The album's lyrics
Last War Lullaby is not just a collection of songs; it is an elegy for humanity's cyclical mistakes.
From the urban cynicism of 'The Barrios of El Dorado' to the internal struggle in 'Road to Karakum',
the album culminates in a necessary question: are we ready to leave behind the last 10,000 years of darkness and
greet a new era?
The lyrics are a respectful extension of Adam Levy’s epic dystopia, whose post-apocalyptic narrative unfolds into a
sonic landscape of war, blending deep lyricism, a tragic protagonist, and roots-rock with global influences.
CHAPTER I
THE COLLAPSE
1. The Barrios of El Dorado
Ms. Anne Thrope, darling, we lost all hope
Sweet Ennui you bored the life out of me
Jimmy Coup we broke the code but we can't find you
Do you read me? Needle ball and air speed me
In the barrios of El Dorado
The milk of human kindness curdles rotten
Those that get mobbed will someday be forgotten
In the avenue of fallen shadows, there's the trace of a desperado
Lost among the rubble, the cry of a child
Dry all the tears spilt through the source of fear
Is this a state of mind or is it just gatefind?
I've stared at mum, how is she so fucked up?
Is the evil inside our hearts?
Sweet Ennui you bored the life out of me
Jimmy Coup we broke the code but we can't find you
Do you read me? Needle ball and air speed me
In the barrios of El Dorado
The milk of human kindness curdles rotten
Those that get mobbed will someday be forgotten
In the avenue of fallen shadows, there's the trace of a desperado
Lost among the rubble, the cry of a child
Dry all the tears spilt through the source of fear
Is this a state of mind or is it just gatefind?
I've stared at mum, how is she so fucked up?
Is the evil inside our hearts?
2. Killjoy Was Here
God's machines rolling the dice, hope and fear, death and life
Choose between the good and the bad, no capacity to act
Killjoy was here, Killjoy was here
You were our talisman, behind you there's a brilliant plan
The superstition of the enemy, the conviction of our victory
Killjoy was here, enemy's fear
God's machines will always falter
(Is there a difference between the sins of the warm-hearted
and the cold-blooded?)
Can we hold Gibraltar?
Cause I don't know, I don't know, I don't know
Choose between the good and the bad, no capacity to act
Killjoy was here, Killjoy was here
You were our talisman, behind you there's a brilliant plan
The superstition of the enemy, the conviction of our victory
Killjoy was here, enemy's fear
God's machines will always falter
(Is there a difference between the sins of the warm-hearted
and the cold-blooded?)
Can we hold Gibraltar?
Cause I don't know, I don't know, I don't know
3. Calling Mayday
We are helpless, we are evil's weak bait
Feel the hell fire burning under our feet
Souls are leaving, flesh staying for a crass fate
There's a sawdust Caesar on the Maginot line
Sipping champagne from a bedpan
Dispatching homicidal automatons he can darken all days
Call Mayday
At kingdom come we knocked but all twelve gates were locked
Call Mayday
One leg in the grave, the other kicking down the door
Then a sun blink dazzle off my face,
hear the sweet chants of the seraphim
Blood and sweat, tears and threats, this is our zeitgeist
We got pinned and off track, thank you Captain Cul de Sac
In a ten megaton blast Brother 33 made a comeback
Feel the hell fire burning under our feet
Souls are leaving, flesh staying for a crass fate
There's a sawdust Caesar on the Maginot line
Sipping champagne from a bedpan
Dispatching homicidal automatons he can darken all days
Call Mayday
At kingdom come we knocked but all twelve gates were locked
Call Mayday
One leg in the grave, the other kicking down the door
Then a sun blink dazzle off my face,
hear the sweet chants of the seraphim
Blood and sweat, tears and threats, this is our zeitgeist
We got pinned and off track, thank you Captain Cul de Sac
In a ten megaton blast Brother 33 made a comeback
CHAPTER II
THE PILGRIMAGE
4. They Poisoned All The Water
They poisoned all the water, the man behind the man
The rolling blackouts followed, the roving bands leave piles of hands
Barbed wire and rubber truncheons, some won't cooperate
The jungle prison brothels, the hand-maimed know Leopold's ghost
Can you hear the cold blowing under the gate of hell?
There's a chance, tired of waiting, a providence
Lost lives make sense
The rolling blackouts followed, the roving bands leave piles of hands
Barbed wire and rubber truncheons, some won't cooperate
The jungle prison brothels, the hand-maimed know Leopold's ghost
Can you hear the cold blowing under the gate of hell?
