How do you measure a man's worth? By his money? His power? His strength? By the number of followers he has? Or by the knowledge that he possesses? Or is it by the stories he leaves behind? Long after his flesh is gone... After his face has been forgotten... And time has worn his name from his grave...

The man's a mystery, traveling throughout history Collecting remnants of the people and their misery He's traveled sea to grimy sea, to see all that his majesty Has saddled on the backs of those who cannot even fathom peace To say the least, he's the host with the most An ancient ghost that raised his body off the coast Of denial, and after a while Even crocodiles couldn't match his smile Child of prophecy, the doctrines speak Of a creature neither man nor beast A phantom feasts upon the damned an meek And snaps his teeth to the drum of the beat The proof of defeat lies just under his sneaks As he runs through the streets from the sirens that creep Complete, composed, compelling There's no telling what you'll miss if you're missing what he's telling Because he's... The Chosen One, the shows begun No rest for wicked souls when this soldier comes He's roamed the globe since this disc has spun Raised by dragons, that means that fire is his native tongue Child of the blazing Sun, amazing, young Top-gun at the summit of Olympus Mons So, just listen until the needles done A single crumb of his food for thought feeds your entire planetarium He's the dynasty's next Best kept secret since the president's sex Scandals, a vandal that breaks shit The invariable anomaly in this matrix Of fakeness, prepared to take on the throne Also known as the kid that pulled the sword from the stone Every poem, written in the ink that he bleeds No, he never fell in love, love actually fell on He Who Must Not Be Named, his claim to fame??? A funny walk and a twisted brain Deoxy-ribonucleic letters Coagulate to make the state better The alpha male breeding wisdom and wealth So naturally, Darwin handpicked him himself The definition of human evolution Think you've seen somebody greater, it was just an illusion The Chosen One, the shows begun No rest for wicked souls when this soldier comes He's roamed the globe since this disc has spun Raised by dragons, that means that fire is his native tongue Child of the blazing Sun, amazing, young Top-gun at the summit of Olympus Mons So, just listen until the needles done A single crumb of his food for thought feeds your entire planetarium How can this be??? How can his deeds be so grotesque, yet still he breaths How can a heathen be so blessed by gods??? Because he's the one that makes your makers head nod While the angels sing in heavenly chorus He is the strangest, yet the heavens adore his Style, it's kind of wild, but excites the crowd He speaks so proud, while these other lions growl A silent vow, to uphold the codes That did mold his soul from the woe So, do si do, he goes to and fro Where shall he end??? Not even Destiny knows So, don't just say that he's been given a gift Talent ain't given, he's worked his whole life for this You can't belittle what you can't understand This man, he crafts Fate with his own two hands The Chosen One, the shows begun No rest for wicked souls when this soldier comes He's roamed the globe since this disc has spun Raised by dragons, that means that fire is his native tongue Child of the blazing Sun, amazing, young Top-gun at the summit of Olympus Mons So, just listen until the needles done A single crumb of his food for thought feeds your entire planetarium

He's the dizziest rascal Bashful, yet unabashed by the myriad of assholes that inhabit his past Childhood: a wicked spell to cast upon a champion Who one day shall ascend the heights and live within the Pantheon "Get a grip!" naysayers bar his path to victory "You're not a special man, you are the same as him, and him, and me!" And though for now that statement's true as bullets aimed at cattle's sights It cannot be forgotten that no falcon's born prepared for flight I think I hear an eya's battle cry A baby falcon thinking of the vantages from in the sky One day he will escape the caste that showed him naught but disrespect Reality doth bend to he who learns the ways of architects So yes, he'll build his nest away from all the pigeons Who do naught but fight over the filthy scraps that they've been given He knows that's no way to be living Their sins can't be forgotten, though they can be forgiven With such candor he's written So there's no confusion as to who he owes for his provisions Solitude, diligence, Mr. Me Myself and I And litany of men whose history's will never die He didn't do it alone But had no help from foolish clones in the land he once called home He pays homage to the past Making sure his debts are paid so he can find freedom at last His goal is nearly in his grasp See the pigeons flock about him, trying to kiss his feathery ass Sadly, their lips are bathed in keratin And cannot bend, but break whenever they attempt to touch his end That means their words don't honestly come from within Dishonesty is honestly the most vile of sins to him He hopes they'll learn to treat each sentence well Because honesty's the only way they'll stretch their wings beyond the cell

