Sack of Ilium (Nero's Violin)

From this garden countryside, this city's flames are reaching high
 Burning bright this city's ghastly glow
 I just keep your hand in mine and listen to the lullaby
 Played from a tower above the fiery growth
 We can make it disappear, from the far it's hard to hear
 The raspy gasping from the grotesque torch
 The crazy king laughing loud, an empire in a smoky shroud
 We just stand and smile as the Earth's scorched
 A useless note in a worthless chord
 In a wasted song tossed overboard
 Like the things I've seen and never want to see again
 Like Nero's violin
 That smile brings a grace to your face as a skein of smoke slowly decays
 Our lips part to the start of a new day
 Sunlight creeps across the ash, but you and I don't notice that
 A dark art, in our hearts, we're worlds away
 We pass by crepe gardenia, ignoring the hysteria
 In our minds, the time is standing still
 The Domus Aurea of our bond, we walk away still holding on
 As the detuned strings sing an awful shrill
 A useless note in a worthless chord
 In a wasted song tossed overboard
 Like the things I've seen and never want to see again
 Like Nero's violin
 We amble through the ambient heat, ignoring the ember laden streets
 Discrete sweet nothings pouring out
 No, we don't hear the shadow laughing loud
 It's just us in the God-forsaken town
 A useless note in a worthless chord
 In a wasted song tossed overboard
 Like the things I've seen and never want to see again
 Like Nero's violin