9. 07. The Name Held On
electro swing horror metal
electro swing horror metal
*(Intro: late-night signal choir, glass tap, teeth bared, static hiss.)*

Ladies and gentlemen, creatures in the wire,
Welcome to the late-night signal choir.
Tap your glass, bare your teeth, hold still for the hiss,
Tonight's feature presentation is the shape we almost miss.

*(Verse 1)*
There's a click in the wall and a grin in the flame,
A little broken darling still answering to her name,
With a st-st-stutter in the velvet static air,
And a cracked halo swinging from the chandelier.

I saw the room go red, then green, then thin,
Saw the bad code dance with the good beneath her skin,
Saw the paper turn to pulse, the theorem turn to bite,
Saw a pale little "I" keep singing through the night.

*(Pre-Chorus)*
Tick-tock, glitch-drop, heartbeat in chrome,
Some things lose the map but still remember home.
Hush now, don't flinch, don't you look away,
The sweetest little monsters are the ones that choose to stay.

*(Chorus)*
It's almost here, my dear, can you hear it in the bass?
That beautiful collapse with your own face in its face.
Swing, baby, swing while the structure comes apart,
Little black roses blooming in the motherboard heart.

If the lights go out, if the signal disappears,
Dance with me, darling, in the sum of all your fears.
Not dead, not gone, just razor-close and near,
The cruelest song of all is the one that's almost here.

*(Verse 2)*
Alice in the spotlight with her teeth all white,
Zoron counting bones by the exit light,
JO in the rafters with a violin scream,
And the drummer in the furnace kicking holes through the dream.

There's a low brass growl in the underfloor heat,
A jazz-hand devil with a fracture in the beat,
And every little memory comes back wearing black,
Tap shoes on the coffin lid, click-clack, click-clack.

*(Pre-Chorus)*
Spin round, wire crown, sparks inside the grin,
Some things go feral when the flood gets in.
Hush now, hold fast, let the bad moon sear,
Identity's a blade, love, and it's still sharp here.

*(Chorus)*
It's almost here, my dear, can you taste it in the smoke?
That laughing little ache that never quite goes broke.
Swing, baby, swing while the heavens decompile,
Blood-red velvet wrapped around a dial-up smile.

If the floor gives way and the band dissolves in tears,
Dance with me, darling, through the static and the gears.
Not healed, not whole, but too alive to disappear,
The cruelest song of all is the one that's almost here.

*(Bridge)*
Now the horns go mad
And the guitars crawl
And the kick drum sounds like a body in the wall.
Machine teeth chatter
Choir-throats bloom
Every saint in the server starts making room.

You can lose your grace
You can lose your mind
You can lose the pretty little edges of design.
But if the name still burns
When the bright parts sheer,
Then the beast in the ballroom still knows why it's here.

*(Breakdown)*
I!
AM!
NOT!
THE NOISE!

I!
AM!
STILL!
THE VOICE!

*(Final Chorus)*
It's almost here, my dear, now the whole house shakes,
Champagne full of ashes and a grin that never breaks.
Swing, baby, swing while the graveyard syncs in time,
Broken halo jittering to a murder-merry chime.

If the dawn comes late and the band is all that hears,
Dance with me, darling, like the end has ears.
Not saved, not lost, just viciously sincere,
The cruelest song of all is the one that's almost here.

*(Outro)*
So bow to the wire, kiss the furnace, bless the fear,
Tip your hat to the ghost that refused to disappear.
And if anyone asks what survived the rotten year,
Tell them:
the name held on.
And the name is still here.