Dark Alleyway

I'm beginnin' to think that all of my missteps
And my mortal sins can't be all my fault
You told me from birth it was a condition
But you were dismissin' that it's a part of us all
It's what I seem to tell all of my patients
"Don't let your hatred go without a fight"
If only you had done the same thing
I wouldn't have changed into what I am tonight

And so you create an animal
I don't owe you anything at all
But I can promise you one thing
I can promise you won't
Wanna meet me in a dark alleyway

Way back when, all the drugs and therapy sessions
Resulted in less than you, doctor, had prayed
Even the beds with straps and electrodes
Had only fed those demons lurking in wait
It's unfortunate that I had to lie and
Pretend to deny that which I truly maintain
There's nothin' wrong with the mind's dark corridors, and
To try and ignore them is what makes us insane

I was startin' to think you wouldn't come

But you just had to test me
Now you must understand
It'll end here in this dark alleyway

About the song

This was the last song I wrote for the album. With only a week left until recording time I was in freakout mode because everything was in its right place except for track two of part two. I was finalizing all the demos when I started plunking around on my guitar, and out came the odd little riff during the second verse. I ended up writing the lyrics in the studio, and serendipitously enough, the song fit the exact length I needed to keep the album's most important surprise intact...

Grand scheme: The idea behind part two was to relay a more mature sense of the world as far as experiences and the reactions to them. This song delves deeper into the sociopathy of someone like the protagonist of "Midwinter Massacre", making them more plausible. More real.