Nightmare III (feat. Karis Oka & Amy McMillan)

Splinters digging into skin. Wind that's whipping in. Shin splints. And it begins
Smoke chokes my throat, broken oak stokes the flames that frame my folks
They cry out in a croak, they're cloaked in fire; terrified and fleshy pyres
All alight. They burn alive. I watch them burn alive. I watch them-

This looks like town, but where's the border? There's no border
That's concerning, when the woods around us aren't burnt, they're burning
Forest fire, houses catching, catching those that stayed in
The fields that we once played in are the same the flames wield their wild crusade in
Blades in hand and arm in arm, a blazing army, razing farms
Paisley quilts are torn and watered; domesticity drawn and quartered
Cloth to mouth, your bucketful of water means fuck all when lungs are smoke-filled
Lucky folks get cashmere and unlucky folks get killed

I'm tasting smoke and hearing someone screaming out in pain
It takes a lot to shout like that; for fear to override the shame
He's stuck beneath his doorframe, and it clearly weighs a ton
But I'm close enough to help him, and I'm the only one

I'm thinking
I'm thinking something has to be done
I'm thinking, then I'm turning away from him
And I run

Fast past vast throes of roses, toes in mud and blood in noses
Rows and rows of flowers, they take years to grow, but burn in hours
Weaving through the towering trees, we wheeze and cower, sparks shower
These bright white lights that swim through air like frightened fish in shark encounters

Nan and Grandad-
that's not Nan and Grandad
Of course not
This is way before your time

I spot not-Nan and not-Grandad and hot heat hits me from the side, when we
When we?
When I?
Alright
When I look down my body isn't mine
I don't know who I am, I try to ask but I can only whine
All I am is fighting, all I have to be is fine

Splinters digging into skin. Wind that's whipping in. Shin splints. And it begins
Smoke chokes my throat, broken oak stokes the flames that frame my folks
They cry out in a croak, they're cloaked in fire; terrified and fleshy pyres
All alight. They burn alive. I watch them burn alive. I watch them-

Grandad ran ahead and Nan had said we had to stay in line
I can't match his pace or catch his face and the space between us opens wide
Further and further into a fervour, the forest furs encroaching, poaching,
Grabbing, trapping, stabbing, mapping webs of pain in strained eyes,

and I hear... rain
It's not rain

The sky is dry and my hand is wrapped in Nan's
We get to Grandad and band together against the weather
'Cause in a sec' it'll endeavor to tether us here forever
We better get a better idea than letting fear get bigger and bigger until it
Rears its head as a red flicker
Fire!

Splinters digging into skin. Wind that's whipping in. Shin splints. And it begins
Smoke chokes my throat, broken oak stokes the flames that frame my folks
They cry out in a croak, they're cloaked in fire; terrified and fleshy pyres
All alight. They burn alive. I watch them burn alive. I watch them-

Everything you think is real is real
Maybe your nightmares aren't as bad as we think
Do you need anything from market? It's apple season

I want to look at something beautiful in death
And the woods promise to be willing
I catch a burning leaf and release a quiet breath
A fairytale killing

If I'm going to die...