“SWEETER THAN FEAR”

“SWEETER THAN FEAR” (Candyman’s Solo) (Candyman – almost spoken, intimate) They call me in the bathroom light In trembling adolescent breath Five little syllables of hunger Five little invitations to death They laugh until the mirror shakes They dare until the silence hums But every legend starts the same — With someone who wants me to come (Low strings enter. Slow pulse.) I was a man once With skin and bone With hands that built With love I’d known But love is a crime When it crosses a line And sweetness turns to rot on the vine They broke my body Fed me to the hive But pain, my dear — Pain keeps a man alive (Orchestra deepens. Brass undertone.) I am not the monster I am the scar I am what happens When hatred goes too far You fear my hook You fear my sting But fear is such A tender thing It wraps around you Soft and slow And whispers what You want to know (Build — darker, more sensual.) Come closer I do not bite without consent You summoned me On accident You needed proof You needed flame You carved devotion Into my name I am the echo in your chest The shadow pressed against your spine And when you tremble in the dark — That trembling, Helen, is mine (Big lift — drums enter subtly.) They think I live inside the glass But glass is only skin I live in rumor I live in sin In every story poorly told In every child who tests the bold In every scholar chasing truth In every lonely, aching youth (Drums hit heavier. Choir hum builds under.) Say my name And I appear Not because I crave your fear I appear because you need Something sharper than your creed Say my name And understand — You built the myth With your own hand (Full orchestral swell — dark triumph.) I am the writing on your walls I am the fall before the fall I am the sweetness in the pain The honey dripping from the chain They tried to end me Made me flame But death is just another name And names — Names live forever.