Manhattan

Music and Lyrics by Erik Rosenbladt

Live in deceit
I'm a treacherous man
Extinguishing life force
As I darken the land

The beast contained
Within the neutron gate
Crack the shell and
Annihilate

MANHATTAN

Power of the sun

MANHATTAN

The end has begun

Let there be light

I wrote this song long before there were any lyrics for it, the idea was to have something powerful to kick off the album. The original instrumental version had a very pronounced synth guitar lead, but I had to subdue it a little for the vocals to be heard properly. The song really came together after I watched a PBS show about the Manhattan Project. I started to see nuclear weapons as some sort of intelligent, evil creature bent on destruction. The scientists that created it thought they were discovering something amazing, accomplishing something amazing. But all they did was unleash the creature. It wanted to be discovered. And now it's out and can never go back.

While writing this song, I had several more verses I wanted to add about how Japan was going to surrender, but the U.S. decided to use the bomb on them anyways to send a message. But I couldn't get it to fit right in time for the album. Perhaps I'll redo it in the future...