I don’t belong here
I never saw this on the path I walk
The blood-stained walls, the lines of chalk on the floor
It’s getting so hard
I never saw the backlash when the tide began to rise
I can’t remember
The way it was when everything felt right
My mouth held shut and eyes sealed tight with control

[Pre-chorus]
So I remember on the inside

[Chorus]
I found a dark, infernal place I don’t want to face anymore
Somehow, I won’t stop feeding the pain
My heart’s just the same as before

So now I’m stuck here
Between the guilty and the insincere
The words I spoke have left here all alone
I should have known this
I could’ve burned it when I had that choice
And now I’d die to kill this noise in my head

[Pre-chorus]

[Chorus]

So I remember on the inside

If this is all the love my spirit can give
Just take it back tonight
There is not a reason more to live



Behind the Song:
The original version of “The Tide Began to Rise” marks the beginning of a greater experimentation within the realm of our more melodic material. Up to this point, a typical Demon Hunter ballad had some fairly standard rock parameters. When I brought this demo into the studio, it was hardly anything at all. The lyrics and melodies were all there, but clumsy, distorted guitars and aggressive drumming laid the foundation. Our longtime producer Aaron Sprinkle rebuilt it from the ground up and transformed it into the song you know today. The warbly piano, programmed drums, and harsh synths became the backbone this song needed—and provided broader boundaries for us to explore—later inspiring songs like “Recuse Myself.” It took us over a decade to come full circle and perform this song with piano, as it’s meant to be. For our An Evening with Demon Hunter shows, Patrick taught himself how to play piano, just so he could play this song, and “Fear is Not My Guide”— which he did excellently—especially for a first-time pianist. —Ryan Clark