Chiaroscuro by Gallows Hymn Lyrics
Balancing light and darkness, to create a vision, of the divine
In shadow, tells a story, of when nature and desire collide
Two factions at war, one a great family, patrons of art, victims of envy
In the house of god, butchered before all, blood fills the streets, violence is law
Cut down like trees, once men of power, hanging disemboweled from the city tower
Conspiracy is foiled, nowhere to run, justice is served under the Tuscan sun
Smiling in torment, strength in distress
Your following eyes tell a story of loneliness
Faces of marble, bodies of oil
Fiction to tell truth, immortalized youth
When all we have left are our memories, unfinished, our works abandoned
Telling a story of humanity, the joy of understanding
The sacred is portrayed by the sinner in love, the image of christ, the frescos above
A brother and sister, bonded in incest, a cloak of ermine, the smell of frankincense
Our faces unmasked, eyes wide open, sanctity of marriage, vows are broken
Born into privilege, but power corrupts, scandal matters not to those beloved
Smiling in torment, strength in distress
Your following eyes, tell a story of loneliness
Faces of marble, bodies of oil
Fiction to tell truth, immortalized youth
When the bird has tasted flight, it will stay in the sky, never to look back
To earth it will never return, once it has spread its wings it will only fly
A beheaded martyr, a prophet a baptist, portrayed with ardor by a distinguished artist
A sacred image of a saint divine, salvation obtained for the apostles maligned
Blue eyes shining in the Florentine night, apprentice to a painter, the stars burn bright
Forbidden love, our one befall, accusations of the holy in the house of god
I thought I was learning to live, when I was only, learning to die
Between the shadows and light, where the beginning and end of all things lie
A beautiful body may perish, but a work of art, does not die
Spread, and open your wings, like an eagle above, you will learn to fly!
In shadow, tells a story, of when nature and desire collide
Two factions at war, one a great family, patrons of art, victims of envy
In the house of god, butchered before all, blood fills the streets, violence is law
Cut down like trees, once men of power, hanging disemboweled from the city tower
Conspiracy is foiled, nowhere to run, justice is served under the Tuscan sun
Smiling in torment, strength in distress
Your following eyes tell a story of loneliness
Faces of marble, bodies of oil
Fiction to tell truth, immortalized youth
When all we have left are our memories, unfinished, our works abandoned
Telling a story of humanity, the joy of understanding
The sacred is portrayed by the sinner in love, the image of christ, the frescos above
A brother and sister, bonded in incest, a cloak of ermine, the smell of frankincense
Our faces unmasked, eyes wide open, sanctity of marriage, vows are broken
Born into privilege, but power corrupts, scandal matters not to those beloved
Smiling in torment, strength in distress
Your following eyes, tell a story of loneliness
Faces of marble, bodies of oil
Fiction to tell truth, immortalized youth
When the bird has tasted flight, it will stay in the sky, never to look back
To earth it will never return, once it has spread its wings it will only fly
A beheaded martyr, a prophet a baptist, portrayed with ardor by a distinguished artist
A sacred image of a saint divine, salvation obtained for the apostles maligned
Blue eyes shining in the Florentine night, apprentice to a painter, the stars burn bright
Forbidden love, our one befall, accusations of the holy in the house of god
I thought I was learning to live, when I was only, learning to die
Between the shadows and light, where the beginning and end of all things lie
A beautiful body may perish, but a work of art, does not die
Spread, and open your wings, like an eagle above, you will learn to fly!