New Academics - The Book of Matches Lyrics

Sit still, board up that mouth
Lock down your mind, keep curiosity out
No shadow of doubt can exist in the light that bleeds
Unstaunchably seeping from your saviour's sullied
Wounds, still worried two millennia on
To keep that Roman book's binding so immutably strong
Torah, Bible, Qur'an, it's all one and the same
Mankind is manacled in scriptural chains

Scratching at the surface of the great deception
Man holds no privileged position in creation
We're entirely bestial, we're bestial, we're bestial
Walking, talking animals, we're animals, we're animals

Rumbling, tumbling across desert sands
At the head of an armed convoy rides that black flag waving man
Plumes of dust and rusty blood flood fuming skies as they drive by
Dripping swords cleave heathen spines
Boots stamp ideology into other people's lives

Every savage act communicates our nature
The mask of higher purpose hides a crude debaser
We're completely bestial, we're bestial, we're bestial
Brutal, ruthless animals, we're animals, we're animals

I tore the book apart, hunting for Jesus
Pulled him out by a sandaled heel, kicking and squealing
But he would not take my pain
So I fed him to the flames

What is a god, but a salve for our fragile mortality
A concoction of grey matter contrived to temper reality
But these guileless inventions eclipse all virtuous intentions
Becoming diabolical deities the strong may twist to suit their needs

The gods take man's direction, cast in blood-soaked passion plays
Scene by scene we torment our mythological prey
We're supremely bestial, we're bestial, we're bestial
Hungry, hunting animals, we're animals, we're animals

I stalked through the synagogue, the mosque and the temple
Spied into every keyhole, but the rooms were all empty
So I spilt my seed wherever I pleased, on altars where gods feed
Held a match against dusty tapestries, stood watching fingers breed
God wasn't home to take my pain, so his houses fuelled the blaze

Here, I stand before the flames' might
Flickering tongues licking bitter cold night
Ashes cart-wheeling come falling snow-white
See a vision mesmerising
Ancient serpent driven out of hiding
Twitching coils, the beast commences writhing
Hooded head strikes ground at my feet
Angry hissing, fangs bared as the flames eat
Scales slough away on smouldering concrete
Finally the brute lies broken
Body scarred and charred in sections smoking
Ecstasy, my bestial core's awoken
Pale human skin splits open
Scales rise through flesh, green diamonds cloaking
Fangs explode from jaws, hood flares
Evoking fear, for I am serpent