You might need to get comfy and grab a drink! It's long, which won't be to everyone's taste.
All music and lyrics by me, all instruments by me... except the lead guitar from 21:22 until the end, which was by my friend Graham McLeod. Here's some background on the song, since you're going to be sitting here for 24 minutes if you decide to listen to it...
In 1992, as one of the principal songwriters for Fury, I wrote a song called Rhone. The song was a snapshot of his time as a killer over a two-year period. I then wrote another song in 1999 as a "what if?" where he'd be found not guilty, would go back to killing, but his first victim killed him and got a taste for it, and took over to continue his work.
But I always wanted to tell the full story. I wanted people to know the origins of the character I created, what pushed him to the point of his first kill, and his journey until the end of his spree. So, three months ago, I sat down to start writing what would ultimately be the entire side of a 12" LP to tell his story. I worked on it a little bit at a time most weekends over a three-month period and, as it's now finally finished, I wanted to share it with you all.
I'm including the lyrics here, as well as transcripts of the various new reports peppered throughout the track, so it'll be easier to follow.
THE HEART OF MADNESS
*** i. Overture
*** ii. Breaking Point (02:43)
Another birthday,
another day locked in this empty room
And outside, mommy uses.
Another visitor
another one who wants what she won't do
And fists, if she refuses.
On the edge of hope,
the boy begins to lean.
He finds a way to cope
with things that he has seen.
Deep within the void
a childhood fades away.
The boy deprived of toys
finds other ways to play.
Another beating
another lesson failed to understand
and mommy stands in silence.
And while they're sleeping
the sharpened steel feels warm within his hands
and so began the violence
*** iii. Confrontation (05:11)
You're not welcome here
stay away from us all
Your mentality
isn't meant for this world
Your drawings are twisted
Your words have a bite
Those ungodly whimpers in the dead of night
You show no expression
Your eyes have no fire
Those torturous heathens that you admire
You're my darkest sin
and I'll forever pay
The surviving twin
You sucked his life away
Get away from me
Put it down I swear
I will never lock
you away again
He's done nothing wrong
Please I beg of you
Call for help and I
Swear I'll never hurt you again
Look what you have done
They will come for you
I will not protect
you, my bastard son
They will know it's you
If you kill me too
I can feel my life slipping away..
*** iv. De morte matris (06:43)
Mother, can you hear me
there's light still in your eyes
Together, we will both be free
No longer trapped inside.
The basement was my prison,
and yours this mortal coil
Your home for all eternity
the confines of the soil
As I reach down to feel your skin
I feel a presence from within
a coldness building up inside
a pain from which I cannot hide
Your memories will fade
Once my mind takes control
They'll never find your body
and I never found your soul
[SOLO: G Mcleod 08:11]
[SOLO: M Reid 08:38]
*** v. The Struggle Within (09:16)
[Instrumental]
MALE: "In a shocking turn, police who were called to what appeared to be an abandoned home, discovered the body of an adult male, presumed to be in his forties, who they believe had lain undiscovered for more than six years. The owner of the house and her young son were nowhere to be found."
FEMALE: "The FBI have today confirmed that the body of Serena Rhone, owner of the property on Lakeside Park where the remains of a man were found, has been discovered in a nearby woodland. They believe they were killed around the same time. The search for her son, Albert, continues."
MALE: "It is indeed a sad day for all concerned, and I know that the people of Lakeside will never be the same."
*** vi. The Struggle Without (11:17)
I read today they'd found your body.
They still don't know if I'm alive.
They're digging up the woods around you.
They hope the little boy survived.
I didn't mean to kill you, mother.
I only wanted to give you pain.
But when I saw you on the front page.
I longed to do it all again.
I tried to stop the bleeding
But then I saw the feeling in your eyes
I should have tried to help you
But I was paralysed.
I need to find someone who'll love me.
Someone who'll show how much they care.
They'll pull me in and wrap around me.
And gently soothe and stroke my hair.
The years I spent alone in silence
my childhood cruelly ripped away
I never asked to be the one who lived
And still you hated anyway.
And now I have the feelings
from seeing you again
The sadness grows inside me
and I know how it can end.
*** vii. Serena (14:44)
You look a lot like her
You wear your hair the same
I bet you smell like her
I long for your embrace
I know that, given time
If I could save your life
You'd learn to love this boy
And I could feel alive
I hear you beneath me
Crying out in vain
I'll be your saviour
And I'll feel love again
Why did you leave me?
Why did you give me pain?
I'd started feeling
But you ripped that away
[GUIT SOLO: M Reid 16:16]
[KEYS SOLO: M Reid 16:32]
*** viii. If At First (16:17)
FEMALE: "Reports are coming in of yet another missing woman around the Lakeside Park area, the fifth in as many weeks, all matching the same description of shoulder-length blonde hair. Authorities believe these women may have been taken by the same person and are encouraging women in the area to exercise extreme caution."
*** ix.A Stab in the Dark (17:31)
[Instrumental]
And as the light streams through the basement cracks
There's nothing where you used to be
Your scent still masks that of the others
And so you can't be far from here
I look for movement in the shadows
But there's only stillness all around
When suddenly, a burning in my neck
and I fall to the ground
FEMALE: "In a startling turn, police have taken a twenty-year-old man into custody for the abduction of the missing women in the Lakeside Park area. The incident is believed to have been called in by his latest victim, who was able to free herself and take down her kidnapper. It is not yet known what happened to the others, or how many."
MALE: "And, of course, the biggest story of the day is that Albert Rhone, believed to be responsible for the missing Lakeside women, has now been charged for a total of twenty-four counts of murder. Forensic experts also believe that he is responsible for the death of his mother, Serena, nine years ago, as well as her lover."
*** x. The Struggle Ends (19:55)
I like how this is feeling
A warmth flows through me now
This gentle heat is melting
The ice around my heart
A light above is calling
I hear your voice within
No longer in the darkness
I'm seeing you again
And standing there beside you
The other part of me
Your hands stretched out towards me
Together, we are free
[SOLO to fade G. Mcleod]
MALE: "Lakeside Police Department have today issued a statement wherein Albert Rhone, the twenty-year-old local boy who had been missing and feared dead since age eleven, has not only confessed to the brutal murder of twenty-four women but also the intentional death of his mother's lover. However, Rhone maintains that the death of his mother was accidental."
PSYCHOLOGIST:
"Were you aware of what you were doing?"
ALBERT:
"Um, yes."
PSYCHOLOGIST:
"Was it your intention to kill these women?"
ALBERT:
"I never meant to kill them. I meant to save them."
PSYCHOLOGIST:
"Why did you kill your mother?"
ALBERT:
"I didn't mean to kill her. It just... it happened."
PSYCHOLOGIST:
"And her lover? Why'd you kill her lover."
ALBERT:
"He was bad. All of them. They were all bad. ALL bad. He deserved to die."
PSYCHOLOGIST:
"And the women? Did they deserve to die?"
ALBERT:<br>
"They didn't deserve to die. That was never my intention. It just... I mean... I'm sorry."more