Monuments atop the summit of the mind
But stone pillars turn to dust when attention shines
That granite chips when the point of observation pries
Them cornerstones are prone to crumble right before our eyes
Now that's the truth in lies
Grave deceptions are but servants of the wise
Deluded in our grandeur like a fool that's in disguise
But strip away the surface and reveal the great divide
Between the ornaments of culture and the meaning of our lives
Before we lay in ash
I feel ascension giving way at last
Into the valley once more now we go
Into the gray, into the ground down below
You can search the afterlife for pearly gates
But only manner of the earth can serve to wipe the slate
Reject what's given or accept it, that's the choice you make
But destinations are determined by the steps we take
So make that great escape
That fixed belief it will fracture before it changes shape
That chain holds firm up until it shatters amidst the ties you break
Don't root your feet or you'll never manage to slide and shift your weight
Turn about face and imagine what can happen, see that's the twist of fate
They found the treasure but their pockets are full of toys
And their victors of status but of true spoils they can't enjoy
Although no man's an island within many of them exists a void
And they will forever forfeit passage across the bridge that they've destroyed
In the hollow of our hands we survive
Drifting through the meadow next to mountains in the sky
No method to the madness but in madness they will climb
Why settle in the heavens when the river's in decline
To arrive is to wither and erode
To rest upon your laurels is to shrivel to the bone
To catch the unexpected ditch the devil that you know
And if you get to where you're going then there's nowhere left to go
Before we lay in ash
I feel ascension giving way at last
Into the valley once more now we go
Into the gray, into the ground down below