There's a shadow on your shoulder
Turn around and see it there
It's looming, and waiting
And you are running scared

When you try to fake a smile
It's always on your mind
Can't run from it, cannot hide it
Can't leave it all behind

'Cause you might think you're alive
You're just a dead man walking
You think there's love in your heart
But it's barely pumping blood
You think you're going to survive
It's gonna get you soon
Hit self destruct
And tear your world apart.

The wheel is spinning
You put it all on black
Forever the gambler
Roll the dice to win it back

There’s a bullet with your name on
You’re in the sniper’s sights
Dodge the bullet, breathe a sigh
But can you dodge it twice?

'Cause you might think you're alive
You're just a dead man walking
You think there's love in your heart
But it's barely pumping blood
You think you're going to survive
It's gonna get you soon
Hit self destruct
And tear your world apart.

Sick feeling in your stomach
The itch you cannot scratch
Uneasy kinda feeling
Unable to relax

The open wound that festers
Twisting the knife again
The endgame, soon or later
The pale horseman calls your name

'Cause you might think you're alive
You're just a dead man walking
You think there's love in your heart
But it's barely pumping blood
You think you're going to survive
It's gonna get you soon
Hit self destruct
And tear your world...

And when St. Peter’s at the gates
Which way will he judge?
Are you the boy who couldn’t speak,
Or the man who couldn’t love?

The last tick of the time bomb
There’s nothing left to say
No flowers, no mourners
You pushed them all away

Some people change the world
Live well and travel far
The legacy of a life of fear
Just ashes in a jar

'Cause you might think you're alive
You're just a dead man walking
You think there's love in your heart
But it's barely pumping blood
You think you're going to survive
It's gonna get you soon
Hit self destruct
And tear your world apart.

“The last tick of the time bomb”

“This is the first Fat Statues song I wrote on my own. It took a lot to bring it to the table.

It’s a very personal song to me. My brother died aged 45 of a congenital heart condition. He left for work one day and never came back. I may or may not have inherited the same condition.

I wrote this at the time when I turned the same age as he was when he died. I had a lot of survivor’s guilt to deal with, and I found comfort in songwriting.

It’s written from the point of view of Death, about how I can run, but I can’t hide.”