"The Sacrifice" lyrics - DAVID WILCOX

I got the call at midnight, as the rain began to come
And it may have been just fireworks but they said they heard a gun
So I left the siren silent, 'cause whatever's done is done

The blood of the innocent - getting washed away
Mixed with the endless tears - of the stormy sky
He's there - on the pavement wet with rain

I touch beneath his jaw line, for life under the skin
He's face down on the pavement, his neck is cold and thin
So I'll need some information from the two who called it in
'Cause the moment that it's over is the moment it begins

Blood of the innocent - getting washed away
The flash of the cruiser lights - on the stormy sky

I know the routine - I tape off the scene
But sometimes I wonder what it means
The mortal remains - out in the rain,
To cleanse all the violence and the pain
The drought in the field, the altar must bleed
Stained with some ancient human need
To turn on our own and speak for the sky:
Someone must die, for the storm to cry

Now I have to call the family. I have to speak what can't be said
My badge covers my own heart, but the questions hurt my head
They'll start crying up to heaven asking why their boy is dead

Blood of the innocent - getting washed away
Mixed with the endless tears - of the stormy sky...

It could have been me, It could have been you
It could have been anyone we knew
Nothing will change. No one to blame,
The thunder will rumble just the same