Conscious, Conscientious 4: The Lyrics

  1. Enter

  (In this song I aimed to capture the hopelessness and fear we find in the main cast at the start of Volume 4. Lammy and Zayza are kidnapped before Deon and Skrili's eyes, and Zayza is left to confront how her past has amounted to this moment)

  LYRICS:

  Grass is in my hair just like the day when we both tumbled down the hill

  All these scrapes like in the garden, mind the rocks and pebbles

  Overcast is over us but everyone says it's not gonna rain

  And I hope they're wrong, I'd like to wear my hood over my face

  (Ooh) Everything I know is crumbling, everything I know is crumbling

  (Ooh) Everything I know is crumbling, everything I know is crumbling in my hands

  Two cups of cinnamon tea go cold, at least the smell is pleasant

  Even all alone I mean it every time I say I--

  Coronation balcony today, the spikes are right below it

  Tied behind my back, they mean it every time they say they--

  (Ooh) Everything I know is crumbling, everything I know is crumbling

  (Ooh) Everything I know is crumbling, everything I know is crumbling in my hands

  (Ooh) Everything I know is crumbling, everything I know is crumbling in my hands

  It was just a shallow dream to belong here

  But I shifted from day to night too quickly

  Alone and away

  It's too cold

  I'm afraid and that terror is keeping me warm

  This is the storm I've been sheltering from

  It stalked me and flooded out more of the ones I love

  And this smile's still haunting my head

  But it's changed faces

  Subverting the grave just to whisper that I might be cursed to be

  Alone

  (Ooh) Everything I know is crumbling, everything I know is crumbling

  (Ooh) Everything I know is crumbling, everything I know is crumbling in my hands

  2. Battle of Azvaylen

  (As the title suggests, this song retells the events of the fight between the consciousness friends and Proscious. Beginning with Lammy and Zayza's kidnapping and running through the final fight in the Dreamer Chamber, I took a much more narrative approach to these lyrics while using the shifting instrumentation to capture each movement.)

  LYRICS:

  Just over the hills we find your faces peering back

  Reaching to our racing hearts to know your love again

  Helicopter rumble, drizzle, call out my name

  (Pinch on my neck, it's sinking in)

  We tumble where you stood, and watch them steal you away

  What is this place?

  Golden eyes, and red hair, I know I've seen you before

  Rolling away

  How can she say she'll end my pain when she created this war?

  Wait, it's too soon to assume

  Did you already forget the bond you've constructed?

  And I'm over this watching you whine

  For goodness sake, you’re a princess, so have some spine

  Open up and find all you hide

  'Cuz I'm busting us out

  How can this power be real?

  If I abandon them I'll get away

  No, I won't be my father

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  If I fail, I'll regret nothing

  (Go

  Skidmarks on the road

  Cut holes through the sky

  Just keep holding on, we're coming for you

  One unit, we fly

  One purpose, we fight

  If they die we're left with nothing)

  Justice for our nation

  Your execution

  Begins

  Hang high above your demise

  Fall

  And you'll kill no more

  (You liars

  I'll reconstruct the bones you broke

  We'll take on your challenge

  And you'll kill no more)

  Say

  I've been thinking

  We've become quite a team

  Don't you think?

  With these ugly vines intwined

  With your earring scar and mine

  No matter what happens next

  I'm glad we met

  So when the Window tints the Chamber green

  I'll take on Wei myself

  And I will bring him to his knees

  All across the castle there rings a sound

  A song of reckoning barreling towards you

  The system dies

  Though you try, you'll wither

  Empty, colorless cold light will guard her life

  I am justice, I’m your worst Nightmare

  And I exist to bring you to your end

  3. Zayza

  (Zayza's theme, beginning with the words from her adversaries (especially Fewpar), and evolving into her anthem as she learns to silence the lies and live out who she knows she can be. Fun fact: this was the first song I ever wrote for the story.)

  LYRICS:

  Better run faster, 'cuz they're gonna catch you

  Better run faster 'cuz they're gonna kill you

  Better run faster, Zayza

  Better remember 'cuz they'll show no mercy

  Better remember 'cuz they'll show no mercy

  Better remember, Zayza

  You are not what you thought

  You are not what you thought

  Maybe next time you'll think twice before you

  Maybe next time you'll think twice before

  Maybe next time you will think twice

  Maybe next time there won't be a next time

  Maybe next time there won't be a next

  Maybe next time, there won't be a Zayza

  You are not what you thought (I'm sorry, Zayza)

  You are not

  I had to recover what I casted away. It was the only way I could defend you from the darkness and danger surrounding me. And now I know why I ran and hid. I feel it again the same as before. I lost nearly everyone…but I couldn't see that I hadn't yet lost you. My pain blinded me. But now I can believe again, because of you. There's still a reason to rise up and face them.

  So rest your head on my shoulder and wait. I promise you it'll be alright...Because I know who I'm meant to be now, and I'll run away no longer.

  You are not what you thought (I'm sorry, Zayza)

  You are not what you thought

  When they said I was a monster, did it make their hearts cold?

  'Cuz I don't feel cold at all

  No, I'm not running anymore

  Now that I've found myself

  So as the room sparkles green

  And you keep believing in me

  I'll save you now

  I will save you now

  4. Hiroko

  (Hiroko's theme, written from her perspective before the battle and in those final moments within the Dreamer Chamber...)

  LYRICS:

  Spark the flame beneath the night sky

  Gather our hate

  Cast it away

  And we'll watch it leave with the smoke into the dark

  Maybe we can feel gravity's healing start

  Everything repeats over time

  Stories of old, and stories unfold,

  So we'll make our own

  Calm our hearts as one tonight

  And when tomorrow comes, mine will keep yours beating through the fight

  I'll cover your head

  When the words are attacking

  And pressure builds around

  My melody will silence all of the sound

  Your precious eyes and golden light

  Will not ever flicker out

  Every breath I take is yours

  Every day with you is my sanctuary

  Heroes aren't born in the light

  They come from shadows and blood

  And shine cuz they can still love

  That's what I see in you now

  Keep an eye on them, alright?

  Cuz when I'm chasing the sacred they'll need your sight

  I'll cover your head

  When the lies are all stabbing

  And hatred builds around

  My melody will silence all of the sound

  Your precious eyes and emerald light

  Will not ever flicker out

  Take my haven as your own

  Every day with you is our perfect harmony

  I wanna build a whole world

  Where you would never be scared

  And we could laugh with the stars

  But if I'm all I can give, just know

  Everything I did was for our love

  Now nothing can destroy you

  I'll cover your head

  When the sun is descending

  And towers tumble down

  My melody will silence all of the sound

  Your mind is where I'll bury mine

  Cuz I know you won't forget

  Every breath I took was yours

  Every memory is our eternity

  Your faces vanish behind the blinding beam

  Flesh fades, mind polarizes

  As it bursts into fragments, shards materialize in the abstract

  And every last one will sustain this transcendence to hear your voice