Lyrics
[120-second opening]
[modern Babylon]
[distant crowd]
[phones vibrating like insects]
[advertising voices dissolving into ancient instruments]
[one low bowed cello]
[three young male breaths]
[distant choir]
"Ahhhhh..."
[female voices answer]
"Ohhhhh..."
[no beat]
[let the listener feel the pressure to belong]
Proverbs Chapter One
My son,
if sinners entice thee,
consent thou not.
[complete silence]
consent thou not...
[thirty seconds]
[crowd slowly gathers]
First Peter Chapter Four
For the time past
of our life
may suffice us
to have wrought
the will of the Gentiles,
when we walked
in lasciviousness,
lusts,
excess of wine,
revellings,
banquetings,
and abominable idolatries:
[modern crowd noise becomes Babylon]
Wherein they think it strange
that ye run not
with them
to the same
excess of riot,
speaking evil of you:
[everything disappears]
they think it strange...
[long silence]
Daniel Chapter Three
That at what time
ye hear the sound
of the cornet,
flute,
harp,
sackbut,
psaltery,
dulcimer,
and all kinds of musick,
ye fall down
and worship
the golden image
that Nebuchadnezzar the king
hath set up:
[ancient instruments begin one by one]
And whoso falleth not down
and worshippeth
shall the same hour
be cast
into the midst
of a burning
fiery furnace.
[heartbeat]
Therefore at that time,
when all the people
heard the sound
of the cornet,
flute,
harp,
sackbut,
psaltery,
and all kinds of musick,
all the people,
the nations,
and the languages,
fell down
and worshipped
the golden image
that Nebuchadnezzar the king
had set up.
[all instruments stop]
[three men remain standing]
[forty seconds of silence]
James Chapter Four
Submit yourselves therefore
to God.
Resist the devil,
and he will flee
from you.
[repeat, barely audible]
Resist...
[deep breath]
Daniel Chapter Three
Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego,
answered and said
to the king,
O Nebuchadnezzar,
we are not careful
to answer thee
in this matter.
If it be so,
our God whom we serve
is able
to deliver us
from the burning
fiery furnace,
and he will deliver us
out of thine hand,
O king.
[long pause]
But if not,
[everything vanishes]
But...
if...
not...
[one heartbeat]
be it known
unto thee,
O king,
that we will not
serve thy gods,
nor worship
the golden image
which thou hast set up.
[male choir]
"Ahhhhh..."
[female choir]
"Ohhhhh..."
[fire erupts]
[no triumphant music]
First Peter Chapter Five
Be sober,
be vigilant;
because your adversary
the devil,
as a roaring lion,
walketh about,
seeking whom
he may devour:
Whom resist stedfast
in the faith,
knowing that
the same afflictions
are accomplished
in your brethren
that are
in the world.
[flames surround the voices]
Daniel Chapter Three
And these three men,
Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego,
fell down bound
into the midst
of the burning
fiery furnace.
[complete silence]
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astonied,
and rose up in haste,
and spake,
and said unto
his counsellers,
Did not we cast
three men bound
into the midst
of the fire?
They answered and said
unto the king,
True,
O king.
[one voice whispers]
He answered and said,
Lo,
I see four men
loose,
walking in the midst
of the fire,
and they have
no hurt;
and the form
of the fourth
is like
the Son of God.
[choir explodes then immediately restrains]
"AHHHHH..."
"OHHHHH..."
[sixty-second instrumental walk through fire]
[organic EDM pulse begins beneath the flames]
Then Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego,
came forth
of the midst
of the fire.
[slow sunrise]
And the princes,
governors,
and captains,
and the king’s counsellers,
being gathered together,
saw these men,
upon whose bodies
the fire
had no power,
nor was an hair
of their head singed,
neither were
their coats changed,
nor the smell
of fire
had passed on them.
[long silence]
not even
the smell...
[choir breathes]
Then Nebuchadnezzar spake,
and said,
Blessed be the God
of Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego,
who hath sent
his angel,
and delivered
his servants
that trusted in him,
and have changed
the king’s word,
and yielded
their bodies,
that they might not
serve nor worship
any god,
except their own God.
[all percussion disappears]
First Peter Chapter Five
But the God
of all grace,
who hath called us
unto his eternal glory
by Christ Jesus,
after that ye have
suffered a while,
make you perfect,
stablish,
strengthen,
settle you.
[repeat softly]
settle you...
[extended outro]
[crowd fades]
[the image disappears]
[three footsteps remain]
[male choir]
"Ahhhhh..."
[female choir]
"Ohhhhh..."
[fire becomes warm ambience]
[cello resolves]
[the listener realizes the command was never to fit in]
[leave the final twenty seconds nearly silent]
