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Lyrics for Chosen as interpreted by PraiseTheFallen

Chosen Lyrics

Order is shattered in a strange gutteral tone resounded along the walls of the houses, which seemed dead and deserted, while, behind the closed shutters, eyes watched the conquerers, who, by right of war, were now masters of the city - of the lives and fortunes of its people.

In their darkened ruins the inhabitants have given way to the same feeling of panic which is aroused by natural cataclysms. Those devestating upheavals of the Earth, against which wisdom and strength alike are of no avail.

For the same feeling is experienced wherever the established order of things is upset, when security ceases to exist, when all that was previously protected by the laws of man or nature is suddenly placed at the mercy of brutal, unreasoning force:

The earthquake, burying a whole people beneath the ruins of their houses; the river in spate, sweeping the bodies of drowned peasants, together with the carcasses of cattle and rafters torn from roofs; or the victorious army slaughtering all who resist, making prisoners of the rest, looting by right of the sword, and thanking their god to the sound of cannon.

All these are terrifying scourges which undermine all our belief in eternal justice and all the trust we have been tought to place in divine protection and human reason.

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Vehementi
09-07-2002

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This song is actually an excerpt from the short story Boule de Suif, by Guy de Maupassant. The excerpt is as follows:

"Orders shouted in an unknown, guttural tongue rose to the windows of the seemingly dead, deserted houses; while behind the fast-closed shutters eager eyes peered forth at the victors-masters now of the city, its fortunes, and its lives, by "right of war." The inhabitants, in their darkened rooms, were possessed by that terror which follows in the wake of cataclysms, of deadly upheavals of the earth, against which all human skill and strength are vain. For the same thing happens whenever the established order of things is upset, when security no longer exists, when all those rights usually protected by the law of man or of Nature are at the mercy of unreasoning, savage force. The earthquake crushing a whole nation under falling roofs; the flood let loose, and engulfing in its swirling depths the corpses of drowned peasants, along with dead oxen and beams torn from shattered houses; or the army, covered with glory, murdering those who defend themselves, making prisoners of the rest, pillaging in the name of the Sword, and giving thanks to God to the thunder of cannon--all these are appalling scourges, which destroy all belief in eternal justice, all that confidence we have been taught to feel in the protection of Heaven and the reason of man."