Metal Storm logo
Savatage - Edge Of Thorns lyrics



Tracks



01. Edge Of Thorns

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
An offering of reasons
We put them all in play
A covering of treasons
That one by one we let slip away

A solitary dancer
So lost upon her stage

I have seen you on the edge of dawn
Felt you there before you were born
Balanced your dreams upon the edge of thorns
But I don't think about you anymore

A study made from winter
Of summers long ago
And dreams that used to glitter
Safely now hidden under snow

And so we end the chapter
And let the stage lights fade

I have seen you on the edge of dawn
Felt you there before you were born
Balanced your dreams upon the edge of thorns
But I don't think about you anymore

02. He Carves His Stone

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
Among the images of dear departed
Here with memories so closely guarded
There's an old man standing all alone

As he waits among the unforgiven
Here among the souls no longer living
Lost in chains of sin still unatoned

He carves his stone

Well a man's got to do what a man's got to do
But I'll never give my soul to you
No fallen angel's prophecy
Will ever take hold of the man you see

So here I stand all alone
With chisel in hand I work my stone
And leave a message for all to see
And contemplate mortality

And carve that stone

And on that final night
You know I dream of you
And in a flash of light
I carve that stone right through
Yeah I carved that stone right through

03. Lights Out

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
Squirmin' like a live wire
Vaporizing red line
Gonna take her down
Yeah I'm really gonna make her motor run, oh yeah

No brakes can't stop
In a ditch to the top
Just another junkie
Looking for a rush

Lights out
Runnin' with the devil
Shouldn't gamble with your soul
Lights out
Never on the level
And you know you got to roll, you're gonna roll

Look (yeah look)
Yeah she really makes your blood cook
Got you in a corner
Where you're doing things you never have done, oh no

You (yeah you)
Yeah she's got you like a big fool
Keeps you in a collar
Till it's time to watch you run

Lights out
Runnin' with the devil
Shouldn't gamble with your soul, yeah
Lights out
Never on the level
And you know you're gonna roll
You know you're gonna roll

04. Skraggy's Tomb

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
Summer was the season
When he took the ride
Women were the reason
And they say whiskey was the slide

Living for the action
Till it took him down
Crawled into his bottle
Oh...and let us watch him drown

In Skraggy's tomb
Yeah Skraggy's tomb

Sometimes in the evening
Before the moon goes down
Before the dark is leaving
I could swear
Swear I see him
Hanging round

So I watch the shadows
And I stop and think
And wade into the shallows
And I have another drink

From Skraggy's tomb

Welcome to

He was a loaded man going down
Always out there screaming at the moon
And every night he'd load another round
From Skraggy's tomb

There are certain things we can't explain
We all have our attraction
And then that boy he was insane
Skraggy made his life
Made his life a crime of passion

Talkin' bout
Skraggy's tomb

Yeah
Skraggy's tomb

05. Labyrinths

Music by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
[Instrumental]

06. Follow Me

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
I really want to know
What you had in store
I couldn't really tell
Maybe it's just as well
I came here with a dream
And I just had to see
If my dream would soar
I knocked on every door

His whole life was written
Written there inside
The new weekly bible
His modern T.V. Guide
Every night he stares back at the screen, yeah

A man only sees want he wants to see
When he's in his mind
Where he is that he wants to be
Living in a world where he's safe from reality
Won't you take a chance on this night
And follow me
Won't you follow me (repeat)

Don't need no super heroes
Don't need no movie stars
Don't need no politicians
In big black shiny cars
Don't need no preacher
Whose church is my T.V.

A man only sees what he wants to see
When he's in his mind
Where he is what he wants to be
Living in a world where he's safe from reality
Won't you take a chance on this night child
And follow me
Won't you follow me (repeat)

Once was a broken hero
The kind that we all know
The kind that hides inside us
For we never show
The kind we say that could never be me

His whole life was written
Written there inside
The new weekly bible
His modern T.V. Guide
Stare back at the screen, yeah yeah

A man only sees want he wants to see

07. Exit Music

Music by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
[Instrumental]

