The Killer

One million screens are now showing the face
Of the man who took thirty you lives to this day
He stole them and broke them the reporters say
He’s both free and caged but in all the wrong ways

The one who escaped is now taking the stand
Two suits prop him up with his arms in their hands
His eyes are cloudy and his voice is deadpan
And the killer smiled and the trial began

The lawyers pose questions with answers prepared
And the witness recounts but he seems not to care
He’d been asking to die, someone answered his prayers
The body is alive but the rest isn’t there

But I was confused it was not what it seemed
And the footage was twenty years old on the screen
And the man this summer who took thirty lives
Was the killer who so long ago testified

He told them his pain gave him a new lease on life
But he couldn’t go back no matter how hard he tried
He’d lost something precious, it’s purpose went wrong
The body is alive but the rest is all gone
His world collapsed with the facade destroyed
And all of the engines he had once employed
Now drove him to kill as he finally saw
That in the end his life had meant nothing at all

It’s such a fine balance that keeps us alive
With our dignity happiness, hunger and pride
And they outline in chalk all the rules to the game
But to kill it you just need to take one away
You see there is a chain and it can never break
And each link is a soul’s insignificant pain
And we cut at each other with our words and our lies
So we’ll never be whole until the end of time

For much of my life I wished to disappear
And just shatter the glass that was holding me here
But i never could do it or see myself jumping
See, in the end I’m constantly searching for something
Now I’m just a man who can’t make up my mind
I’m afraid to live but I don’t want to die
So when I lie down in bed, my heart heavy with care
My bed may as well be an electric chair