Fear Yourself

Just outside the black lines my father drew the face of a girl
And I didn't hear the words that the old man said that crushed the whole world
My mother’s eyes caught mine as she took the pen from my hand
The brothers and the sisters just whispering "Hallelujah! Amen"

Fear yourself is all I heard
Horror-struck from the Holy Word
There's only so many times you can ask for forgiveness
And as the saints came down to receive
The spirit moved and they earned their reprieve
But outside those walls they mauled the witness
And we got back to business

The blur of living two lives, sometimes you have to compromise
(That's what you tell yourself?)
You become the aesthetic, set-apart and prophetic
(But for how long? It won’t work!)
But hide away the wrong things that somehow you just can't beat
(And it gets worse)
Everything is hidden and you can't remember why you believed every word

Fear yourself is all I heard
Horror-struck from the Holy Word
There's only so many times you can ask for forgiveness
And as the saints came down to receive
The spirit moved and they earned their reprieve
But outside those walls they mauled the witness
And we got back to business