He is an introverted infant, but just listen You can hear him contemplating what the world had yet to give him Staring straight into the iris of the eye of the storm He knows no fears, other than that of the moment that he was born Imagine silence, so total and complete Can’t even nod your hairy noggin to the heart’s beat Then harsh heat invades your tender, hollow organs That are no longer dependent on mother’s board to support them And then a note struck his cords It wasn’t the sweetest voice, but one day it’d become a lion’s roar King of antiquated zoo-ocracies Trapped in a jungle where the monkeys fling their shit at high velocity Yo, check the viscosity Onto his brain latched an idea, once thought abandoned by the emperor and his cavalry But of its own volition there’s a horse who found the lake Didn’t need you there to lead him, why force him for goodness’ sake If we refuse to risk the fall across the narrow pass We lose such precious sand, as the moments fall from the hourglass Never to see their shining son The final hope of the line of blood that wished to see this fucking kingdom come But he was not informed of this prior to his cognition So why must he endure the competition So many princes seek his throne which was his prize before he was old enough to know That he must now uptake this noble mission Read his future written on horizon lines Trying to find the proper punctuation to end his wicked life’s foul sentence Because he cannot restrain the imagination warring in his brain You see that beast is simply too relentless His is a simple song, played without any scales Just a wooden spoon he banged upon his mother’s pots and pales Who would have thought that’s what the masses wanted to hear This warrior now welcomed home, having fought in battles for years You can listen to his story as it’s whistled by the wind But now that all the fighting’s done, where’s the new ruler to begin He starts building his castle with one brick and then another As he carves truth into the blank slates of fathers and mothers The times are itching for some change Because the headlines have grown boring, every day it seems that they all read the same A catalog of misery and woe Typing the casualties along the same lines as the latest reality show Ain’t it a shame how our realities turn fantasy When fantasy is how all our realities start Why should his dream seem to be one of insanity Who knows what’s really lying in the dark If he was never to embark upon a search for a diamond road He’d never have discovered the lost city of gold So let him journey off the edge of the most perilous cliff If it’s his aim to flee the flesh, well then he’s certain not to miss And at the end of the flight, when the movie’s finally over We all must thank the captain for not losing his composure Because that tale’s wind blew our plane of existence off its course He found the fabled string tying my existence to yours Once was an enemy of the state of mind, developed By a tyrant, whose shadow, dark, froze the whole world, enveloped In a sinister epiphany, implanted in the wrinkles Of the pink and squishy paperweight that sends the faulty signals To the messengers, killed for losing something in translation Because he cannot pass his test without the proper information So his scouts are trying to find the missing link to this chain of events That has resulted in another human slain Sure, it’s an arduous task But the angels tip their halos, honoring he who has finally snatched the mask From off the face of adversity, immersed in his assumption

Exhausted, gross and ambling Black Jack hit the road, broke from gambling Will he ever make it back? Only the Fates know Trying to reside on that land where greener grasses grow But he’s lost sight of the fences And his compass can’t sense the Cardinal’s directions Just a week ago his life was swell Now his lungs are filled ashes, stranded in Hell Marbles, nah yo, he lost those Chose the wrong damn path at the crossroads It’s such a shame how the tables can change One small infraction and life’s rearranged Strange, this is the world unveiled A place of avalanches, wicked seas, and harsh gales Oh weary traveler, you’ve only begun Your journey of one thousand miles, starts with one He wakes up before dawn to pray Only God can fathom the demons he’s going to see today He sees a ray of sunshine rising from a bed of rocks Hopelessness escaped confinements of Pandora’s Box A masochist’s paradise, all he knows is pain and strife Sadists torture him, edging him towards the knife War, famine, pestilence, ultimately they end in death The final horseman’s more of a savior, taking his final breath He’s got nothing left, but keeps it all inside Even with these torments he can’t imagine forsaking pride Then his stomach rumbles, telling him it’s crazy hungry So he swallows his pride to nourish his tummy Yo ain’t funny, they tell him there’s gonna be a brighter day But you don’t know the feeling of the ever looming bills to pay One slip caused his kingdom to fall Because all ain’t meant for one, and one ain’t meant for all There’s more to life than just games and fun You’re going to have to sweat here in the land of the Sun Damn! It isn’t going as planned Can’t just snap back, lacks the will of a rubber band Damned, he just can’t understand Once the top dog, living in high demand Than, the hourglass ran out of sand Watch as the seconds slip through his hands What is the meaning of this horrible twist? What horrid demon’s steady dreaming of this horrible shit? Should he just quit? Throw in the towel? Play by their rules, he swore he’d never kow-tow Bow down, how can he face defeat? But it sure would be nice to have a place to eat They tried to tell him, but he didn’t want to listen Now there are so many things in life he’s missing Thus is the price of ignorance, nigger You either learn the friggin’ rules, or pull the trigger

