Six bars laid across the sky
Four empty walls to fill the time
One careless word, you lose your life
A grave new world awaits inside

Lycanthropic survival instincts
Embrace the beast and shun the weak
Awake the primal one that sleeps inside
Or feel the shiver running through your spine

The time is slipping by, no peace in sight
But the teeth of time still hold their bite
My hands are painted red
My future's painted black
I can't recognize myself
I've become someone else
My hands are painted red, my hands are painted red

Schizophrenic amnesia
Bid goodbye to all you knew and loved
Forget the only life that you knew outside
They bought the ticket, now you take the ride
The time is slipping by, no peace in sight
But the teeth of time still hold their bite
My hands are painted red
My future's painted black
I can't recognize myself
I've become someone else
My hands are painted red, my hands are painted red

Another number quickly learns the rules
A hidden burner waits to point at you
A subtle gesture and you're ventilated
Talk isn't cheap here, bleed out in payment

Six bars laid across the sky
Four empty walls to fill the time
My hands are painted red
My future's painted black
I can't recognize myself
I've become someone else
My hands are painted red, my hands are painted red, red, red
My future's painted black
I can't recognize myself
I've become someone else
My hands are painted red, my hands are painted red


Lyrics submitted by TUNDRA35

512 Lyrics as written by David Randall Blythe Chris Adler

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

512 song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

4 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    Song Fact

    Interview with Randy:

    "... lyrics about the singer's experience in a prison in the Czech Republic, where he had been charged with manslaughter for allegedly pushing a fan offstage and causing injuries that led to the fan's death. Blythe was ultimately found not guilty, but he still spent over a month incarcerated. It was during that time that he began writing "512" – in Pankrác Prison cell number 512 – and began contemplating how the experience was changing him."

    "I couldn't even see the sun to tell what part of the day it was. It was just steadily lessening levels of gloom."

    Those thoughts, he says, inspired the "512" lyrics, "The time is slipping by no peace in sight/But the teeth of time still hold their bite." It's a metaphor for the one hour a day he was able to see a clock.

    "I was in my cell 23 hours a day," Blythe says. "One hour a day, I would go to this little area where we would walk and, on the way out, I could see this clock that was above the courtyard. I'd check the time as I walked in and out to make sure time was still moving. I had no watch, no nothing. It's a weird mental trip."

    rollingstone.com/music/news/lamb-of-god-on-how-prison-inspired-raging-new-song-512-20150608

    sokornyon April 14, 2016   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!