Ghosts of Yesterday (COLLAB)

Our innocence, it fades,
Becomes this brittle haze
Shattered, like our memories,
These ghosts of yesterday

My youth pulled from under the bed,
Dusty as however many years that I've got left
Between the nighttime romps and cigarettes,
This old skin tastes stale, with bitterness
As the dust dances in the light,
Without regard for my teary eyes,
It's like looking back through the years,
The struggles...the fights, and all the needless fears
The past, it calls my name,
Though it's gone, it haunts me just the same

It reminds me of the things I've seen...
All of the places that I've been
Those shadows are there, seem crystal clear,
Always in my dreams...they reappear...!

So strong...so strong, for so long,
These ghosts, they won't leave me alone...!
So dismayed...dismayed and betrayed,
It feels like I'm turning over, inside my own grave...!
Angry words...in burning nights,
Every breath I'm taking, I'm fighting to save my own life!
And they...they won't go away,
They are staring me in the eyes, these ghosts of yesterday...

It hurts when I think of my lost dreams,
Feels like my soul's crushed and caved in
Bitter words and insults thrown,
In this world, that's all I've ever known
So drag me down and pull me under,
And let me experience the ghosts' thunder
'Cause as I stand out in the pouring rain,
I feel the aching of past pain
It rolls in the gaping hole in my chest,
A beautiful havoc at its best

Lightning...pierces my soul again,
Fiery bolts searing all my sins
Memories...crashing down from the skies,
Like hail...pounding my fragile mind...!

So strong...so strong, for so long,
These ghosts, they won't leave me alone...!
So dismayed...so betrayed,
It feels like I'm turning over, inside my own grave...!
Angry words...in burning nights,
Every breath I'm taking, I'm fighting to save my own life!
And they...they won't go away,
They are staring me in the eyes, these ghosts of yesterday...

As I stand here, emotions churning,
Caught between light and dark, weakened bridges burning
Lost in my reflections, so many regrets,
The agony I've caused, I can never, ever forget
I swear...all these years that I've denied,
Keeping me dead, but still alive
Bullied, broken, bloody, and bruised
By myself, I've been...so...used...

I don't want to remember, but I don't get to choose!

As my glass hits the wall, it shatters
Its shards, leaving me reflections of things that mattered
Its cracks, like a spiderweb, with its strands,
Each one a memory, not yet forgotten...
They feel like photographs,
Torn...in half...

Ripped and shredded, I want to give them back!

So strong...so strong, for so long!
These ghosts, they won't leave me alone...!
So dismayed...so betrayed!
It feels like I'm turning over, inside my own grave...!
Angry words...in burning nights,
Every breath I'm taking, I'm fighting to save my own life!
And they...they won't go away,
They are staring me in the eyes...

Our innocence, it fades,
Becomes this brittle haze
Shattered, like our memories...
These ghosts of yesterday...

Begun July 28, 2014-Completed September 8, 2014