Story Behind the Song
Recorded in a small studio in Orlando, Florida. It was written over the course of two days as it seemed the words just came to me.
Lyrics
The Last Stand of Michael the Archangel (against the suicide demon from Hell)
We've all heard stories about the End
And we've wondered just how it will be,
So let me tell a story about a friend of mine
Who was lucky enough to see.
He was the kind of guy that always had a smile.
Johnny Cosmic was his name.
He himself told me of that fateful night
When that angel of the darkness came.
It was foggy and the wind was blowing hard
And the moon had an orange glow.
Johnny shut his windows and he bolted his doors
For a reason he did not know.
Then he lay down to try and get some rest
For he was weary to the core.
He had lay down and was almost asleep
When he was lifted and thrown to the floor.
Johnny rubbed his eyes in bewilderment
And he wondered what was going on.
It was then he saw that hellish, spectral sight
As it drifted close to his arm.
It was tall and cloaked and glowed an eerie blue
And it was gazing right at him.
With an athlete's body that was topped by a skull
That never ceased its evil grin.
Johnny was amazed at the sight he saw
And he didn't know what to say.
Sweat began to pour off his face and hands
As on the floor he lay.
Then with a nerve he was noted for
Johnny slowly got to his feet,
But his nose smelled the brimstone and his eyes saw fire.
He almost feinted from the heat.
"Why have you come, what do you want of me?"
Johnny leveled his voice with care,
"I see no purpose for this visit at all,"
And in defiance shook his long brown hair.
"If your name is Cosmic, you're to come with me,
For we have an appointment to keep,"
Said the skull with a laugh that sounded like a hiss
Between his black and rotting teeth.
"No, you must be wrong," cried Johnny in great haste,
"for I have too many things I must do,
and when the time does come for me to leave this world,
I won't be leaving with the likes of you."
To this the demon only said "My friend, you're wrong,"
And he reached out his muscled hand
And he was so quick that before Johnny could move
He had a grip on his leather armband.
It was then that Johnny realized for the very first time
The type of situation he was in
And he knew that by himself he could never fight
This monster with the vicious grin.
So he called with all his might on the Powers that Are,
Hoping maybe they might see
And save him from a fate of burning in Hell
Through all eternity.
Then the demon stomped his ghostly foot on the ground
And opened up a bottomless pit.
Johnny's senses reeled as he looked down
For he was standing on that holes fragile lip.
And as the demon kept on laughing Johnny started to shake
For he thought that his end was near.
He felt a giant rat that was gnawing his mind
And the name of that rat was "Fear".
Suddenly, his house just seemed to burst apart
And Johnny gave a frightened gasp.
A lightning bolt crackled down from the sky
And tore Johnny from that demon's grasp.
The skull then shook his ghostly fist at the sky and cried,
"What's the meaning of this?"
And a booming Voice that sounded like the thunder itself said,
"YOU CAN'T TAKE A MAN WHO'S BEEN BLEST."
Then the demon gave a scream that came from Satan himself
As he was bathed in a dazzling light,
But he held his ground with all his hellish power and cried,
"I'm not leaving here without a fight."
The Voice in the cloud said "WELL, I'M READY FOR YOU.
YES, I'VE BEEN READY FOR QUITE A LONG TIME."
And with that a fireball came roaring down from the sky,
And caught that demon full on the spine.
Then ensued a battle none have ever seen,
One impossible to be described.
Johnny shut his ears and he covered his face
As he felt those two forces collide.
He felt himself being pulled and stretched apart
As his atom's fought to hold their shape
Against all the might of the forces there
Who were trying his soul to take.
Johnny felt himself thrown hither and far
All across a starry galaxy.
He saw all the places that never were
And can never hope to be.
He felt himself thrown against the fabric of time
And he tumbled through it at its seam.
He stumbled back and forth across that fragile bridge
That holds reality from the dream.
Suddenly, He found himself standing alone
On a calm and grassy plain.
Overhead the Sun was shining brightly
And nowhere did it look like rain.
It was then that Johnny heard that booming Voice again
As It spoke with a tranquil ring, saying,
"EVERYTHING IS OVER AND YOU'VE NO NEED TO FEAR,
FOR NOW YOU'LL ALWAYS BE WITH ME."
"THE SPECTER WAS RIGHT IN ONE RESPECT," said the Voice
That was so beautifully clear.
"THE TIME HAS COME FOR YOU TO LEAVE THIS WORLD IN WHICH
YOUR BODY WAS SO REARED."
And Johnny knew exactly what it was He meant
And his mind was filled with awe
For death had not come by a spectered fist,
But by a dove's enchanted call.
Now you may think this story false
Or you may think I'm insane,
But I could see the truth in Johnny's eyes
For when he spoke, I could see no pain.
And when he finished talking, he spread ethereal wings
And proceeded to fly away.
Where he was headed, I'm not really sure,
But I hope I go there someday.
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