Under a streetlight, trapped in a dark night, of wandering eyes... Baby I hear you, I thought I felt you, but I didn't know how... Oh, when did I get here, where do I go now, I'm waiting for you, not for anyone else... I lost my mind, stuck in a dead end, I've lost myself... So the illusion was shattered, such disruptions of matter Cracked the fragile psyche of this, the maddest of hatters Reality slashed his hopes with the vorpalest dagger Now, adrift at sea, he’s sorry, confounded and haggard Trying to realign all of the stars that have gone astray Trying to ease his mind into the bosom of the Fates Trying to be divine but miracles don’t work these days Because the water’s all dried up and so they can’t test messiah’s gait They forgot the definition of faith An enemy whose memory appears as a specter, a wraith Insidious reminders of all the things they have lost to date Inciting fears and worries of what happens if they wait For a brighter tomorrow, there’s no more time to borrow The rabbit’s watch ticks and tocks their moments of sorrow And every morning that they gaze upon the looking glass Reflections of an onlooker, safely glaring from the past They need to raise the mizzen mast Setting sail towards uncharted waters, free of all their pains at last As the lookout in the crow’s nest sets his vision aft He realizes how foolish were his younger days and he laughs And so this motley crew sets out to find a better home Assaulted by King Trident as they circumnavigate the globe So many times they thought to return to familiar seas Condemned to live languishing, anguished because they chose to flee But they stuck it out Deciding it was better to die fighting than to live a life that’s filled with doubt Haunted by the ghosts of what could have, should have, would have been If only they had just...no need for the chagrin And in the darkest hour when all was thought to be for naught They saw on the horizon line the home for which they had sought And all the specters finally went away To rest on other furrowed brows and turn those skies to shades of grey You had me lost in your eyes... Where I believed you were the light... You had me wrapped in your arms... But now I see you were the dark...

I'm stargazing, but there has to be more this Coalescence of elements meeting at these coordinates Contorting into consciousnesses, consistently distorted On this sphere of azure seas, how many times it's orbited The light, although golden rays dispel the darkness My vision's still too blurry to actually hit the target You see I'm just human, cursed, confounded and such And well, it seems all my illusions are soon to be crushed Now I'm floating adrift this astral abyss Looking for an atmosphere to call my own I mean I'm searching for a satellite to call my home But damn, it looks like I done lost my phone And I thought I was a Libra, but what the fuck is balance Not falling off the edge of the planet's my biggest challenge Sorry Pluto, you used to be part of the crew But you were just too cold and distant, now your friendships are through I sit back, taking shots at the stars I wonder why I can't reach that far (and I tried so damn hard) It seems that gravity's not my enemy The only thing that was ever holding me back was me I sit back, taking shots at the stars I wonder why I can't reach that far (feels like I'm behind bars) I see that golden glow, over the horizon Realizing his foes are the black holes inside him I'm an orator, coordinating tongues and lore Explorer of lost corridors, who questions what his quest is for Why do I endure this game of philosophic tug-of-war A mental masochist, mon amor le saboteur Pardon my french, maybe words really just aren't my thing Stumbles through the multiverse, this brook just won't stop babbling But even if they're worthless, they bring tears to my eye Maybe I can find some meaning in the dots in the sky As I gaze upon the sable canvas dotted with light I see a maiden, wrapped in gowns of silk, so pure and so white A cosmic goddess, other constellations couldn't compare To the heavenly embodiment of feminine flare I couldn't help but to stare, what can I say Fantasies between your knees, swimming through your Milky Way Dreams of touching her hair, caressing her breast But couldn't bring myself to let these dirty paws tarnish her dress No I'm not fool enough to think she was a virgin But her brilliance was so great, I simply felt undeserving One night perhaps these star-crossed lovers will meet again Until then, I can only speak of love through my pen I sit back, taking shots at the stars I wonder why I can't reach that far (and I tried so damn hard) It seems that gravity's not my enemy The only thing that was ever holding me back was me I sit back, taking shots at the stars I wonder why I can't reach that far (feels like I'm behind bars) I see that golden glow, over the horizon Realizing his foes are the black holes inside him Polaris please, Polaris please, tell me why you lied to me Pouring out my heart until there's nothing left inside of me Paranoid, I don't even trust Myself to confide in Me Losing all the care and respect of those who relied on me Wait, maybe that's what I had yet to learn Focus on my goals, regardless of how the tables turn Yearning to be praised for luminosity Such feats can't be attained with astrology, astronomy I quit sitting back, decided it's time to take a stand A wanderer whose wondering what wonders lie beneath these sands Is buried treasure hiding under the dunes Or is it merely a sarcophagus, my fantasy's tomb I quit sitting back, decided I don't have time to wait The embers in the sky have no right to decide my fate So I'll forgo all of those wishes upon stars And no, there won't be any shootings tomorrow

