The Soul Cages
Album - 17 gennaio 1991 - Debaser id 12665

I looked out across the river today
I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower
Where the seagulls play
I saw the sad shire horses walking home
In the sodium light
I saw two priests on the ferry
October geese on a cold winter's night

And all this time, the river flowed
Endlessly, to the sea

Two priests came 'round our house tonight
One young, one old
To offer prayers for the dying
To serve the final rite
One to learn, one to teach
Which way the cold wind blows
Fussing and flapping in priestly black
Like a murder of crows

And all this time, the river flowed
Endlessly, to the sea

If I had my way, I'd take a boat from the river
And I'd bury the old man
I'd bury him at sea

Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth
Better to be poor than a fat man in the eye of a needle
And as these words were spoken, I swear I hear the old man laughing
"What good is a used-up world, and how could it be worth having?"

And all this time, the river flowed
Endlessly, like a silent tear
And all this time, the river flowed
Father, if Jesus exists
Then how come he never lived here?

The teachers told us, the Romans built this place
They built a wall and a temple, an edge of the empire
Garrison Town
They lived and they died, they prayed to their gods
But the stone gods did not make a sound
And their empire crumbled, 'til all that was left
Were the stones the workmen found

And all this time, the river flowed
In the falling light of a northern sun
If I had my way, I'd take a boat from the river
Men go crazy in congregations
But they only get better
One by one
One by one

A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you
I'm lost without you
Though all my kingdoms turn to sand
And fall into the sea
I'm mad about you
I'm mad about you

And from the dark secluded valleys
I heard the ancient songs of sadness
But every step I thought of you
Every footstep only you
And every star a grain of sand
The leavings of a dried up ocean
Tell me, how much longer?
How much longer?

They say a city in the desert lies
The vanity of an ancient king
But the city lies in broken pieces
Where the wind howls and the vultures sing
These are the works of man
This is the sum of our ambition
It would make a prison of my life
If you became another's wife
With every prison blown to dust
My enemies walk free
I'm mad about you
I'm mad about you

And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominions over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories, without love

A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And through a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you
I'm lost without you
And though you hold the keys to ruin
Of everything I see
With every prison blown to dust,
My enemies walk free
Though all my kingdoms turn to sand
And fall into the sea
I'm mad about you
I'm mad about you

I saw it again this evening
Black sail in a pale yellow sky
And just as before in a moment
It was gone where the grey gulls fly

If it happens again I shall worry
That only a strange ship could fly
And my sanity scans the horizon
In the light of a darkening sky

That night as I walked in my slumber
I waded into the sea strand
And I swam with the moon and her lover
Until I lost sight of the land

I swam �til the night became morning
Black sail in a reddening sky
Found myself on the deck of a rolling ship
So far where no grey gulls fly

All around me was silence
As if mocking my frail human hopes
And a question mark hung in the canvas
For the wind that had died in the ropes

I may have slept for an hour
I may have slept for a day
For I woke in a bed of white linen
And the sky was the color of clay

At first just a rattle of canvas
And the gentlest breath on my face
But a galloping line of white horses
Said that soon were in for a race

The gentle sigh turned to a howling
And the grey sky, she angered to black
And my anxious eyes searched the horizon
With the gathering sea at my back

Did I see the shade of a sailor
On the bridge through the wheelhouse pane?
Held fast to the wheel of the rocking ship
As I squinted my eye in the rain

For the ship had turned into the wind
Against the storm to brace
And underneath the sailor�s hat
I saw my father�s face

If a prayer today is spoken
Please offer it for me
When the bridge to heaven is broken
And you're lost on the wild, wild sea
Lost on the wild, wild sea