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Erik's Lament

by The Blessing Way

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1.
A rumour was whispered In fear to the dancers They crept to the arms of La Sorelli Black cloak and deaths head As Buquet described him In the third cellar slung from a beam Joseph found hanging He was sent with a voice from God He who haunts the halls All alone Superstition ran deep in La Sorelli Monsieurs Poligny and Debienne The managers last night, shrouded in death So they left the house in the hands Of the new owners, Richard and Montcharmin The book of instructions passed on to them Follow the rules or so God help thee He was sent with a voice from God He who haunts the halls All alone A mischief abounds Make sure and obey article 63 Stay away from box five Stay away 20,000 francs paid in full each month Sealed and sent to the ghost On their desk a letter was found A frayed page with the script of a child What fools do they think we are? My dear managers, you have broken the rules If you want us to live in peace then keep box five free Three knocks on an empty box Four francs, sometimes six Even flowers left in his stead So rent out box five, they demanded in anger With those cursed five words spoken Doomed was the business they ran
2.
On the stage she stood Enthralled by the applause Euphoric From within his box Count De Chagny, Raoul Was swept back to his youth In the role of Juliet She led the crowd above The graves of those lovers doomed That night she was crowned The queen of the hall The new Margeurite All too much she fainted in the arms Of her companions Christine collapsed on that stage Raoul’s heart was no longer his Deepest pain Standing in the hall disconnected Scarcely breathing with his ear to the door Erik’s words bruised his soul In the role of Juliet She travelled to the stars Angels wept that night The boy that she once knew Discovered love and hate In the same evening
3.
No more,would she perform For society Desperate and lonely, Raoul lost all hope. Then came the note On the morrow For Peros-Guirec I leave. I have not forgotten thee This day, marks my father’s death My sacred duty must be kept Over mountains thick with fog He travelled through the night
4.
If you sing tonight Regret will poison your heart When you begin to sing A misfortune worse than death From box five The owners watched Carlotta’s voice once serene Now reduced to a shriek Erik’s voice they heard Right there in box five With the way she sings tonight The chandelier won’t hold for long Down it came And smashed ones skull In box five the owners wept Erik’s work was done
5.
Lying there in the gloom alone He tortured himself with doubt Overwhelmed with a lovesick grief He swallowed wine to numb the pain Yet still she shuns me Oh what have I done? I refuse to bow out gracefully Restless, the dream world denied Footsteps he heard from her room What does she seek at this time Her pale white form fled like mist Through the sleeping town Yet still she shuns me Oh what have I done? I refuse to bow out gracefully What little I remember An unearthly apparition In the graveyard she knelt in the snow Crossed herself and prayed for it to end
6.
That night left scars Carlotta ill, Christine disappeared Raoul’s sorrow reached new heights He found solace in the opium pipe In the midst of silence he stood The pale night and his heart grew cold. Just twenty one He thought of death And the pain it would end As he held the noose She sent for him At the masked ball We will meet my friend The kindness quickly rekindled his hope to find out about a truth untold. Like snow on the first day of spring His hate disappeared He donned a suit of silken white And chased the remnants in his tar stained pipe As a storm crawled close he slipped into the hall By the staircase she took him by the hand Afraid of losing her In the crushing waves of madness. In the wake of his guide His grudge gone when he saw Gruesome gold letters Mark the red death stalking abroad.
7.
She forbade him to follow And said farewell In her room he found himself again Then the door opened With a deafening creak There she was The queen of the hall herself In the boudoir he hid He wanted to know Wanted to see Wanted to solve The mystery Closer and closer a soft singing came Maddening him Here I am Erik, she said I am now ready Singing from the walls, a pagan hymn In the mirror swirling round Twenty Christine’s Body and image finally touched And merged together Swallowed by the mirror, how had she gone And the walls kept repeating To me? To whom?
8.
9.
He stumbled through the streets With no dope to dull the blow She was there it was no delusion To the roof she led him up This golden ring I wear Not the product of love but fear On this night we must depart From his cold and wicked touch From his sleep he was roused Red eyes on the balcony His pistol quickly he drew And sent a shot across the room Her final act, she vanished For the swansong of Christine Every seat in the house was filled My spirit, longs with thee To rest One last night she swore to Erik And damned if her word not kept The promise would she dare to break She was stolen once again from him Into this hellish underworld, Raoul must go
10.
The Persian 03:03
Born in Rouen, Erik’s cursed face they feared He exhibited himself Across Europe as a freak at fairs A living corpse, he earned his keep Also adept as a ventriloquist He shared his skill, the greatest voice His reputation reached, Marendaram Boredom scratched the sultan He demanded entertainment A palace he ordered built Erik laid out the plans Then the shah sent Daroga To blind the architect The order he could not undertake The Persian assisted with his escape And he himself, was exiled What a fool he was that day For not stabbing him there and then.
11.
A Punjab lasso From an iron tree hung Filled with fear The Persian now knew where they were The torture chamber Mirrors reflected the sun Scorching their flesh, blistered and raw On the floor a trapdoor found As they bent lower into the ground Down a dark and dirty staircase Into a cellar A cellar filled with old oak kegs The stopper prised, they gazed inside But wine was not what they held The threat was real He threatened to kill everyone Lest his hand in marriage I took Till eleven I have to choose Twixt a wedding or funeral And so in going down They reached the darkest depths Trickling through their fingers Gunpowder soft and lethal To the heart of the hall they went Erik’s threats they heard were real If your answer is still no Then the hall will be no more He threatened to kill everyone Gone completely mad with love Till eleven I have to choose Twixt a wedding or funeral Choose wisely my dear The scorpion, or the acridid Your refusal will mean Annihilation, for all of us The scorpion, she turned flooding the room And honour the bargain she would To Erik she gave herself A living wife, he kissed her she did not die The golden ring she lost There in the palm of his hand This will be my wedding gift From poor unhappy Erik You are free, go now take him and leave Those words ripped shreds From a heart held by a thread I made her swear, when I died She would be there And bury me by the lake With the ring in secrecy Yes she was waiting for me Alive, a living fiancé When shy as a child I came Towards her, she did not sway No, no, she stayed, waited for me You cannot know how it felt When even my mother scorned me His lungs half filled with water Raoul was sure death came for him Christine held him up Hand in hand they left They fled, from the dark Recovering in his room One night the Persian woke By the fire a figure loomed There’s not long left for me I set them free On a train northbound they leave I have lived an evil life This is my redemption Forgive me, for all the pain I’ve caused He was sent with a voice from god He who haunts the halls All alone he will die

credits

released October 31, 2022

Ollie Gill - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Programming

Guest artists:
Snowy Shaw - Vocals (Tracks 1, 9, 11)
David Hynes - Vocals (Tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11)
Rebecca Rogers - Vocals (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7,9 , 10, 11)
Caroline Joy - Vocals (Track 4)
Sebastien Bracht - Vocals (Track 6)
Mike Shaw - Baroque Guitar (Track 1)
Sinead Richards - Euphonium (Tracks 1, 10)
Colin Gill - Guitar solo (Tracks 1, 3)
Ciaran Ryan - Guitar solo (Track 5)

Mixed and Mastered by Michael Richards at Trackmix Studio, Dublin

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