The Ballad of Dr. Jekyll

[Verse 1]
Is it worth all the ringing?
Is it worth all the pain?
Is it worth the pretending, the fear, the disdain?
Is it worth the shift in countenance just to live how I'd like?
Is it worth the split in conscience just to sate what's inside?
Is it really still working, this thin, weak facade?
Can I really still maintain my emotional guard?

[Verse 2]
My costume is tearing
My patience is wearing
My ears begin to bleed as I feel the monster staring
And the fear contorts ‘to anger as I begin to see red
And the anger grows remorseful as I return, retiring to bed
This sad, seeping tragedy inside my head

[Verse 3]
And there's so much to see here, so much more to do
Yet I can't help but relinquish control off to you
Perhaps our God in Heaven, thought to be kind and just
Isn't quite as forgiving as we once thought he was
This vile ebullition of liquor, tincture and salt
Seems to be my seldom let from this hellish assault

[Verse 4]
You sit there and tempt me
Overgrowing with envy
Like a jealous, callous moss, determined to drain me till I'm empty
And I know I shouldn't feed you
But somehow I feel the need to
Like a deviant or a drunkard condemned by oaths they cannot see through
And lo, here I stand, half a man

[Chorus]
So if you can, please take this phial from my hand
Before I change my mind and let the freak upon this land
I've tried this before, to keep a lock upon this door
But every night I sleep myself, I awake as him once more

[Verse 5]
I've lied and I've bargained
To keep these shackles hardened
But the creature lain in wait will never cease his barrage
And I've begun to grow short in both temperance and stores since
My salt I so rely on seems to be tainted and impure
So I laugh at the irony
And I know there's one single, lonesome cure

[Outro]
But if it takes Mr. Hyde with me
Then I'm glad to hang