Cold Eyes from Slaught by Endless Idiot

This was inspired by seeing a particularly dead-eyed photograph of a current so-called "world leader". No prize for guessing who. But it's not about him - in the song he's just a cypher for all the grandiose, narcissistic, psychopathic monsters that we as a species throw up, over and over, and put into positions of absolute power.

I tried to think of destructive, wanton, awful acts to include in the final verses, that would be obviously violent but also capable of bearing many meanings. The wings of an angel are (for me at least, not being a believer) obviously metaphorical; the child's eyes though can be both metaphorical and distressingly actual.

Musically, it's built on the piano riff in the intro, which is handed across to other instruments and morphs in later verses. The bass in the middle section is a tuba... not an instrument I thought I'd ever have much use for, but to my ears it sounds great. BBCSO strikes again.

Tracklist

8.	Cold Eyes	4:35

Lyrics

I'd like to look at the world out of cold eyes
To understand how it would be
To see every living moment turn to win or lose
A matter of force and strategy

As I sat in my palace in my stolen land
Deluded by my talk of destiny
I'd be removed from the pain and the suffering
The fruit of my assault on history

I'd tell the same old rotten story
Commit the same old rotten crimes
Show the same old cruel senility
Another old man who outlived his time

I'd tear the wings off an angel
I'd see the land and sea defiled
Disregard the slaughter of millions
I'd blind the eyes of a child

I'd tear the wings off an angel
I'd see the land and sea defiled
Disregard the slaughter of millions
I'd blind the eyes of a child

Credits

from Slaught, released May 5, 2023

License