There's a chance, tired of waiting, a providence
Lost lives make sense
5. Road To Karakum
The road to Karakum was clogged with ragged children
Their parents gone the troops had killed them
Vacant stares, hollow cheeks, swollen bellies
The black angel bread lines and land mines to guide them
Holy refuge, violated. There's a blood lust never sated
Who'd think that letting them play in the field
would leave them with wooden legs
The time has come to think, the emptiness of memories
Children fleeing war and poverty
If you suffer, I suffer, we all suffer
Kids are only asking for a better future
Human madness, defeated; gloomy darkness, annihilated
The silence before the melodies, true justice dignity
Rugged cross, golden idol, star and crescent stone their rivals
Lay a wreath for the nature of the beast
Conscious of pain brought by Damascus way
The recognition of mistakes
I was lost, when I fall and I was rescued
Seek for the meaning existence and values
Inner peace was conquered, confidence is renewed
Healing the heart from the wounds of the past
A new chance, life in one act
Their parents gone the troops had killed them
Vacant stares, hollow cheeks, swollen bellies
The black angel bread lines and land mines to guide them
Holy refuge, violated. There's a blood lust never sated
Who'd think that letting them play in the field
would leave them with wooden legs
The time has come to think, the emptiness of memories
Children fleeing war and poverty
If you suffer, I suffer, we all suffer
Kids are only asking for a better future
Human madness, defeated; gloomy darkness, annihilated
The silence before the melodies, true justice dignity
Rugged cross, golden idol, star and crescent stone their rivals
Lay a wreath for the nature of the beast
Conscious of pain brought by Damascus way
The recognition of mistakes
I was lost, when I fall and I was rescued
Seek for the meaning existence and values
Inner peace was conquered, confidence is renewed
Healing the heart from the wounds of the past
A new chance, life in one act
6. Typhoid Mary (Soleá por Bulerías)
Que los cielos sean testigos, deslealtad y traición
Cuando venga el viento en contra aférrate a la razón
No more sadness, new life comes
No more darkness, great day dawns
No more badness, pure soul will grow
No more madness, big world is born
Alcemos nuestras voces, dignidad y comprensión
Que los hombres no sean ciegos a lo que dicta el corazón
Guerra sin sentido, tu palabra es la verdad
Promesas vacías, la mentira acabará
Guerra sin sentido, lucha por tu libertad
Promesas vacías, no más oscuridad
We can't bury Typhoid Mary
Lovely nadir, we can't stay here
Cuando venga el viento en contra aférrate a la razón
No more sadness, new life comes
No more darkness, great day dawns
No more badness, pure soul will grow
No more madness, big world is born
Alcemos nuestras voces, dignidad y comprensión
Que los hombres no sean ciegos a lo que dicta el corazón
Guerra sin sentido, tu palabra es la verdad
Promesas vacías, la mentira acabará
Guerra sin sentido, lucha por tu libertad
Promesas vacías, no más oscuridad
We can't bury Typhoid Mary
Lovely nadir, we can't stay here
CHAPTER III
THE ETERNAL RETURN
7. White Hooded Hydra
White hooded hydra, Teutonic knight stick,
brown shirted gas chambermaid
We finally got evil at the end of our blade
Shackle the mad so the sane can flourish
We can nourish a sick world after we deal with the damage
We're finally coming home
No more mistakes, no more lost stakes
Heal the wounds of the past,
it ain't late to recover what we left behind
No darkened skies so the sun may shine
Let the rain wash our lies,
hold the hands of the weak and finally make it last
Can we please say goodbye to the last 10,000 years?
Try to learn what we've done to reverse the next
And take it back to the track of the righteous ones
Can we please say hello to the next 10,000 years
brown shirted gas chambermaid
We finally got evil at the end of our blade
Shackle the mad so the sane can flourish
We can nourish a sick world after we deal with the damage
We're finally coming home
No more mistakes, no more lost stakes
Heal the wounds of the past,
it ain't late to recover what we left behind
No darkened skies so the sun may shine
Let the rain wash our lies,
hold the hands of the weak and finally make it last
Can we please say goodbye to the last 10,000 years?
Try to learn what we've done to reverse the next
And take it back to the track of the righteous ones
Can we please say hello to the next 10,000 years
8. Dead Stars (Reprise)
You'd never guess who I saw nailed to a seat at the bar
Swollen and struck by the stars
Keep it up kid you know you'll go far
You'd wish to feel totally wrong, a shattered great world by war
A better future too far, in a black night, a shooting star
Hey, here is luck, you let her out, she won't go back in the box
That's all right, we're checking it in, you'll check it all out
Through the light of great stars, she saw the future to come
Poor boy saving the world, but she knew he's gone to get far
She told me that he understood, his fate is being traded off
If you don't find the right door, you don't lose your hope
It's so lonely here...
A big star through the dark storm
Swollen and struck by the stars
Keep it up kid you know you'll go far
You'd wish to feel totally wrong, a shattered great world by war
A better future too far, in a black night, a shooting star
Hey, here is luck, you let her out, she won't go back in the box
That's all right, we're checking it in, you'll check it all out
Through the light of great stars, she saw the future to come
Poor boy saving the world, but she knew he's gone to get far
She told me that he understood, his fate is being traded off
If you don't find the right door, you don't lose your hope
It's so lonely here...
A big star through the dark storm