Sometimes, if you want to make a change
It comes with a price
Walk away, and you may be attacked
But stay, and you will surely die

For all those years I should have walked away
I pay the price now ′cause I chose to stay
Retribution
Retribution, ah

From a place of darkness
I observed your disease
As it slowly possessed me
Then to survive I had to live in silence
But the strength to walk away
Is the way that I was saved
Distance brought clarity beyond the
reach of your decay ('cay, ′cay)

There was a price to pay (a price to pay)
No other way but pain

(I) I lost everything
To finally be free
I would pay again (again)
Retribution
Retribution

I surrounded myself with men who called me brother
Only when it served their gain
But when I truly needed a friend
They were gone before a single word could be said

Truth never had a chance
'Cause I was judged by my past
But their verdict never changed what I had to do
What they call punishment was the cost of my escape
And I would pay it again to get away from them

No deeds unseen, no secrets kept
I paid in full with no regret
I was not saved (I was not saved)
By the path you gave (by the path you gave)
But by refusing to go
Where you led me (yeah)

(I) I lost everything
To finally be free
I would pay again
Retribution

(I) I lost everything
(To) to finally be free
I would pay again
Retribution
With no regret
Ah

If every bridge behind me still stood
I'd tear them down
And watch them burn
Watch them burn
Retribution
Let them take what they came to claim
Nothing could make me stay again

I lost everything
To finally be free
And I would pay again (′gain)
Retribution