Rain slicks the chrome feed reels
Your fingers find the sprocket holes
Carbon arc burns clean
Carbon arc burns clean
You thread the leader through the gate teeth
Halogen gasps in the projector chest
Silver nitrate blooms on wet concrete
A holy ghost in polyester vest
[Pre-
The bulb screams white against the midnight oil
Your choir breath steadies the trembling spool
Hymnals crack like static on the coil
Altos rise above the cathedral rule
Carbon arc cuts the alley dark
Frame by frame you stitch the spark
No confession booth no priest no mark
Just light and shadow strict and stark
Reel two jumps a splice you missed last week
The actress blinks in monochrome rain
Her dialogue dissolves too faint to speak
You mouth the words like prayer refrain
[Pre-
The bulb screams white against the midnight oil
Your choir breath steadies the trembling spool
Hymnals crack like static on the coil
Altos rise above the cathedral rule
Carbon arc cuts the alley dark
Frame by frame you stitch the spark
No confession booth no priest no mark
Just light and shadow strict and stark
The xenon gods demand their tithe of dust
You feed them celluloid and compromised trust
No halo forms above the projector head
Just static hiss where angels fear to tread
Yeah cut the gate
Yeah cut the gate
Carbon arc cuts the alley dark
Frame by frame you stitch the spark
No confession booth no priest no mark
Just light and shadow strict and stark
The take-up reel spins empty now
Carbon arc bows to dawn somehow
