Lock And Key

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

I don't want to face
The killer instinct --
Face it in your or me

We carry a sensitive cargo
Below the waterline --
Ticking like a time bomb
With a primitive design

Behind the finer feelings --
This civilized veneer --
The heart of a lonely hunter
Guards a dangerous frontier

The balance can sometimes fail --
Strong emotions can tip the scale --

Don't want to silence
A desperate voice
For the sake of security
No one wants to make
A terrible choice
On the price of being free
I don't want to face
The killer instinct --
Face it in you or me
So we keep it under lock and key...

It's not a matter of mercy
It's not a matter of laws
Plenty of people will kill you
For some fanatical cause

It's not a matter of conscience --
A search for probable cause
It's just a matter of instinct --
A matter of fatal flaws

No reward for resistance
No assistance --
No applause...

We don't want to be victims
On that we all agree
So we lock up the killer instinct --
And throw away the key...