| Listen to the tale I tell
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| A haunting dream I know so well
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| When walking home alone one night
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| My path revealed by candlelight
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| Ahead I see an open door
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| With no idea what’s in store
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| I glance inside the door to see
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| A hall of mirrors beckons me
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| I take a breath and step inside
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| A tale of love and shattered pride
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| The door slams shut, I start to run
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| And it seems my journey has begun…
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| I run and turn from side to side
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| With fear and panic in my eyes
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| The vastness overwhelming me
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| Mirrors far as the eye can see
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| I see myself in every one
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| I see the things that I have done
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| A thousand forms of flattery
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| The fear soon turns to haughtiness in me
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| Different mirrors, different shapes
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| My different strengths accentuate
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| Each mirror has a name and face
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| And all reflect me in some way
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| I look at them to see myself
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| To judge my life by someone else
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| The metaphors within replete:
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| The mirrors are the people that I met
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| Look at the man you see — in the mirrors
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| The things you can be — in the mirrors
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| The glory of me revealed in the mirror’s eye
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| The mirror never lies
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| The fire in my eyes — in the mirrors
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| The vanity rise — in the mirrors
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| The power of pride comes alive in the mirrors
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| Gazing in the mirrors I behold
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| All the greatest chapters of my story ever told
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| In the mirrors
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| The world is turned to gold
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| At the end of the Hall of Mirrors
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| I behold a golden door
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| I imagine all the beauty
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| The other side must hold in store
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| So I quickly reach out my hand
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| To enter the next room in this promised land
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| I pull the giant door open
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| To continue my journey, I step inside
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| But it slams shut behind me, and I’m back outside
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| The pouring rain welcomes me
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| Into the arms of the coldest, blackest night
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| The light of the mirrors has faded away
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| Into distant memory
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| As the rain keeps coming down
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| My candle extinguished
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| I struggle to walk a path I cannot see
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| And the rain keeps coming down
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| The darkness grows with every step
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| I could cut it with a knife
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| As the rain keeps coming down
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| I can’t see a thing and I’ve never felt
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| So alone in all my life
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| But the rain keeps coming down…
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| Caught in the fury of the storm
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| (The darkness suffocates)
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| Body and soul weary and worn
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| (Another twist of fate)
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| Never been so afraid before
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| (The ending of this tale?)
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| Never should have opened the door
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| (From euphoria to hell)
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| I question my fate, my end
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| To die in this storm
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| Maybe this was the plan
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| Back from the day I was born
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| But in the hall of mirrors I had felt so high
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| I cannot walk another mile in this flood
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| So resigned to my fate, I just collapse in the mud
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| If I cannot go on, I’ll just lay down and die
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| Suddenly a light I see, shining in the distance
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| I make my way toward it with my fading hope reborn
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| As I draw near, the light is clear
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| Though the rain beats its resistance
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| But I press on and pray this is a shelter from the storm
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| Advancing now toward the light
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| I’m quickly moving forward
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| This hope has given me new strength
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| I thought I’d never know
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| But I take a step, and fall right back
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| For the ground’s gone beneath me
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| And I behold, illuminated in the light’s warm glow
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| A dark chasm, a great abyss
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| A vast expanse of nothingness
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| A pit that has no bottom as far as the eye can see
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| It spans the whole horizon, and there is no way across
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| My lonely heart is shattered and all hope I had is lost
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| I’m startled to feel a hand on my shoulder
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| I turn to see a shadowed figure standing in the rain
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| But somehow I’m not afraid of him
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| Even when he speaks my name
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| And somehow I can tell that he means me no harm
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| Just by the peace that I see in his eyes
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| And even though I’ve never even seen him before
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| It’s like he’s known me all my life
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| «Why are you crying?» |
| the stranger asks
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| As I wipe away the tears
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| I point toward the great abyss
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| The source of all my fears
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| «I must get across and get to that light
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| For it represents my only hope tonight
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| But when I saw the chasm, all that hope was lost
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| I’ve spent so long in the dark and the rain
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| That the sight of the light made my heart sing again
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| But the gulf’s so wide, and there’s no way across»
