The screaming void deep inside makes us who we are.
We build a wall around the wounds and let no one get through.
Who are we but slaves to the pain? The void cries out, it's hungry again.
We sacrifice and pay the price and hope it all goes away.

The pleasure, oh the rapture, as we escape out earthly chains.
Fleeting moments but not forgotten, they make life worth living
as we taste out dreams.

Love is a knife thrust into the heart of a child.
Innocence is torn away, enthralled by love we must obey.
Love is a drug and we are addicts, quivering, powerless, aching for more;
and as it slowly turns to gray we beg and plead, "Don't go away."

The pleasure, oh the rapture, as what was lost is now restored.
But it never lasts forever, so as it fades away we invite the pain.

Without pain there would be no religion.
Without pain there would be no gods.
Why would anyone believe in heaven
if they could not feel the fires of hell?
In the beginning God said, "Let there be suffering!"
and planted seeds of desire and shame.
One bite and we were cast out of paradise,
wracked with guilt and forever enslaved.

God is pain! Punishing all your sins.
God is pain! Tearing a hole in your heart.
God is pain! Demanding obedience.
God is pain! Making you scream his name.

Face down and begging forgiveness,
surrendering your precious essence,
when all at once the pain is lifted
as your god injects your holy fix.

Oh, how you love it so, so devout and pious.
Oh, how you need it so, and oh how I laugh at you.

God, pleasure, and pain are just chemicals in your brain.
You're a victim of the game, but the priests are not the only players.

Why would our leaders want to make things better?
We need them more when the world goes to hell.
Solving our problems is a conflict of interest,
so they do nothing or cause them themselves
and we scream, "Give me liberty or give me death!"
but they take both and still lust for more.
With each crisis they usurp more power
and blame each other as they bleed dry the well.

God is pain! Abusing authority.
God is pain! Tearing a hole in your trust.
God is pain! Demanding obedience.
God is pain! Making you consent to their rule.

Caught up in the endless struggle
against the idiots on the other side.
You must win or rather they must lose,
as the lesser of evils takes the prize.

Oh, how you love it so, so noble and patriotic.
Oh, how you need it so, and oh how I laugh at you.

They'll tell you they can ease your pain
and someone else is who's to blame,
and you'll believe their every lie
'cause the words make everything alright.

Everyone around the world
feels the same and wants deliverance.
On their knees they lift their voices,
crying out the holy chorus...

Tell me what I want to hear.
Tell me what I need to hear.
Tell me that it will be alright
and I will gladly obey.

God is pain! Open your eyes.
God is pain! See through the lies.
God is pain! You know in your heart that...
God is pain! So stand up and face the pain.

No! Tell me what I want to hear.
Tell me what I need to hear.
Tell me that it will be alright
and I was right all along.

I only hear what I want to hear.
I only know what I need to know.
And I believe that it will be alright
if I just have faith in a lie.

In the mind a shining lie is stronger than the deepest truth.
Drive it home with fear and pain and you'll create a willing slave.
This I did to those freedom fighters, at least the ones who I'd left alive,
and we became a sword of vengeance thrusting into the heart of God.

You are insane! God is immortal.
And you and your thugs did no harm to Him.

Your imaginary god is not but a book of lies,
a throng of fanatics, and a brainwashed horde.
No, the god that you really worship is the god of raw power,
power over the state,
power over the law,
power to force the world to obey your will.
That is the god that you and I built and which you now control,
but I was once a part of that machine,
and I know every one of its secrets,
and that's how I know that your almighty god can die.