Sixteen years

Sixteen banners united over the field

Where the good shepherd grieves

Desperate men desperate women divided

Spreading their wings

Neath the falling leaves

Fortune calls

I stepped forth from the shadows

To the marketplace

Merchants and thieves

Hungry for power

My last deal gone down

And she's smelling sweet like

The meadows where she was born

On a midsummer's eve near the tower

And the cold blooded moon

The captain waits above the celebration

Sending his thoughts

To a beloved maid

Whose ebony face is

Beyond communication

The captain is down but still

Believing that his love will be repaid

And they shaved her head

She was torn between

Jupiter and Apollo

A messenger arrived

With a black nightingale

And I seen her on the stairs

Oh and I couldn't help but follow

Follow her down past the

Fountain where they lifted her veil

I stumbled to my feet

I rode past destruction in the ditches

With the stitches still mending

Neath her heart shaped tattoo

And Renegade priests and

Treacherous young witches

Were handing out the

Flowers that I'd given to you

And the palace of mirrors

Where dog soldiers are reflected

The endless road and the

Wailing of chimes

The empty rooms where

Her memory is protected

Where the angels voices

Whisper to the souls of previous times

And she wakes him up

Forty eight hours later

The sun is breaking

Near broken chains mountain

Laurel and rolling rocks

She's begging to know what

Measures he now will be taking

He's pulling her down and she's

Clutching on to his long golden locks

Gentlemen he said

I don't need your organization

I've shined your shoes

I've moved your mountains

And marked your cards

But Eden is burning either

Get ready for elimination

Or else your hearts must have the

Courage for the changing of the guards

Changing of the Guards - The Gaslight Anthem