Starless (Abridged) - King Crimson

Cody says he didn't start the fire His parents know he probably did He's always playing with a light He's just a different kind of kid And Cody says He didn't raise the dead Says "religion's just a trick To keep hard-working folks in line" He says it makes his stomach sick So who's gonna carry us away? Eagles with glory-painted wings? We keep on waiting for the miracle to come Pour down the mountain like a heaven-fed stream Cody's always got one on the line He likes to walk 'em by the wrist He does his pulling with his eyes He does his talking with his fists Bottle rockets on an August night Raid the coolers in the trucks If we're lucky we'll get loud and we'll drink Whiskey from a plastic jug So who's gonna carry us away? Eagles with glory-painted wings? We keep on waiting for the miracle to come Fall from the firmament and give us nice things Round and round it goes Where it stops, nobody knows Nobody knows So who's gonna carry us away? Eagles with glory-painted wings? We keep on waiting for the miracle to come Roll down the mountain to the sound of sad strings We keep on waiting for the miracle For the miracle We keep on waiting for the miracle For the miracle

Hope'll set your eyes agleam Like four feet dangling in the stream But the Kingdom of God, it's a pressure machine Every step, gotta keep it clean A mattress on a hardwood floor Who could ever ask for more? I'll get up and cut the grass Ain't nothing wrong with working class I, I don't remember the last time you asked how I was Don't you feel the time slipping away? It ain't funny at all It's gonna break your heart one day Keep the debt cloud off the kids Only sunshine on their lids Jiminy Cricket and Power Wheels And memories of Happy Meals Sometimes I look at the stars And think about how small we are Sweating it out in the pressure machine Good till the last drop Why don't you say little things? Butterflies don't just dance on a string It feels like you clipped all their wings And every year goes by faster than the one before We've had that treadmill now for months I think she might've used it once If I shut my mouth and keep the peace She'll cook my eggs in bacon grease Life will grow you a big red rose Then rip it from beneath your nose Run it through the pressure machine And spit you out a name tag memory

I was born right here in Zion God's own son His Holy Ghost stories and bloodshed Never scared me none While they bowed their heads on Sunday Cut out through the hedges and fields Where the light could place its hands on my head In the west hills Free in the west hills Free in the west hills She's got two full-grown children One still on the vine And once I got to know him I loved him like he was mine Some nights, we drive up the mouth of the canyon On hillbilly heroin pills We get out and watch the sunset Peaceful and still And free in the west hills Free in the west hills When the sheriff kicked my door down I was sleeping in my own bed And the mess I got caught up in Rained hard down on my head And they got me for possession Of them hillbilly heroin pills Enough to kill the horses that run Free in the west hills They got me for possession of enough to kill The horses that run Free in the west hills Free in the west hills If this life was meant for proving I could use more years to live But fifteen in a guardhouse That's more than I'm willing to give And if there really is a judgement When He pulls my chart He'll reject my actions But He will know my heart And he'll prepare a place for me Where happiness instills And the light puts its loving hands on my head Free in the west hills They got me for possession of enough to kill the horses that run Free in the west hills Free in the west hills Free Free in the west hills In the west hills In the west hills Hills

The Dance of the Puppets The rusted chains of prison moons Are shattered by the sun. I walk a road, horizons change The tournament's begun. The purple piper plays his tune, The choir softly sing; Three lullabies in an ancient tongue, For the court of the crimson king. The keeper of the city keys Put shutters on the dreams. I wait outside the pilgrim's door With insufficient schemes. The black queen chants The funeral march, The cracked brass bells will ring; To summon back the fire witch To the court of the crimson king. The gardener plants an evergreen Whilst trampling on a flower. I chase the wind of a prism ship To taste the sweet and sour. The pattern juggler lifts his hand; The orchestra begin. As slowly turns the grinding wheel In the court of the crimson king. On soft gray mornings widows cry The wise men share a joke; I run to grasp divining signs To satisfy the hoax. The yellow jester does not play But gentle pulls the strings And smiles as the puppets dance In the court of the crimson king.

Talk, it's only talk Arguments, agreements, advice, answers Articulate announcements It's only talk Talk, it's only talk Babble, burble, banter, bicker, bicker, bicker Brouhaha, balderdash, ballyhoo It's only talk Backtalk Talk, talk, talk, it's only talk Comments, clichés, commentary, controversy Chatter, chit-chat, chit-chat, chit-chat Conversation, contradiction, criticism It's only talk Cheap talk Talk, it's all rhetoric Debates, discussions These are words with a D this time Dialogue, duologue, diatribe Dissention, declamation Double-talk, double-talk Talk, it's all talk Too much talk Small talk Talk that trash Expressions, editorials, explanations, exclamations, exaggerations It's all talk Elephant talk, elephant talk, elephant talk

Earth, stream and tree encircled by sea Waves sweep the sand from my island My sunsets fade Field and glade wait only for rain Grain after grain love erodes my High weathered walls which fend off the tide Cradle the wind To my island Gaunt granite climbs where gulls wheel and glide Mournfully glide o'er my island My dawn bride's veil, damp and pale Dissolves in the sun Love's web is spun, cats prowl, mice run Wreathe snatch-hand briars where owls know my eyes Violet skies Touch my island Touch me Beneath the wind turned wave Infinite peace Islands join hands 'Neath heaven's sea Beneath the wind turned wave Infinite peace Islands join hands 'Neath heaven's sea Dark harbour quays like fingers of stone Hungrily reach from my island Clutch sailor's words, pearls and gourds Are strewn on my shore Equal in love, bound in circles Earth, stream and tree return to the sea Waves sweep sand from my island From me Beneath the wind turned wave Infinite peace Islands join hands 'Neath heaven's sea