08. Degrees Of Sanity

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
And so I sit here in the dark
You made the rules I played the part
I never rushed or pushed my fate
When time was tight I knew to wait
And circumstance
So well disguised
Within a gathering of lies
And in the dark I lie awake
So I can watch you drive your stake

What's that you said to me
The moment dies
Degrees of sanity
All alone
Lost unknown
And whispered in your sights

And in the dark it all unwinds
I pray for change
The kiss of time
And in my thoughts
I sit and dwell
The labyrinth's there
I know it well

What's that you said to me
The moment dies
Degrees of sanity
All alone
Lost unknown
And whispered in your sights

And all the things you never heard
While in my mind I search for words
But time was lost
The curtain fell
I take my bows and wish you well

What's that you said to me
The moment dies
Degrees of sanity
All alone
Lost unknown
And whispered in your sights

09. Conversation Piece

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
I haven't thought about you for a while
It seemed so far away
I keep your pictures hidden in a file
Of favourite one act plays
Like pieces of myself
Cut off in desperation
As offerings to thee
I keep them on a shelf
They're good for conversation
Over a cup of tea, yeah, cup of tea

I put it all down in a letter once
A letter I don't send
It made me feel much better at the time
I thought it helped me mend

The pieces of myself
Cut off in desperation
As offerings to thee
I keep them on a shelf
They're good for conversation
Over a cup of tea, yeah, cup of tea

10. All That I Bleed

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
Someone
Got themselves a letter
In the mail the other day
It's already worn and tattered
And I guess
It gives away

All the things we keep inside
All the things that really matter
The face puts on its best disguise
And all is well
Until the heart
Betrays

She knows
As she reads the letter
That things were bound to stray
Winds blow
She pulls her coat tighter
And the letter flies away

With all the things she keeps inside
All the things that really matter
The face puts on its best disguise
And all is well
Until the heart betrays

Lord bring on the night
Wrap it all around me
Let it hold me tight
Soak up all that I bleed

And I'll fly away
Yeah I'll fly away
Yeah I'll fly away
Watch me

Lord bring on the night
Wrap it all around me
Let it hold me tight
Soak up all that I bleed

I bleed

11. Damien

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
In this city of raw emotion
What's this message you bring to me
In my world of blind devotion
You were there
But I could never see

Damien
Is your heart harder
What's inside your head
Is the dark your father
Have all your years been bled

From my world I have watched and wondered
Safely here behind these walls
And your tears could they mean nothing
If from this distance
No one sees them fall

Damien
Is your heart harder
What's inside your head
Is the dark your father
Have all your years are bled

Sometimes late at night
When I'm there in bed
I lie there wondering
Where do you lay your head
And do you say your prayers anymore?
And do you say your prayers?

Damien
Is your heart harder
Do you still feel pain
Does the night go farther
When you're sleeping in the rain

In the dark I have heard a calling
Broken wings that beg to fly
Is there time or is it too late
Is the cut flower no longer alive

Damien
Is your heart harder
Do you still feel pain
Does the night go farther
When you're sleeping in the rain
Damien, Damien, yeah yeah Damien, oh, Damien

12. Miles Away

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
And a cool, cool rain comes down
On a world burned by the sun
And the moon arises like a child
And the moment is undone
And the stars never say what they see
As the moon flirts with shadows it makes
Through the fallen trees
Some would wait for the morning light
But I fall asleep 'til I'm safe
In the arms of night

Yeah

Let the darkness roll in
Let it wipe the light away
In the distance
Always calling
Morpheus he beckons play
Still the morning is preordained
But I believe light is the source of all our pain
It reveals the smallest sin
But dark covers all and will always take you
Armed and gunning
I'll be running
Always just before the day
In the distance
Day is dawning
But I'm already miles away, miles away

In the night there's wonder
Always there for you to see
In the light of morning
Visions fade
And dreams can flee

With the darkness the night forgives
Covers our scars and lets
The lost souls live
And the morning's a distant fear
But if we move fast they'll never find us

Armed and gunning
I'll be running
Through a world that's in decay
Let them thunder, stare and wonder
Cause I'm already miles away, miles away, yeah
Oh miles away

I've been running
Armed and gunning
Always just before the day
In the distance
Day is dawning
But I'm already miles away
Miles away yeah yeah yeah yeah
Miles miles away
Miles away yeah
Miles miles away, oh yeah
Away, away, away

