Seven Suns Through the Shoji

Verse 1

Moon through the shoji, katana across my knee

Smoke curls like a question the sky won't answer me

I've been watching the stars flicker wrong for weeks now

Seen the cattle fields cut with a laser's cleave

They came down quiet at first — just lights in the pre-dawn

Told myself it was weather, told myself I was weak

But a samurai knows when the air shifts its rhythm

When the wind starts to carry an electric reek

Pre-Chorus

My hands don't shake

My blade don't break

I made a vow beneath the bamboo — for god or for fate

Chorus

Seven suns through the shoji, I see their shadows fall

I've sharpened this steel for a war beyond the wall

They came in fire and chrome but they don't know the cost

You can take a man's world but you can't take what he lost

So I step through the smoke — one breath — one swing

Verse 2

First one came through the fence, three eyes in a helmet

I didn't ask its name, I just let the blade tell it

Second one rose from the rice field, slick and silver-tongued

Told me Earth was already done — boy, you've already lost

I pulled the tanto from my belt, said watch me reload

Cut the translator from its throat and watched the signal go cold

My ancestors painted scrolls of dragons and of kings

I guess the dragon just got wings and forgot how to sing

Pre-Chorus

My hands don't shake

My blade don't break

I never wanted this war — but I'll finish what they make

Chorus

Seven suns through the shoji, I see their shadows fall

I've sharpened this steel for a war beyond the wall

They came in fire and chrome but they don't know the cost

You can take a man's world but you can't take what he lost

So I step through the smoke — one breath — one swing

Bridge

My lord is dead. The shogunate is ash.

My wife is buried under gardens where the cherry blossoms crash.

I have no master left to serve, no honor left to prove

But this planet is my dojo and I've got nothing left to lose

Chorus

Seven suns through the shoji, I see their shadows fall

I've sharpened this steel for a war beyond the wall

They came in fire and chrome but they don't know the cost

You can take a man's world but you can't take what he lost

So I step through the smoke — one breath — one swing