The Senate Was a Mask

The Senate was a mask The smile was only glass I learned the room before I learned the blade Which friend would bend, which fear could be remade Soft words travel farther than a scream So I let the galaxy believe the dream Senator, Chancellor, servant of the day Every title was a door I walked through anyway The red blade slept behind the law Until the law became its claw The Senate was a mask The Sith beneath my skin Every vote, every cheer Let the darkness in The Senate was a mask And you loved what it could hide I did not break the Republic I made it choose my side Mace saw the thunder in my hands too late Yoda heard the end inside the state Anakin came trembling to the flame I gave his grief another name The temple burned, the old light failed And I rose where their patience paled A thousand years of shadow learned How patient hatred waits its turn The Senate was a mask The Sith beneath my skin Every vote, every cheer Let the darkness in The Senate was a mask And you loved what it could hide I did not break the Republic I made it choose my side Not every tyrant kicks the gate Some are invited in by fate Some wear velvet, some wear law Some make applause become a saw By the time you saw the beast You had already crowned its teeth The Senate was a mask The Sith beneath my skin Every vote, every cheer Let the darkness in The Senate was a mask And you loved what it could hide I did not break the Republic I made it choose my side The mask came off The Empire stayed