VIRGIN BLACK Elegant...And Dying (2003) 1. Adorned In Ashes 2. Velvet Tongue 3. And The Kiss Of God's Mouth (Part 1) 4. And The Kiss Of God's Mouth (Part 2) 5. Renaissance 6. The Everlasting 7. Cult Of Crucifixion 8. Beloved 9. Our Wings Are Burning 1. Adorned In Ashes [instrumental] 2. Velvet Tongue A thousand tears, a thousand eyes My friends and I, we cry Religion has raped us Forever we rehearse the song That strips our throats to blood We bare our souls in transparency But our velvet tongues will never please their ears But are you holding on? I'm holding on Look at us dying A field of human crucifixes, weathered and fading Heaven hears nothing as the priests are wailing And they're crushing our souls We feel our lives Sifting through our hands But we're holding on Look at my face Look at God in my eyes We stand 3. And The Kiss Of God's Mouth (Part 1) I saw a tattered cloak, drawn about the face A gesture of farewell, to the kiss of God's mouth Kiss the image in a stranger's casket What has become of splendour? Twelve strokes have fallen And the faintly heard breath That argued my beauty A ruined soul bewailing Where the angels allow their wings bewilted To droop, to bow to the bosom of a friend Kiss me tenderly, savage God My lips are dumb to speak a thousand inane words And how sweet a toil All is dark, all is blackened All but an upturned face 4. And The Kiss Of God's Mouth (Part 2) 5. Renaissance And I looked to the air But the breeze was not cold I sought for your hand To hold unto me I lay awakened The dew on my brow Come take my life God, I'm dying And the spirits of slumber Lulled at my side They tormented my world And praised at my grave I gave them a portion In pursuance of my peace But they took it and broke it Where is my hope? Elegent, undying Ella mo fare rifare 6. The Everlasting Breathe A faceless one roams for my soul The air is dense behind me It follows, brooding, a presence that clamours for And strikes at my soul Shadows slant, the darkness clings and coiled Hiding in corners it conjures none but fear Yet my muted children testify, the everlasting Not a sound to my ears yet my spirit is defeated By cacophonous chatter It follows and strikes at my soul It follows Give me silence Why can I never rest from this aloof pursuer? Please give me my peace A wavering shadow I wake to find it looming Touched but never held Its hand stops my breath I am mourning, my eyes are stained I feel his sacred tears upon me His sobs strike against my heart The faceless, haunts me Scared but perfect and beautiful I see the face of... Lashed with my every burden The air is dense before me I cannot deny But can I embrace? 7. Cult Of Crucifixion I will wander I will gather my flowers Withered and how soon forgotten Sing with passion Sing with vehemence A grief too sad for song I pick the gravel from my eyes I need no words I am a face rid of features Curse this heedless folly Am I nothing? A plaintive breath, a moment's vision Curse this dead... And words crowd to my blistered throat Dip my wings in your magnificence Separate my head from their crucifixion I lay at length upon the earth Gnats dance through my sable cloak I lay at length upon the earth Heaven is silent in travailed prayer All darkness flaunts before me I wish that peace would revisit my mind Madness endeavours to soothe me Beckon me nearer, whisper discreetly When will the sun cease to climb? That I may write my last farewell To these gaunt residing shadows 8. Beloved How many times will I look at you? Allured by the scent of your death And the savage priests, to a suffering soul Exult in a strangled song I am soothed from anger into sorrow As they knot their wreaths against my limbs Help me understand the stench in my mind Why do they impair our vision? Can anyone taste my blood? I have clung, quivering, with bruised flesh Christendom rise and dress yourself What delicious tears you've made me shed Beloved, how many times I look at you With suspended breath, and unguarded heart? Like a cradled child you hold me (With hysterical affection, to console this loss) Beloved Their semblance of love curses your beauty In the blindness of my distress In your dense black eyes I see your silent grief 9. Our Wings Are Burning We fell in love, with dust in our lids And the pain of a severed soul We lowered our heads and lifted our face Placed our bodies in celebration On the lips of a mutilated man I carry the bones of a deformed child And my own polluted breath I speak the old man's words In a persuasive eloquence Bless the dust that hides This unlamented head On the crest of fire, our wings are burning How glorious the pain And the ways of God, shriek out of tune All is lost but hope On the crest of fire Our wings are burning To the wind's anthem All is lost but hope