The Mandrake Project Album Lyrics by Bruce Dickinson

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Afterglow of Ragnarok

I am your very soul
The one you do not know
I am the truth that's playing hide and seek
And I will not be free
I cannot choose to be
'Til my creator takes the chains off me

All is come to nothing
All will burn in hell
Now the bridge has broken
All is come undone

I cross the shining seas
Eyes of creatures follow me
Moonlight guides us on a steady course
Afterglow of Ragnarok
Becomes the shadow of the dawn
From the night the sun will rise again
Again

For me, there's no escape
No opening of the gate
Incarnate freedom just a hopeless dream
I read your silent mind
I feel your hate refined
And the burning will begin in the circle of lust

All has come to nothing
Saved but you can't run
Now the bridge has broken
All is come undone

I cross the shining seas
Eyes of creatures follow me
Moonlight guides us on a steady course
Afterglow of Ragnarok
Becomes the shadow of the dawn
From the night the sun will rise again
Again

All has come to nothing
The world is only dust
Now the bridge is broken
There's a fire in the ice

All is come to nothing
All is burned in hell
Now the bridge is broken

I cross the shining seas
Eyes of creatures follow me
Moonlight guides us on a steady course
Afterglow of Ragnarok
Becomes the shadow of the dawn
From the night the sun will rise again
Again

Afterglow of Ragnarok
Afterglow
Afterglow of Ragnarok

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Many Doors To Hell

All things of love and beauty
Lost in clouds of fiery dust
Beneath the blood-red sky
The shifting sands will cover us
We drink the cup of secrets
Dreaming of the afterlife
The sun begins its journey
Taking us from day to night

So where was god when I needed him most?
What salvation is the holy ghost?
For what I've done, you can't blame me
I've lived across the centuries

When the sun goes down
I wear my thorny crown
I know them all so well
So many opening doors to hell

I drink the cup of starlight
Dreaming of the day to come
My fingers turn the pages
Of the book of life that's yet to come
My blood is thin, my body ached
To lie in earth is still my fate
Eclipse will come to set me free
And for that moment, I can't wait

Telling you now I will come again
With the knowledge from my secret room
Share the treasure with humankind
Drink of me, lose your mind

When the sun goes down
I wear my thorny crown
I know them, oh so well
The many opening doors to hell
Unmade, the earth's unbound
Tears of desolation felt
Believe the tales I tell
The many opening doors to hell

How life will leave us with wounds
Such remorse
Human deceivers of your soul
Retrieve us

When the sun goes down
I wear my thorny crown
I know them, oh so well
The many opening doors to hell
Unmade, the earth's unbound
Tears of desolation found
Believe the tales I tell
The many opening doors to hell
The many opening doors to hell
The many opening doors to hell

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Rain On The Graves

In a country churchyard, I came across a man
He smiled and slowly beckoned me with a trembling hand
Did you come to gamble or did you come to pray?
What's the meaning of your business here on a stormy day?

The raindrops spattered on the tomb
From grey and leaden skies
Deny me once, deny me twice
Don't look in my eyes

There is rain on the graves
There is rain on the graves
There is rain on the graves
It's just rain, rain, rain
There is rain on the graves
But you came to be saved
There is rain on the graves
Let it wash your soul of dying

Faithless, he denied the truth
That he had come to steal
To kneel before the poet
Not the altar or the priest
He's washed himself in misery
Before he came to pray
He'd hoped in his false penitence
Some sympathy he'd sway

There is rain on the graves
There is rain on the graves
There is rain on the graves
It's just rain, rain, rain
There is rain on the graves
But you came to be saved
There is rain on the graves
It's just rain, rain, rain

I am the god of sinners
You are what I have made
You're talking to your likeness
And my shadow is your shade
Stand up and face the mirror
It's the image that you crave
But I'll be here when you're long gone
I'll see you in that grave

There is rain on the graves
There is rain on the graves
There is rain on the graves
It's just rain, rain, rain
There is rain on the graves
Rain on the graves
There is rain on the graves
Rain, rain, rain, rain
Rain on the graves

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Resurrection Men

In this ancient code we're pulled apart
I am the wizard of your heart
Clear sail and the slides are blue
On a different tower, to be with you
We're ecstasy on respirators
Breathing cosmic incubators
Innocent, translucent white
We are the children of the night

