I watched what the wicked can do

Lyrics

[Intro - low guttural chant, sparse piano notes, distant war horns, cold wind ambience]
Ooooh, ooooh,
beneath the ash and iron sky,
I heard the dark speak in a human cry.

[Verse 1 - fingerpicked acoustic guitar, trembling piano, restrained drums, rough-hewn vocals]
I stood where the shadows swallowed light,
saw a man lose his soul in the dead of night,
like a storm in a cabin with no door to flee,
it moved through his eyes and it stared back at me.
I watched greed draw a blade over pennies and pride,
watched red on the floor where the truth used to lie,
and the hands once lifted in brotherly song
turned sharp with the hunger to prove who was wrong.

[Pre-Chorus - rising drums, low horns swelling, layered male harmonies]
Oh, I have seen what the wicked can do,
when the heart goes cold and the blood runs through
with no mercy left in the marrow or bone,
a soul can be shattered and still walk home.

[Chorus - full drums, bold horns, driving acoustic strum, anthemic chants]
I have seen the demon in the shape of a man,
I have seen the ruin of a brother’s hand,
I have seen love turn bitter, loyalty break,
I have seen trust collapse like a frozen lake.
And I don’t wish that curse on anyone’s name,
no crown, no coin, no grief, no shame.
So when the north winds cut deep through my bones,
I’ll remember God’s promise and I won’t walk alone.

[Verse 2 - darker piano pattern, heavier drum pulse, distant horn calls, weathered lead vocal]
I watched friends become wolves with familiar eyes,
heard the same old vows turn into lies,
watched kindness bend till it snapped in two,
watched hatred bloom where the warm heart grew.
There are wounds that the sea could never wash clean,
there are nights that still haunt what my eyes have seen,
but I carry the scar like a worn-out shield,
for the truth of that fire made my spirit real.

[Pre-Chorus - building intensity, stomping percussion, fuller harmonies]
Oh, I have walked through the valley of dread,
where the living act dead and the dead feel said
by the prayers that rise from a shattered home,
still I hear a voice saying, “You are not alone.”

[Chorus - explosive, horn-led, communal singalong, pounding drums]
I have seen the demon in the shape of a man,
I have seen the ruin of a brother’s hand,
I have seen love turn bitter, loyalty break,
I have seen trust collapse like a frozen lake.
And I don’t wish that curse on anyone’s name,
no crown, no coin, no grief, no shame.
So when the north winds cut deep through my bones,
I’ll remember God’s promise and I won’t walk alone.

[Bridge - stripped-back piano, soft acoustic, echoing horns, vulnerable vocal]
If the dark comes calling with a serpent tongue,
if the old pain rises and the battle’s won,
I will lift my face to the winter sky,
and hold to the light that will not die.
For every cruel word, every fallen friend,
there is mercy waiting at the river’s end.

[Final Chorus - full band, triumphant horns, soaring harmonies, thunderous drums]
I have seen the demon in the shape of a man,
I have seen the ruin of a brother’s hand,
I have seen love turn bitter, loyalty break,
I have seen trust collapse like a frozen lake.
And I don’t wish that curse on anyone’s name,
no crown, no coin, no grief, no shame.
So when the north winds cut deep through my bones,
I’ll remember God’s promise and I’ll make it home.

[Outro - fading horns, solo piano, wind, distant chanted refrain]
Ooooh, ooooh,
through the ice and the endless storm,
I remember the promise that keeps me warm.