The Siege

It's day forty-eight of what you call the siege
You've been scrabbling at my gate, but it's high and hard to reach
All my watchmen are alert, they know they cannot flee
They're silent like the city, now it never sleeps

But what's your game? Heaven knows
Hell, you think your light will grow
If you squeeze it out of me, like my destruction is your dream
So you think I'll tire out, if I bruise, and break, and bleed
I'll give up, you'll wear me down, I'll call the casualty
But no such luck, babe (mmm)

If this was all it takes, years ago, I'd have left this town
If I was gonna break, by God, I'd have donе it by now
But I don't break, I bend (I don't break, I-)
And what I lovе, I will defend
You'll see it at the end

Where I grew up, words were bullets that were firin' every day
I'd watch 'em from my turret, enduring all the strays
Some of the shit that I've been through, I can't bring myself to say
In polite company, it's too twisted for the page

You don't know the half of paths through fuckin' Hell I've had to pave
You don't know the half of scars that seared and sculpted me this way
What you see is that I bear it with a smile on my face
So you're crazy if you think that you're the reason I will change

'Cause you're not the first to see my kingdom, and then say it's yours to take
To strip me of my title, and then throw me in a cage
You stole my echo and my Eden, and then turned my mind a maze
But I was forged a phoenix, always rising from the grave
Yeah, you fucked up, babe

If this was all it takes, years ago, I'd have left this town
(I'd have left this town)
If I was gonna break, by God, I'd have done it by now
(I'd be broken down)
But I don't break, I bend
(I don't break, I bend)
And what I love, I will defend
You'll see it at the end

And it's not a siege to me, when there's a battle every day
Spent a quarter century quiet, sitting on this rage
So no white flag's gonna wave, and no battlements will break
And no cavalry will cave, I'd rather set the city all ablaze
You don't know what I can take

It's day forty-nine of what you call the siege
But all I have is time to wait for your retreat