Regression

verseWhen you win the war
But lose the battle
It rattles back around
Beneath deceitful prattle

Held the hill
For a minute in the light
Then it slipped in the weeds
And disappeared from sight

Won the day
But the edges fray
Old smoke in the rafters
Still finds its way

They never concede
They only recede
New ways through the weeds
Still learning to bleed

8-bar instrumental break

verseDown in the ground
Barely making sound
Old vows still breathing
Where they buried them down

Learned the language
Softened the chains
Smiled for the cameras
And counted the gains

Cracks come back
When the watch goes slack
Fresh paint on the surface
Old rot in the back

Lines and rules
Bent into tools
Hands on the levers
Calling it proof

chorusYou can put the symptoms
Down in remission
But the gears keep turning
In the transmission

New names, new faces
Same old condition
Different disguises
For regression

Regression
Regression
Working back around
Regression

8-bar instrumental break

verseIt was fermenting
Never relenting
Fomenting at the mouth
Increasingly dissenting

True face flickers
Familiar snarl
The gears never stopped
They just worked in the dark

Waits for weakness
Studies fatigue
Patient as roots
Where nobody sees

Stockpiled steady
Supply lines heavy
No need for fog
When the pressure runs heavy

8-bar instrumental break

verseWeeds come back
From seeds unseen
Deep roots feeding
Beneath the green

Masks come off
Then the gloves come too
Old grudges waking
Like they always do

Lines get drawn
Flags unfurled
Old ghosts rehearsing
For a modern world

What once was settled
Gets questioned anew
The war never ended
It just waited for you

instrumental break

chorusYou can put the symptoms
Down in remission
But the gears keep turning
In the transmission

New names, new faces
Same old condition
Different disguises
For regression

Regression
Regression
Working back around
Regression

outroWhat once was won
Comes undone again
That’s why the fight
Never truly ends

You can put the symptoms
Down in remission
But the gears keep turning
In the transmission

New forms
Same aggression
Working back around
Regression

32-bar repetitive instrumental breakbump end