In halls of gold and candle smoke
Where mirrors lie and roses choke
The velvet court begins to smile
Welcome to the trial
They called my name at half past midnight
Beneath the painted eyes
The lords were dressed in borrowed virtue
The ladies dressed in lies
A harpsichord was softly bleeding
Its silver teeth in tune
And every mask around the table
Was pale beneath the moon
The judge wore pearls of old confessions
The queen wore widow’s lace
The candles bowed like frightened servants
Before her powdered face
They asked me where I hid the letters
They asked me whom I blamed
I said the walls had learned the answer
And every wall knew names
One step forward
Two steps bound
Every secret
Hears its sound
Hands like velvet
Eyes like knives
They don’t bury truth
They bury lives
This is the velvet trial
Where the guilty wear the crown
Where the saints applaud in silence
While the innocent kneel down
This is the velvet trial
Let the chandeliers ignite
I will dance upon your verdict
I will turn your dark to light
They read the laws from books of ashes
With ribbons black and red
Each page was signed by vanished daughters
Each seal was cold and dead
The duke declared I broke tradition
The priest declared I sinned
The queen leaned close and whispered softly
“You should have stayed within”
Within the song, within the shadow
Within the golden cage
Within the pretty little silence
Prepared for every age
But I had seen the hidden staircase
I heard the servants cry
I found the room behind the chapel
Where royal promises die
One step forward
Two steps bound
Every secret
Hears its sound
Painted mercy
Perfumed chains
Underneath the silk
The iron remains
This is the velvet trial
Where the guilty wear the crown
Where the saints applaud in silence
While the innocent kneel down
This is the velvet trial
Let the chandeliers ignite
I will dance upon your verdict
I will turn your dark to light
Bring the violins
Bring the wine
Bring the silver blade
Bring the witnesses
Dressed in silk
Bring the debt unpaid
I was never just a prisoner
I was never just a name
I have carried every whisper
Through the corridors of shame
And if you want my final answer
Let the whole court hear it now
You can keep your velvet altar
I will not learn how to bow
Then one by one the masks were falling
Like petals after rain
The duke had sold the winter harvest
The priest had forged the names
The queen stood still, her diamonds trembling
Her smile began to fade
The judge looked down upon his papers
And found his own hand stained
The choir sang from hidden balconies
A hymn no king could stop
The floor became a field of shadows
The crown began to drop
I took the letters from my bodice
And held them to the flame
Not to destroy the truth inside them
But to illuminate the names
One step forward
No steps bound
Every secret
Shakes the ground
Hands once silent
Voices rise
Now the buried truth
Opens its eyes
This is the velvet trial
Where the guilty lose the crown
Where the saints no longer whisper
And the walls come crashing down
This is the velvet trial
Let the chandeliers ignite
I will dance beyond your verdict
I will turn your dark to light
This is the velvet trial
Hear the palace start to fall
I was summoned as the sinner
But I stand above you all
In halls of gold and candle smoke
The mirrors cracked, the silence broke
The velvet court denied the fire
But truth rose higher
Welcome to the trial
Welcome to the trial
Welcome to the trial
The crown is on the ground
Lyrics shown in the original language. Production and section instructions have been removed for the public version.
