Tension/Halcyon

Within the Halcyon of Peace

[Lyricist’s note: Go easy on me – this was a twenty minute song in a pretentious teenage prog rock band, and I think I’d swallowed a dictionary. By the way, a halcyon is a mythological bird that sailors said brought calm to stormy waters, and is the origin of the phrase “halcyon days”‘]

All of us identical individuals,
Crawl inside our crowded halls, blind but we see all,
We will destroy you with our pessimistic minds,
Dreams of despair haunt the peace of mankind.

Blinding waves of pessimism rise like black mephitic towers,
Talons grasp the innocent and violate the sacred hour.
The bloody battle rages on, the chapel’s doors are open wide,
The halcyon must use it’s power for all of those who step inside.

If we sail to the maelstrom of chaos, war and self-destruction,
Hope will fail and the memory will lie beneath the sea.
But if we trust the halcyon that calms the deep and troubled waters,
We can sail our ships to far off lands where men are free.

© 1981 Rob Bates.

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