"Tarkus" lyrics
[I. Eruption]
[Instrumental]
[II. Stones of Years]
Has the dawn ever seen your eyes?
Have the days made you so unwise?
Realize, you are
Had you talked to the winds of time
Then you'd know how the waters rhyme
Taste of wine
How can you know where you've been?
In time you'll see the sign
And realize your sin
Will you know how the seed is sown?
All your time has been overgrown
Never known
Have you walked on the stones of years?
When you speak, is it you that hears?
Are your ears full?
You can't hear anything at all
[III. Iconoclast]
[Instrumental]
[IV. Mass]
The preacher said a prayer
Save every single hair on his head
He's dead
The minister of hate had just arrived too late to be spared
Who cared?
The weaver in the web that he made
The pilgrim wandered in
Commiting every sin that he could
So good
The cardinal of grief was set in his belief he'd saved
From the grave
The weaver in the web that he made
The high priest took a blade
To bless the ones that prayed
And all obeyed
The messenger of fear is slowly growing, nearer to the time
A sign
The weaver in the web that he made
A bishops rings a bell
A cloak of darkness fell across the ground
Without a sound
The silent choir sing and in their silence
Bring jaded sound, harmonic ground
The weaver in the web that he made
[V. Manticore]
[Instrumental]
[VI. The Battlefield]
Clear the battlefield and let me see
All the profit from our victory
You talk of freedom, starving children fall
Are you deaf when you hear the season's call?
Were you there to watch the earth be scorched?
Did you stand beside the spectral torch?
Know the leaves of sorrow turned their face
Scattered on the ashes of disgrace
Every blade is sharp; the arrows fly
Where the victims of your armies lie
We're the blades of grass and arrows rain
Then there will be no sorrow
Be no pain
[VII. Aquatarkus]
[Instrumental]
[Instrumental]
[II. Stones of Years]
Has the dawn ever seen your eyes?
Have the days made you so unwise?
Realize, you are
Had you talked to the winds of time
Then you'd know how the waters rhyme
Taste of wine
How can you know where you've been?
In time you'll see the sign
And realize your sin
Will you know how the seed is sown?
All your time has been overgrown
Never known
Have you walked on the stones of years?
When you speak, is it you that hears?
Are your ears full?
You can't hear anything at all
[III. Iconoclast]
[Instrumental]
[IV. Mass]
The preacher said a prayer
Save every single hair on his head
He's dead
The minister of hate had just arrived too late to be spared
Who cared?
The weaver in the web that he made
The pilgrim wandered in
Commiting every sin that he could
So good
The cardinal of grief was set in his belief he'd saved
From the grave
The weaver in the web that he made
The high priest took a blade
To bless the ones that prayed
And all obeyed
The messenger of fear is slowly growing, nearer to the time
A sign
The weaver in the web that he made
A bishops rings a bell
A cloak of darkness fell across the ground
Without a sound
The silent choir sing and in their silence
Bring jaded sound, harmonic ground
The weaver in the web that he made
[V. Manticore]
[Instrumental]
[VI. The Battlefield]
Clear the battlefield and let me see
All the profit from our victory
You talk of freedom, starving children fall
Are you deaf when you hear the season's call?
Were you there to watch the earth be scorched?
Did you stand beside the spectral torch?
Know the leaves of sorrow turned their face
Scattered on the ashes of disgrace
Every blade is sharp; the arrows fly
Where the victims of your armies lie
We're the blades of grass and arrows rain
Then there will be no sorrow
Be no pain
[VII. Aquatarkus]
[Instrumental]
Thanks to David Carswell for correcting these lyrics.
Writer(s): Keith Noel Emerson, Gregory Lake
