Are these tears for naught?

To what end do we proceed so boldly,
If all we are is chemical reactions?
And what world have you so deftly sold me,
If you reduce me, if I have no soul to touch?

No heart to love, no evil to rise up above?
No angels and no ghosts, no real victories to toast?
If you believe that this is true then I must ask,
To what end do you proceed?

No fire in our eyes, no steel in our hearts?
No magic in our songs, are we just empty vessels?

Did I not feel your love, did I not feel your hate?
And did my heart just not leap, and did my heart not break?

And are these tears for naught, and are these words in vain?
If this is all we are then what have we to gain?

What of all the art and books, music and poetry?
What of all our memories, what of our hopes and dreams?

If they hold no value then we hold no faith but greed.
So I must ask you, to what end do we proceed?

- Thrice, "To What End"