Now he bits farewell to these demons that bound him in Hell Broke their chains, their arcane illusions, dispelled Every corridor has been explored in his memory's hallways A Freudian, destroyer of the status-quo you all praise Now there's nothing but photo frames upon the empty walls The pictures have been burned by Serj's system, watch the ashes fall A chemical transformation has taken place You can see the inspiration etched clearly upon his face But most notable is the look inside the windows to his soul A gaze that swallows citizens whole He feasts upon the fallen, deceased are all that fought him A god or beast? Historians still aren't sure what to call him But one thing's certain, there will never be another he For he is that which all the other peasantry aspire to be So let them have their dreams; hold on to their fairy tales Upon whose splendid wings shall their hopes soar as vicious gales Grieving, motherfuckers calling him a demon Heathens have no right to question paths they be leaving Believes in himself, not the ones that would deceive him Even the gods can't escape the weight of these sins Now he is rid of the marrow he has been hiding Everyone has their own, so its existence ain't surprising His house is haunted by ghosts of Christmases past But the power of Christ compels him to exorcise them at last These sacred yarns he weaves are his reprieve from tyranny Oh finally, lord, can it be that he's free of society? For they abandoned he who sought to change the current state of mind So damned are those who did oppose, labeled this kid asinine Don't let his looks fool you Behind that pretty smile there lies a psyche equipped and primed to rule you His every move by design, no moment wasted Each moment is a component of the architect's arrangement So now he buries these bones deep So archaeologists may one day awaken them from their sleep For all the world to see, we need these stories Of misery, triumph, pain, elation, defeat and glory Grieving, motherfuckers calling him a demon Heathens have no right to question paths they be leaving Believes in himself, not the ones that would deceive him Even the gods can't escape the weight of these sins

Trying to harness the power of fusion Lost, in the darkness, a cavern of ruins This civilization got its ass whooped by Father Time Once a proud race, hung out to dry, on-line Fuck a grapevine I heard it through an entanglement of ambiguous statements written on Facebook A land where everyone knows how your face looks But can't be bothered to find the beauty hidden beneath your skin And I'm sure it's magnificent The splendor of which cannot be gleamed through the screen of the internet I never felt so disconnected By a medium designed to help the population reconnect Is that your status? Or an ad? Might I add that my status is I'm mad Life has become a fucking fad Sometimes it makes me sit and laugh Perhaps the power of stars isn't meant to be had This is The Story of a man This is a story of The Man This is just a story of a man It's The Story of Man Before you stands a twisted man Face scorched by the desert Sun, banished from his homeland A castaway, who casts a haggard shadow on the planet's crust Whose mettle has been bested, beaten, burned and turned to rust But his flesh has not yet turned to dust So travel, ever forward, yes he will, he can, he shall, he must To satiate desires far greater than lust Though he alienates those who would have taught him trust He peers into an everlasting night Realizing that the darkness has no form without the loving light That although chaos seems to be the victor in this tug-of-war If it were to claim victory, there would be no struggle anymore And there could be no sadder prescription No, there couldn't be a sicker condition Without the struggle, there would be no need for him at all And all would turn to ashes, as the axis cracks, breaks and falls This is The Story of a man This is a story of The Man This is just a story of a man It's The Story of Man Ok now sir, I must contest the propositions you've proposed That's fair my honored citizen, it's right to question quotes, oppose The precepts postulated, even those proposed by princes be The words of but a man, no robes can hide the fact he's still a beast Now he's stuck here in the middle, east of sanity An acrobat, attempting to find balance here atop this beam Of light, and if his steps don't deter from the scheme Written by numerals, they'll never know if his hopes were but a dream But he thinks he's heard this fantasy Once uttered by a man who feared his child's fate would have to be Divined by virtue of the fact their pheno-typed on DNA Five letters to decide their place, B-L-A-C-K Has tainted his perception Misdirection, coalesced into ineffable glimpses of Heaven But now I stand here with my brethren Hoping to be the one the dealer deals triple sevens This is The Story of a man This is a story of The Man This is just a story of a man It's The Story of Man