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| The stranger smiled, and took my hand
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| He said, «But you are wrong, my friend |
| You cannot cross the gulf yourself, that’s true»
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| He led me down toward the edge
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| And pointed just over the ledge
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| And said, «Behold, I built a bridge for you»
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| I cross the bridge toward the light
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| The stranger saved my life tonight
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| I turn to try to thank him, but he’s gone
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| A long way to the other side
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| I’ll make my way without my guide
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| No time to waste, for I must carry on
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| The bright light shines forth from behind
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| A door beyond description
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| Blood and scratches mark the door from ages of abuse
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| I’m confused no more, for above the door
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| Is a weathered, old inscription
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| «All who would see reality, enter the Hall of Truth»
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| And so I do
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| As I step inside
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| I can see another mirror
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| A mirror so bright
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| That my eyes must turn away
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| A mirror so high
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| I start to question all the others
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| And as I stand there in the Hall of Truth
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| My heart can only say:
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| «Show me the truth, I don’t know what to believe
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| For the mirrors all showed something different to me
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| And my pride has given way to misery
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| I’ve spent so long in the dark and the rain
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| That the sight of the light made my heart sing again
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| And the stranger built a bridge across for me»
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| «BEHOLD THYSELF» a voice rings out
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| In paralyzing thunder
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| It echoes all throughout the hall
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| And sends me to my knees
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| When the voice calls my name
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| I’m overcome with fear and wonder
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| As I slowly start to rise
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| And face the great mirror in front of me
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| When I open my eyes, I have to close them again
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| But still the image is burned into my mind…
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| A face with eyes as black as night
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| A terrifying sight
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| The flesh rotting away in sickness and decay
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| It’s mangled by disease
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| I’m unable to breathe
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| Tell me what manner of creature this could be
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| 'Cause it’s not me
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| I run away as fast as my feet will carry me
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| Back to the door leading into the night
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| Even the storm that almost claimed my life
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| Was better than this
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| And so I throw open the door and see a man
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| (The figure of a man)
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| The stranger from the storm returns again
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| (To save me once again?)
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| I see understanding in his eyes
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| (He's seen this all before)
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| Maybe he can tell me what I saw behind that door
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| «Tell me what I saw in the mirror
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| Before I ran away
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| Tell me what I saw in the mirror
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| That face of sickness and decay
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| Tell me what I saw in the mirror
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| That left me terrorized
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| With the lifeless, blackened eyes?
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| Was it a demon
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| From the fiery waves?
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| Was it the undead
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| From beyond the grave?
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| Oh the face that I beheld in the mirror
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| Left me paralyzed
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| Won’t you tell me what I saw
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| In the mirror on this night?»
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| «The light from the mirror you saw from afar
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| The Mirror of Souls shows all men as they are
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| You entered the hall and you asked for the truth
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| The man that you saw in the mirror was you»
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| «No! |
| Don’t show me the truth
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| 'cause I don’t want to believe
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| What the Mirror of Souls
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| Has revealed unto me
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| And the face I saw reflected cannot be me
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| Dying and lost in the arms of decay
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| I do not recognize the face I’ve seen today
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| And if you say that’s my face I must disagree»
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| The meaning of these things I saw:
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| The mirror is the holy eyes of God
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| The truth unveiled before me
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| With these words of the stranger:
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| «The mirrors you saw in the hall long ago
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| Were mirrors of lies, not reflecting the soul
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| When you look unto others to see what they see
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| You see an illusion, deception, false reality»
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| I have seen my soul in the mirror
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| And it has broken me
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| I have seen myself so much clearer
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| Than I had ever seen
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| «Can't you take away all this sickness
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| From my soul and set me free?
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| You can save me… I believe»
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| And then he said, «Arise, my child
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| Your faith has made you reconciled
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| Now gaze into the Mirror once again»
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| We walked together through the door
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| And I looked in the glass once more
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| But the only one reflected back was him
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| Somehow the only one in the mirror saw was him
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| Gazing in the Mirror of my Soul
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| Staring at the man who took my place
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| And made me whole
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| In the Mirror
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| The Mirror of my Soul |