There and Back Again
lyrics by Bob Faulkner 
music by Rick Faulkner, Bob Faulkner, Ryan Judkins, and John Ward

(start on last measure of intro)
An epic quest begins,
Through the dark corners of the mind.
A mental journey sublime,
I'm going there and back again..

(harmony breakdown) 

Bathed in a chemical tide,
My mind, torn and deformed.
Pleasure hurricanes fall,
on the shores of my twisted thoughts.

Explosions of silence ring,
Eyes melt and then reform,
Ideas race and then stall,
Liberation of my mind.

The clouds overhead they menace,
Their silver halo piercing me,
Shadows conspire to hunt,
They prey on all I see.

[Chorus]
(start on 4th measure of break down)
On a quest to explore my mind,
I seek the source of reality,
To know the heart of primal men,
I've been there and back again.

I wander to the edge of sanity,
Abject terror makes me grin,
Alone in a cloud of mystery,
I've been there and back again.

Hectic calm disrupts my thoughts,
Crashing silence shocks my skin,
Surrounded by black serpent knights,
(have the words back a-gain fall on the last 3 accented notes)
I long to go there and back again.

[End chorus]
(start straight out of chorus)
Pulsing through every vein.
Thought falling like rain,
Can't sit still, 
so afraid to move.

Birth of my mind's eye, 
To an unknown plane,
Existance in question,
I think I am insane.

(1 line every other measure)


Impressions of life lost,
Wrath of death's cold grin.
Terrified of understanding,
How fragile we are within.


(skip 4 measures)

Reason, lost on me,
Instinct, says to flee,
Passion, leads astray,
Senses, flow away.

Perception, sharp as a knife,
Emotion, locked in strife,
Pleasure, drowned in pain,
Life, in the fast lane 

The trees, they turn to smoke,
The night, now clear to see,
Sounds wash before my eyes.
The moon, it laughs at me.

Where, is all this from,
Is life, a negative sum?
Insight, is the gain. 
I know, I am insane.


[solo]

[harmonic melody]

(3rd bar of section between harmonic melodies)

The epic quest now ends,
Altered planes rescind,
Mind open wide right now,
Don't question why or how.

Life's lessons learned,
Knowledge, for I once yearned,
Pleasure, pain and sin,
Going there and back again.

[harmonic melody]

[end song]