And so I of the Sun prepares to meet his maker, at the end of a long harsh road... As he takes his final breath, this is what he thinks... So this is it, the final move, my last mistake A metal slug penetrates my engine's armor plate The gas is leaking, as my frame goes numb and breath escapes In only seconds, watch the lifetime of this dying ape Question the path I take, was it worth it A life left unexamined is said to lack any purpose But who determines if the things we do are right or not The author of this fable didn't tell me of his twisted plot Lying on writer's block, my pen is barren Only moments left until my flesh is food for the carrions No fear of Death, I only fear that I wasted my chance But can't say Life's a bitch, at times I did enjoy the dance I guess that's how it goes, oops, there goes my dome As bullets break the most advanced machinery ever known Oh, if there is a diety watching this fallen beast Prepare my place in Hell, this Spartan is prepared to feast

And so he buries those skeletons... Beneath the sands of the Western Desert... Where the ancient pharaohs lay dormant... And where they shall rest for years to come... Dreaming of the azure skies above... Hoping for a chance at recognition... Longing to be heard by wanting ears... Nestling, gently between two temples...

Looking from the summit of Olympus Down at the surface of a planet full of misfits (huh) I am just another silly insect Wrapped in a jacket made of flesh, where the soul's kept (the soul) Descended from a long line of slaves Fear, thirst and lust; our shackles and chains (damn) Wondering what could be the meaning of this Why are we fiending for a reason just to breed and exist (who knows) It seems like a damn shame So much potential locked down in our membranes (I know that's right) Still there's so much drama in the universe Trying to see this life as a gift, but I'm feeling cursed What's worse, there's no communicating This feeling that I'm feeling, which I'm fearing is the touch of Satan (brrr) So cold, makes my soul cry That's why you spy these tears falling from my... I, the master of a thousand states of mind I, the magnum opus of immaculate design I, descended from the fire in the sky Whom all the gods defy, there's none greater than I Ok, the first verse was a little depressing But I'm stressing that I'm really not progressing Wrestling with ideas, like I'm just wasting time I mean, I spent so many years on this mountain climb But still I don't know If the path I'm on leads to the place that I need to go Hazarding guesses in the shadow of the Valley of Death My destination, the lost tomb of Imhotep Still haven't found it yet As my feet bring me closer to my grave with every step Every breath is harsh and painful Maintaining so the belly of the beast remains full What's it all for, who's to blame For the confusion, illusions of grandeur and gain Don't know why we all comply It seems to be insanity with a capital... I, the master of a thousand states of mind I, the magnum opus of immaculate design I, descended from the fire in the sky Whom all the gods defy, there's none greater than I Now I'm far from an idealist But these circumstances can't be that hard to deal with Filled with desires passed down through the ages Carved into stone, scratched down onto pages Nary a word about wages, God Trying to break even, but it feels so odd Is there really nothing greater than this Or is it silly such a question doesn't cease and desist Just look at the landscape Can't take your eyes off the things that man makes Damn apes, raised from obscurity Trapped in reality, saved by immaturity What dreams may come from the ones That fought the caves depths to bathe in the golden Sun So even when the gods try to defy Their wrath will not match the math of one such as... I, the master of a thousand states of mind I, the magnum opus of immaculate design I, descended from the fire in the sky Whom all the gods defy, there's none greater than I