And the rain comes down

13. Sleep

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
Hey there you
Way out there in the distance
Can you hear me
Are you there

I know it's late
So please forgive my persistence
But I'm hanging
Do you care

So lay back
Call off the attack
Cause if you look deep
Dreams are nothing that I lack
And all I seek
A final chance to speak
And I would let the whole thing keep
If I could just sleep

Hey there you
Way out there could you show me
Just a signal
Or a sign
That after all
All these years
That you know me
And I'm not just
Killing time

So lay back
Call off the attack
Cause if you look deep
Dreams are nothing that I lack
And all I seek
A final chance to speak
And I would let the whole thing keep
If I could just sleep

And as I lay there at night
Building castles in the air
Our of alibis and all those little lies
And then I look inside
And pray that I don't care

I don't care

I don't care

Hey there you way out there in the distance

14. Forever After

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
You watch the news on your colour TV
Are you immune to what you see
Death and destruction
Till it numbs your mind
To the rise and fall of all mankind

Hey you
What ya gonna do
When it's your world they're selling out
But, you got your plot
Smokin' your pot
Till the trees are all dead
You never knew, hadn't a clue
You can't hide your head, head
In your hands
Nobody's safe
Forever after

Let's kill the leaders
Make it end
But then we realize
We are them

We buy the plastics
Burn the fuels
We make the choice
We are the rules

Hey you
What ya gonna do
When it's your world they're selling out
But, you got your plot
Smokin' your pot
Till the trees are all dead
You never knew, hadn't a clue
You can't hide your head, head in your hands
No one's safe
Forever after

Hey you
What ya gonna do
When it's your world they're selling out
But, you got your plot
Smokin' your pot
Till the trees are all dead
You never knew, hadn't a clue
You can't hide your head, head in your hands
Nobody's safe
Forever after
Forever after
Forever after
Forever after

15. Shotgun Innocence

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
She's got shotgun innocence
In her eyes so intense
Never sure of her intent

She's a Paris pretty child
Even got a wink that's styled
Keeps it all behind a smile

Look into those worldly eyes
And you've got to wonder what she's done
No use thinking you can win her
Cause this child's already won

And it's time that you stand up
Show's on
Here's why you paid
Hold tight
Net's gone
So welcome to the stage
And it's too late to be saved

She don't need designer dress
Has them all though I would guess
Got the wardrobe of the blessed

Cover of a magazine
Movie star, beauty queen
All wrapped up and razor clean

Locking up with paradise
Is really so much harder than it seems
See her as a revelation
Much more safely visited in dreams

And it's time that you stand up
Show's on
Here's why you paid
Hold tight
Net's gone
So welcome to the stage
And it's too late to be saved

So you find you're dreaming about her
But it's such a little vice
And if you think you've got a chance, boy
Well it's time to roll the dice

Stand up
Show's on
Here's why you paid
Hold tight
Net's gone
So welcome to the stage

Stand up
Show's on
Here's why you paid, yeah
Hold tight, yeah
Net's gone
So welcome to the stage
And it's too late to be saved
Before it's too late Shotgun innocence innocence

16. Believe

Music & lyrics by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill
So after all these one night stands
You've ended up with heart in hand
A child alone
On your own
Retreating
Regretful for the things you're not
And all dreams you haven't got
Without a home
A heart of stone
Lies bleeding

And for all the roads you followed
And for all you did not find
And for all the things you had to leave behind

I am the way
I am the light
I am the dark inside the night
I hear your hopes
I feel your dreams
And in the dark
I hear your screams
Don't turn away
Just take my hand
And when you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
All I ask of you
Believe
Your childhood eyes were so intense
While bartering your innocence
For bits of string
Grown-up wings
You needed

But when you had to add them up
You found that they were not enough
To get you in
Pay for sins repeated

And for all the years you borrowed
And for all the tears you cried
And for all the fears you had to keep inside

I am the way
I am the light
I am the dark inside the night
I hear your hopes
I feel your dreams
And in the dark
I hear your screams
Don't turn away
Just take my hand
And when you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
And all I ask of you is
Believe