[Music: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

[Instrumental]

10. Dead Winter Dead

[Music & Words: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

Feel the rush, feel the rush in the back of your head
"Breathe it in, breathe it in," isn't that what they said
As you stood in the night 'neath the glow of the fires?
Watch it burn, watch it burn, watch it reach through the night
Feel the heat, feel the heat as you bask in its light
As the puppets hang upon their wires

[chorus]
I've lost my way, kneel down and pray
It all decays, it takes me down, down, down
Like the minister said, like the minister said
Where this all has led... dead winter dead

Can you hear what I hear in the back of your mind
As you stand on the stage when they tell you it's time
To read words from a past you can't remember?
Gotta keep what you have, tell me what is it for
If it made sense my friend well then not anymore
Every dream I'm told has its December

[chorus]
I've lost my way, kneel down and pray
It all decays, it takes me down, down, down
Like the minister said, like the minister said
Where this all has led... dead winter dead

[lead break]

[coda]

AND WHEN HE CAME
UPON THE SCHOOLYARD
THERE WERE BODIES ON THE FLOOR
EVERY WAR MUST HAVE ITS BODIES
BUT THIS MY FRIENDS WAS SO MUCH MORE

FOR THE MIND GETS USED TO BODIES
WHETHER SINGLY OR IN PILES
BUT IT CUTS THE MIND MORE DEEPLY
WHEN THE BODY IS A CHILD'S

11. One Child

[Music & Words: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

One child stood before the altar
One child stood out in the rain
One child spent his time imagining
And I don't believe he's coming home again, home again, home a...

[chorus]
Right there in the earth, I've been drawing a line
I'm digging it deep, don't know if I'll find
A tunnel out so we all can be saved
If not, just take this earth and bury me, 'cause this will be my grave

One child hid inside the darkness
One child never said a thing
One child closed his eyes and disappeared
But at night I still can hear him whispering, whispering, whisper...

[chorus]
Right there in the earth, I've been drawing a line
I'm digging it deep, don't know if I'll find
A tunnel out so we all can be saved
If not, just take this earth and bury me, for this will be my grave

[lead break / coda]
I will believe in you
If you still want me to
Or tell me I'm on my own
There on the other side
Tell me the Pilate's died
And we're no longer alone

[bridge]
Take your answers and your promises, believe me I don't care
I have held on to your words until I found them only air
What good are your promises if you can always take them back?
Still, I hang on every word till my hands are bleeding

[coda]
I will believe in you
If you still want me to
Or tell me I'm on my own
There on the other side
Tell me the Pilate's died
And we're no longer alone

[simultaneously]

I will believe in you
We had no choice but to stay and follow
If you still want me to
We have nothing left except tomorrow
Or tell me I'm on my own
We have nothing left except what will be
There on the other side
What we need here are some real decisions
Tell me the Pilate's died
While you only offer mindless visions
And we're no longer alone
Visions that nobody else here can see

[simultaneously / = where stanza 1 lines begin in comparison to other stanzas]

[1.]
We're on our own
We're on our own
We're on our own
We're on our...

[2.]
/I will believe in you
If you still want me to
/Or tell me I'm on my own
/There on the other side
Tell me the Pilate's died
/And we're no longer a...

[3.]
/We had no choice but to stay and follow
We have nothing left except tomorrow
/We have nothing left except what will be
/What we need here are some real decisions
While you only offer mindless visions
/Visions that nobody else here can...

[all together]
I will believe in you
If you still want me to
Or tell me I'm on my own
There on the other side
Tell me the Pilate's died
And we're no longer a...

[chorus]
Right there in the earth, I've been drawing a line
I'm digging it deep, don't know if I'll find
A tunnel out so we all can be saved
If not, just take this earth and bury me, for this will be my grave

NOW THROUGH THE OLD ARE OFF FORGOTTEN
THEY TEND NOT TO FORGET
AND THE OLD MAN CAME EACH NIGHT
AND PLAYED HIS SOUL'S REGRET

BUT THIS NIGHT THE SOUND CUT DEEPER
AS IF THE SOUL ITSELF WOULD LEAVE
FOR SNOW COVERED THE GROUND
AND THE NIGHT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE

12. Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)

[Music: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill, Bob Kinkel]

