[Intro — pipe organ, dissonant, full choir — cracking at the edges] (choir barely holding) Fee-des fracta… Fee-des fracta…
[Verse 1 — controlled, liturgical, formal — the list begins] I received the sacraments in good faith I pressed my knees into the stone for years I opened every scripture they handed me I wept at altars, gave them all my tears I wore the cross like it was forged from promise I held the doctrine like a shield and sword I called the church a home, not just a building I named the light above me as my Lord
[Pre-Chorus — choir already thinner] And what did it give me What did it give me What did the faith give me in the end
[Chorus — full but crumbling, dissonance under the choir swell] The churches are empty buildings The prayers were words into the wind The book I burned my life for Was written by the same hands that let this begin Fee-des fracta — the faith is broken Fee-des fracta — and I watched it all fall in Fee-des fracta — I am standing in the ruin Of everything I was ever taught to believe in
[Verse 2 — choir dropping, strings pulling away] I memorized the hymns before I could reason I was given salvation before I was given a choice They dressed it up in candlelight and incense They handed me the truth in someone else’s voice The sacraments were theater, the grace was borrowed The scripture had an author with a throne Every teaching I was given now tastes hollow (pause) Every prayer I ever sent out — died alone
[Pre-Chorus 2 — nearly spoken] So what do I keep What do I keep now What is left after the faith burns down
[Chorus 2 — choir gutted, one section gone] The churches are empty buildings The prayers were words into the wind The book I burned my life for Was written by the same hands that let this begin Fee-des fracta — the faith is broken Fee-des fracta — I threw the cross into the fire Fee-des fracta — watch it melt into nothing (choir drops — silence — then her voice, low) Watch it melt
[Bridge — no choir. Bass drone enters from below. Low, wrong, breathing.] (spoken, deliberate) I had something around my neck my whole life. A symbol. A promise. A weight. (sound of a chain being pulled off) I don’t know what I believed. I know what they told me to believe. I know I gave it everything. (the chain hits the floor — single note rings out and dies) And I know — it gave me nothing back. (long pause — the bass drone grows slightly) (barely audible — not choir. Something else.) …But something did.
[Verse 3 — no choir at all. Her and the drone.] I do not need the sacraments to name me I do not need the scripture to stand here I do not need salvation handed down by people Who built the darkness and then sold me the fear The light they promised — darker than the night is The mercy they preached — emptier than stone I was not abandoned — (pause) I was lied to (pause) And now I stand where I have always stood Alone
[Final Chorus — no choir. Voice + drone only. The darkness is louder now.] The churches are empty buildings They were always empty buildings The prayers were words into the wind They were always only wind Fee-des fracta — the faith is broken (long hold) Fee-des fracta (lower) …and I am free
[Outro — drone fades slowly. Her voice, almost a whisper.] No sacrament. No scripture. No cross around my neck. No god above. No light to serve. (barely heard) Something below. (pause) Listening. (silence)