We're resurrection men
At the point of death, we'll take you to the end
Resurrection men
Eternity has failed you once again
Resurrection men
You've done the deal and so the story ends
Resurrection men

I rise from slumber, you call my name
Recall my number, my day of shame
Extend my future, my only life
Some deadly marriage, a barren wife

So rise you demons, I live in hell
I am connected to you as well
Some say we walk graves, in truth, we dig
My name is Lazarus, I raise the dead

So rise, you spirits, rise
Show yourselves in the glass
Reach up to tighten my grip on your soul
Summon your demons outside

We're resurrection men
At the point of death, we'll take you to the end
Resurrection men
Eternity has failed you once again
Resurrection men
You've done the deal and so the story ends
Resurrection men
Resurrection men
Resurrection men

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Fingers in the wounds

It just takes a hero, you stand in his shadow
You walk in his shoes with feet made of clay
So who is the sinner and who is the prophet?
The rules of the game that you're gonna play

So put your fingers in the wounds and pray that he's god
A roll of the dice for a piece of his cloth
It just takes a hero from a nickel or a dime
Take a pearl from an oyster and feed it to swine

We all want to be you, for a glimmer of hope
There's not enough gold at the end of your rope
And no one can hear you, your life is a zero
You only can be what the people, they see

So put your fingers in the wounds and pray that he's god
A roll of the dice for a piece of his cloth
It just takes a hero from a nickel or a dime
Take a pearl from an oyster and feed it to swine

Over and over
Over and over

So put your fingers in the wounds and pray that he's god
A roll of the dice for a piece of his cloth
It just takes a hero from a nickel or a dime
Take a pearl from an oyster and feed it to swine

So put your fingers in his wounds and pray that it's god
A roll of the dice for a piece of his cross
It just takes a hero from a nickel or a dime
Take a pearl from an oyster and feed it to swine

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Eternity Has Failed

Here is the soul of a man
Here in this place for the taking
Clothed in white, stand in the light
Here is the soul of a man

Time to speak with a shaman again
Conjure the jester again
Black dog in the ruins is howling my name
So here is the soul of a man

When the world was virgin before the coming of men
Just a solar witness, the beginning of the end
From a world of magma to a cold rock face
The ascent of madness and a human race

There are strange believers, in all of us
There are stranger truths, immortal lust
The dark redeemer, he takes your hand
You sign the contract and lose your mind
Lose your mind

Reefing a sail at the edge of the world
For eternity has failed
You are waiting in line for the ending of time
But eternity has failed
We are building a bridge so you people can live
'Cause eternity has failed
Just a matter of time for my partner in crime
And eternity has failed

Reefing his sails at the edge of the world
'Cause eternity has failed
You are waiting in line for the ending of time
But eternity has failed
We're building a bridge, so you people can live
'Cause eternity has failed
Just a matter of time for my partner in crime
And eternity has failed

Reefing your sails at the edge of the world
'Cause eternity has failed
You are waiting in line at the ending of time
For eternity has failed
Eternity has failed
Eternity has failed

Good day, my name is Necropolis
I am formed of the dead

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Mistress Of Mercy

Give me my freedom, release me from pain
Mistress of mercy, come thrill me again
Time to return to the world which I came
No more tomorrows, no judgement or blame

I can't be what I never was
Skeletons of fury 'cause my mind was lost
Far from the old ways, sleep of the awake
Lost in the harmony, the majesty, the ecstasy

Hunting down souls of the blackened and damned
Burnt from the future, who knows where I'll land
I do believe there's a god in this world
For I can become what my science has learned

I can't be what I never was
Now that I am ready 'cause my mind is lost
Far from the old ways, sleep of the awake
Lost in the harmony, the majesty, the ecstasy

I can't be what I never was
Now that I am ready, now my mind is lost
Far from the old ways, sleep of the awake
Lost in the harmony, the majesty, the ecstasy

Another world, another life
Another afterlife again
Lost in the ecstasy, the harmony, the majesty

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Face In The Mirror

I can read between the lines
When people sing along
I can see the innocence
The spirits in their heart
I drink to ease the pain
To dull this maddening roar
Oblivion again in a house that has no door

