Broken Horses by The Mechanisms Lyrics
[Verse 1: Ulysses]
Deep in my cups and my whiskey
Sometimes the screaming will cease
Free-flowing tears fall unnoticed
Numbness my only release
Some soldiers will tell you that warfare
Is just one more title for Hell
I wonder if devils get nightmares
Of all of their victims as well
[Chorus: Ulysses]
Broken horses, staring and still
Broken horses, like all those I killed
Broken horses, riding me down
Broken horses
Broken horses
[Spoken Interlude: Jonny d'Ville]
See, Ulysses the drunk was once Ulysses the soldier, and a high-ranking one too. So it was they found themselves fighting at the siege of Ilium some twenty years ago. It was a brutal war of attrition against one of the best-defended districts of the city. A war that Ulysses the soldier was determined to win.
[Verse 2: Ulysses]
After a decade of fighting
Still their defences stood firm
Heartless and cunning and scheming
Victory I would confirm
Offering peace and departing
We honoured our valiant foes
A statue that I had designed them
Sending a message of hope
[Chorus: Ulysses]
And broken horses, all that I built were
Broken horses, shattered by guilt
Broken horses, I can't outrun these
Broken horses
Broken horses
[Spoken Interlude: Jonny d'Ville]
Ulysses proposed a solution. Peace and independence for Ilium, free from the city’s clutches. Accords were drawn up, treaties were signed, and to commemorate this historic occasion, a vast statue was commissioned, honouring the districts' history as famed breeders of horses, back when such beasts still existed. It was scanned for bioweapons, it was scanned for explosives, it was scanned for hidden soldiers. None were found. And the gift was accepted, and joy was unconfined.
It was not, however, scanned for a faint, almost inaudible signal being broadcast of Ulysses’ own design, intended to gradually drive the listener to madness. Within a week, all in Ilium was ripping and rending and tearing and blood. When they finally opened the gates, there were none left alive. The war was over.
[Instrumental]
[Verse 3: Ulysses]
Sometimes it’s hard to remember
The city was not always here
Animals long since extinguished
Roaming with nothing to fear
Once they were known as equestrians
And Ilium honoured its past
Statues are all that remain now
Their riders have fallen at last
[Chorus: Ulysses]
From broken horses, silent and stone
Broken horses, like cracked and fractured bone
Broken horses, all because of me
Broken horses
Broken horses
Broken...
Deep in my cups and my whiskey
Sometimes the screaming will cease
Free-flowing tears fall unnoticed
Numbness my only release
Some soldiers will tell you that warfare
Is just one more title for Hell
I wonder if devils get nightmares
Of all of their victims as well
[Chorus: Ulysses]
Broken horses, staring and still
Broken horses, like all those I killed
Broken horses, riding me down
Broken horses
Broken horses
[Spoken Interlude: Jonny d'Ville]
See, Ulysses the drunk was once Ulysses the soldier, and a high-ranking one too. So it was they found themselves fighting at the siege of Ilium some twenty years ago. It was a brutal war of attrition against one of the best-defended districts of the city. A war that Ulysses the soldier was determined to win.
[Verse 2: Ulysses]
After a decade of fighting
Still their defences stood firm
Heartless and cunning and scheming
Victory I would confirm
Offering peace and departing
We honoured our valiant foes
A statue that I had designed them
Sending a message of hope
[Chorus: Ulysses]
And broken horses, all that I built were
Broken horses, shattered by guilt
Broken horses, I can't outrun these
Broken horses
Broken horses
[Spoken Interlude: Jonny d'Ville]
Ulysses proposed a solution. Peace and independence for Ilium, free from the city’s clutches. Accords were drawn up, treaties were signed, and to commemorate this historic occasion, a vast statue was commissioned, honouring the districts' history as famed breeders of horses, back when such beasts still existed. It was scanned for bioweapons, it was scanned for explosives, it was scanned for hidden soldiers. None were found. And the gift was accepted, and joy was unconfined.
It was not, however, scanned for a faint, almost inaudible signal being broadcast of Ulysses’ own design, intended to gradually drive the listener to madness. Within a week, all in Ilium was ripping and rending and tearing and blood. When they finally opened the gates, there were none left alive. The war was over.
[Instrumental]
[Verse 3: Ulysses]
Sometimes it’s hard to remember
The city was not always here
Animals long since extinguished
Roaming with nothing to fear
Once they were known as equestrians
And Ilium honoured its past
Statues are all that remain now
Their riders have fallen at last
[Chorus: Ulysses]
From broken horses, silent and stone
Broken horses, like cracked and fractured bone
Broken horses, all because of me
Broken horses
Broken horses
Broken...