On the Shortness of Life lyrics

Chained to the clock, like a slave to his king Trading my hours for meaningless things Fools cry it out: Life's too short to be! But they waste it all, blind and free Born to consume, to obey, to run Never see the rising Sun Each breath a gift, but we sell the gold To buy regrets before we're old You chase the winds you never tame A forge of shadows, hope and shame And as the hours begin to die You learn too late what could have been You bleed your time for hollow gain A walking corpse in pleasure's chain The grave is patient, cold and wide What have you done with all your life? So hold your soul against the tide And let the purpose be your guide For life is long to those who know The art of choosing where to go On the shortness of life we're standing our fights With ashes slipping through our hands, through the night The moments will fade, we're closing our eyes And only the truth survives in our minds Awake at last from borrowed dreams You pierce the veil, you hear the screams Of wasted days and squandered light A battlefield of inner night To break the chains of mortal flame Rise from the dust of wasted years Turn all your doubts to burning spears For every dawn remakes the sky A chance to live before you die The future bends to those who stand With courage held in steady hands Through time runs swift, your spirit's free A beacon through eternity And when the night begins to fall Your inner fire outshines it all A mortal life, yet vast and wide Eternally the way you stride The heart unchained will learn to soar To seek the light, to crave no more In choosing paths with opened eyes You craft a life that never dies Drain time Hear the ticks of the clock and I'm overcome By life Will they hold any meaning come eternity? Drain time Why don't I follow my desires Sometimes the light comes quietly Not like a battle won But like a single breath you didn't know You had the right to take In that breath The weight of hours Enough to lift up your eyes From the ground you've been dragging I found hope once In the smallest place Between two thoughts When silence stopped pretending To be my enemy The hours spill like water Through a crack you never see Cup them with your hands While they are slipping From your palms Yet the world keeps turning Slow, ancient, indifferent While you're trying to reach The shadow of your own past Rising up! Feel it burn! Feel it burn Who am I? So let the days move Let them flow, let river rule Feel it pull (pull!) Feel it burn (burn!) Let them take you on every turn What once was blurred by haste now clears when you begin to see That life moves forward when you claim your right to be I'll die Die!