Face in the mirror
It's a waiting game
Look at your face in the mirror
Does it look the same?
Look at your face in the mirror
It's a crying shame
Look at your face in the mirror
A waiting game

There are people all around
They're standing in the crowd
They are all looking down
At the fool on the ground
So welcome to my world
To the bottom of a glass
When I hold it, I see through you
To the future of the past

Face in the mirror
It's a waiting game
Look at your face in the mirror
Does it look the same?
Look at your face in the mirror
It's a crying shame
Look at your face
Look at your face
Look at your face

I can't see paradise
Even though I live in hell
So don't look in my mirror
You might see yourself as well

It's a face in the mirror
It's a waiting game
Look at your face in the mirror
Does it look the same?
When you stare into your eyes
It's a crying shame
Take a look at your face
Look at your face
Look at your face

It's a face in the mirror
It's a waiting game
Take a look at your face in the mirror
Does it look the same?
Take a look at that face in the mirror
It's a crying shame
Look at your face
Look at your face
Look at your face

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Shadow Of The Gods

And so we lay under the moon
The stars have crossed our paths tonight
So journey on, our wandering souls
Let our tears fall on our road
Against the sun, there are shapes in the fire
Around the stars are blue and grey
Halos, forever into the light (into the light, into the light)

A pathway, silvered and untold
A frozen river, a river of souls
Let your tears fall on the ice
In the shadow of the gods

Somewhere there is hope
In this heartless world, together
To come again on this new earth
Once more, forever, evermore (evermore)

Journey on, beyond the stars
Our weary souls, the road is long
We live in shadows of the gods
The soundly homeland is not far

Absolute night, in absolute zero
The universe stops, a fetus in vitro
I have a river of souls under foot
One drop creates the light
One drop will fill the night

I need a necromancer, the science has no use
I need your skill to raise the veil
Sanctify, release
A sacrifice at midnight, do what must be done
I need your help to save them all
Save my only son

This is my world, world of the dead
This is my life, world of the dead

Before a body had grown cold, you were there to steal its soul
Your son is dead, he told me so
I gave him peace, he is let go
So now a double threat unfolds and purgatory awaits
The triple headed hellhound fox had opened up the gates

Look at your life, world of the dead
This is your life, world of the dead
You have no life, world of the dead
World of the dead

We are part of the temple gates
Light the crucible again
We'll watch a phoenix rise in fire
Burning by the ritual flames
So lay me down in the shadow of the gods

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Sonata (Immortal Beloved)

Here in this dark forest where nothing will live
I see the frozen eyes
Maybe something can be heard
Frozen raindrops hanging on the trees
Here in the dark forest, where angels live and angels sleep
Here in my heart is raging again, again

Save me now, save me now
Save me now, save me now
Save me from this pain
Save me now, save me now
God save me, help me live again, again

I'll walk into the halls of ice and thorns
Decaying frozen walls
I'll blame myself, I was not here
For this king could have lost his crown
But still is your heartbeat
Your breath hangs frozen in the air
Some poisoned enchantment
Your beauty, it will not last

You say, save me now, save me now
Save me now, save me now
Save me from this pain
Save me now, bring me back
Save me now and help me live again

The king returned and all was silent
The body of his frozen queen, tragic
The acolytes around her, expressions of horror
Make me whole again, bring back my queen
Make me whole again and free the ice queen now
Come back to me, come back to me

Save me now, save me now
Save me now, save me now
Save me from my grave
Save me now, save me now
Help me, help me live again

He kissed her on the lips
And his tears, they melted stiff unyielding flesh
As his lips touched her last frozen breath
A strange light illum in her eyes
And the shadow of the valley of death

He kissed her on the lips
His tears melted the stiff unyielding flesh
As his lips touched her last frozen breath
A strange light illum in her eyes

The shadow of the valley of death approached
And the king cried, "For I'm damned, what have I done?"
And the ice queen shrieked as the angel of death appeared
"Who pays the price?" He laughed

For love has brought you here
And love will tear you apart
For love I brought you here
And love will tear you apart
For love has brought you here
And love will tear you apart
For love has brought you here
And love will tear you apart

I will not take you back
I will take you back
Let me take you back