THE PRICE

Gerry our singer was always so driven
For fame and success his soul would have given
This we all knew, his desire you could smell it
But none of us thought that you really could sell it
Every step of our way was posted with warnings
But most of died before there was dawning
And now what is lost we can never retrieve it
And simply because we refused to believe it

Between gigs and groupies and the things you're expecting
Gerry our singer had started collecting
Weird-looking books from these weird-looking hippies
He'd check out old bookstores in all of the cities
Half the tour bus became a dark dusty library
As Gerry pursued his tireless enquiry
Until one late October without explanation
He suddenly let out a strange exclamation

Facere tenebris pact!! He yelled very loudly
And then he just got of the bus marching proudly
"Where are you going?!" yelled our drummer all indignant
"I'll be back for the gig!" he replied all indifferent
And, sure enough, with just seconds to spare
Gerry appeared like a ghost from nowhere
"Where have you been?!" I asked with annoyance
"The Crossroads!" he said with an odd tone of buoyance

"What crossroads where?" I shouted bemused
But Gerry just took to the stage all enthused
And no one who was there will ever forget
How we barnstormed our way through our hard-rockin' set
Gerry had sang like a madman on fire
The joy and excitement grew higher and higher
Every single fan of the band who had been
Proclaimed it the best gig that they'd ever seen

We could hardly believe just what we'd delivered
But a look in Gerry's strange eyes made me shiver
It was if something wholesome inside him had died
Now something malevolent looked out through his eyes
But no others noticed, too high on elation
We had suddenly become a rock-world sensation
The word quickly got out and every ticket was selling
Fans followed us everywhere screaming and yelling

We became the greatest rock band on the planet
Gerry's voice so melodic yet rock-hard like granite
But then with success and our fame and our fortune
Like a dark side to every shining bright full moon
Bad things started happening to people around us
Groupies would vanish, there was fear and mistrust
Everyone got on everyone's nerves
Roadies would die and then leave in a hearse

Everybody was cheap and easily replaced
And Gerry indifferent that blank stare on his face
In the band no one cared, we'd all just get high
Until one-by-one we started to die
Rob went first, our petulant drummer
For no known reason he died at the start of the Summer
Simon on keyboards took his own life
And before doing so he'd murdered his wife

When Dave our guitarist died crushed by a tree
That only left session men, Gerry and me
For me Gerry seemed to have lost all respect
I felt a dark premonition that it was my turn next
But one day a terrified roadie approached me
And thrust in my hand a neck-chain with a loud plea
To wear it at all times 24-7
For in a place of hell it was a circle of heaven

I never did see that roadie again
Though our meeting was brief, he'd felt like a friend
So with nothing to lose I wore the present he gave me
Off the chain hung a symbol all curvy and wavy
I couldn't describe it but whatever it was
I seemed to be kept out of fate's deadly jaws
While all those around me seemed hateful and fearful
I felt no darkness, but I was sad and tearful

Knowing only this life I played on one more year
Until that terrible night of horror and fear
When I walked in the dressing room not planned or expected
And was to an ultimate horror subjected
Gerry looked up, his dark eyes bore right through me
As he munched on the flesh of a young slaughtered groupie
What once had been teeth were now fangs sharp and jagged
Which now tore at the flesh all bloody and ragged

So clearly, that face I will always recall
What once had been Gerry was not there at all
Just hatred and hunger and twisted desire
All humanity burned out by some ghastly fire
Some terrible bargain at unspeakable cost
Had caused Gerry to be irretrievably lost
Now this being with black eyes and way beyond frightening
Just kept on eating and between bites was smiling

I don't know how long that I had been running
When I finally collapsed, shaking trembling and mumbling
The doctor who saw me pronounced me insane
And so came to and end my unwanted fame
The medications they gave me were calming and pleasing
I've made it quite clear that I don't want releasing
In here I am safe from that terrible being
Whose fans in their folly don't know what they're seeing