[Instrumental]
[THE OLD MAN HAS BEEN RETURNING EVERY NIGHT SINCE
NOVEMBER PLAYING HIS MUSIC, AS IF TO PROVE THAT THE
SOUL OF HIS COUNTRY, OF HUMANITY, WAS NOT DEAD]

WHEN THE SHELLS HAD CEASED THEIR FALLING
THE YOUNG MUSLIM AND THE SERB
LISTENED FOR THE OLD MAN'S MUSIC
BUT NOW NOT A NOTE WAS HEARD

AND FEARING WHAT HAD HAPPENED
EACH DID, WHAT SHOULD NOT BE DARED
AND MADE THEIR WAY THROUGH NO MAN'S LAND
TO THE OLD MEDIEVAL SQUARE

THEY ARRIVED AT THE SAME MOMENT
IN THE COLD DECEMBER AIR
BUT NEITHER PULLED A WEAPON
FOR EACH KNEW WHY THEY WERE THERE

AND THEY WALKED OVER TO THE FOUNTAIN
AND FOUND HIM LAYING THERE IN DEATH
THERE WAS BLOOD UPON HIS FACE
THE SMASHED CELLO ON HIS CHEST

BUT THEN A SINGLE DROP OF LIQUID
FELL FROM OUT THE CLOUDLESS SKY
AND IT FELL UPON THE CHEEK
OF THE MAN WHO HAD JUST DIED

AND THE SOLDIER FELT A SHUDDER
FOR THE WORST HAD COME HE FEARED
WHEN THE ONLY SING OF PITY
WAS A SINGLE GARGOYLE'S TEAR

HE TURNED TO THE YOUNG WOMAN
AND HE SAID LET'S LEAVE THIS WAR
BUT A SOLDIER AND HIS UNIFORM
WAS ALL THAT SHE NOW SAW

13. Not What You See

[Music & Words: Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill]

No life's so short it can't turn around
You can't spend your life living underground
For from above you don't hear a sound
And I'm out here, waiting
I don't understand what you want me to be
It's the dark you're hating, it's not who I am
But I know that it's all that you see

No life's so short that it never learns
No flame so small that it never burns
No page so sure that it never turns
And I'm out here, waiting
I don't understand what you want me to be
It's the dark you're hating, it's not who I am
But I know that it's all that you see

[bridge]
Can you live your life in a day, putting every moment in play?
Never hear a word that they say as the wheels go around

Tell me if you win would it show - in a thousand years, who would know?
As a million lives come and go on this same piece of ground

[simultaneously]

Can you live your life in a day
I've been waiting
Putting every moment in play?
Never hear a word that they say
I don't understand what you want me to be
As the wheels go around
Tell me if you win would it show
It's the dark you're hating
In a thousand years, who would know?
As a million lives come and go
It's not who I am, but it is what you see
On this same piece of ground

[simultaneously]

[1.]
I've been waiting
I don't understand what you want me to be
It's the dark you're hating
It's not who I am, but it is what you see

[2.]
Can you live your life in a day
Putting every moment in play?
Never hear a word that they say
As the wheels go around
Tell me if you win would it show
In a thousand years, who would know?
As a million lives come and go
On this same piece of ground

[3.]
Tell me would you really want to
See me leave this night without you
Would you ever look about you
Wondering where we might be
New York is so far away now
Tokyo, Berlin and Moscow
Only dreams from here but somehow
One day that world we will see

[simultaneously again, except substitute this for stanza 1 and]
[clip last three syllables of the last line of stanzas 2 and 3]

[1.]
I don't understand
I don't understand
I don't understand
I don't understand
I don't understand
I don't understand
I don't understand
I don't understand...

[together, immediately]

...what I see.

[solo]

[coda]
I swear on tomorrow, if you take this chance
Our lives are this moment, the music - the dance
And here in this labyrinth of lost mysteries
I close my eyes on this night and you're all that I see

You're all that I see

THEN THEY LEFT THE SQUARE TOGETHER
NEATH THE FADING FIRE'S LIGHT
AND THE GARGOYLE WATCHED
AND WONDERED
ON THAT WINTER'S SILENT NIGHT

AND SO OUR STORY'S OVER
AND FOR ANY ONE WHO CARES
AS FOR THE OLD GARGOYLE
I BELIEVE THAT HE'S STILL THERE







SAVATAGE LYRICS