I hear the drums in the distance,
Hills carry the hollow sound,
With fatal persistence,
In it's embrace I drowned,
Beating at my soul,

And this is what it said,
Death is for the living,
Life is for the dead,
These words, unforgiving,
Did fill me with dread,

To the ivory lands did I flee,
For from the watcher I ran,
'Till their city I came to see,
At it's heart I did meet a man,
He told me to hear his word,

And this is what he said,
Death is for the living,
Life is for the dead,
These words, unforgiving,
Did fill me with dread,

To the people I went,
Seeking to refute this revelation,
On this sole task was I bent,
From the ivory men was a declaration,
It bore truths I could not bear,

And this is what they said,
Death is for the living,
Life is for the dead.