Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

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The Prodigal Stranger

1991


 

The Truth Won't Fade Away

Holding On

Man With A Mission

(You Can't) Turn Back The Page

One More Time

A Dream In Ev'ry Home

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

The King Of Hearts

All Our Dreams Are Sold

Perpetual Motion

Learn To Fly

The Pursuit Of Happiness

The truth won't fade away

(Brooker / Fisher / Reid)

We were young, we were brave, we were true, we were strong
Far away the bombs and the buildings exploding
there was no way out
It was black, it was white, we had so much to say
Right or wrong ... The truth won't fade away

We had our hopes, we had our dreams, we were young, we were old
We saw our future self-destructing: there were roles that we played
Some were good, some were bad: there was so much to say
Right or wrong ... The truth won't fade away

 

Holding on

(Brooker / Reid)

Zika nor nama ... hesah!

Through this hourglass
Sands are running fast
In deserted plains
Kingdoms write their names
On these burning sands
Kingdoms show their hands
In these killing fields
Soldiers show their steel
The men who play the gods of war
They stay behind the guarded door
And hostages who seek release
They're crying out to keep the peace

Holding on ... Holding on
One day we will be free, one day if we're strong
Holding on ... Holding on
Through the shadows cast to a brighter day

In these fields of stone
Far away from home
In this vale of tears
The men who play the gods of war
They stay behind the guarded door
Religious leaders teaching hate
Praise the war and call it fate

Man with a mission

I'm a dog in a manger
A cat with a mouse
I'm the prodigal stranger
I'll burn down the house
I'm a self-educator
A collector of news
I'm the cool liberator
Any topic you choose

I'm a man with a mission
I'm a shooting star
I've got no inhibitions
I don't care who you are

Got my eye on the future
And my hand on the pulse
There's a whole world of people
In the back of the bus
There's a man on a tightrope
Who's got nothing to share
Just a whole lot of secrets
And a head full of air

I'm a man with a mission
I'm a shooting star
I've got no inhibitions
I don't care who you are

It's the Tropic of Cancer
The meaning of soul
There's a change in the weather
To have and to hold
The method of access
A handful of dust
It's just par for the course, boy
Get back on the bus

I'm a man with a mission
I'm a shooting star
I've got no inhibitions
I don't care who you are

 

(You can't) turn back the page

The night surrounds me
I can't turn back the hands of time
When I look around me
My thoughts are of the lonely kind
Such a game of high stakes
We gambled and then we lost
We were fools to believe
That we could beat the odds

But the story always ends the same
(You can't turn back the page)
Trying to relive ev'ry moment as it came
(You can't turn back the page)
But it always ends the same
You can't turn back the page

The night surrounds me
I try and get you off my mind
But still ... still it hounds me
If I could see you one more time
In a moment of madness
We gambled and the we lost
Now we live in the shadows
And pay the cost

And the story always ends the same
(You can't turn back the page)
Trying to relive ev'ry moment as it came
(You can't turn back the page)
But it always ends the same
You can't turn back the page

The judgement's been set
The jury retired
The court's now in recess
The plea's been denied

And the story always ends the same
(You can't turn back the page)
Trying to relive ev'ry moment as it came
(You can't turn back the page)
But it always ends the same
You can't turn back the page

 

One more time

Good to get your message
So you're coming back home again
Just can't wait to see you
No need to explain
A friend of mine told me
That you've found yourself a new man
I'm feeling' really good for you
Hope you understand
I've still got your picture
I'm sure you know
We had something special
Where did it go?

One more time
Let's remember how good it felt
One more time
Remember what we meant
One more time
Can't help wondering where it went
One more time
Just one more time

I wonder if you finished
Working on that book
Maybe I could come 'round sometime
'n take a look
A friend of mine told me
That you've changed your hair
They say you're really different now
I remember how you were
I've still got your picture
I'm sure you know
We had something special
Where did it go?

One more time
Let's remember how good it felt
One more time
Remember what we meant
One more time
Can't help wondering where it went
One more time
Just one more time

 

A dream in ev'ry home

Remember when you felt it first?
The bitter taste of love
The hand that reached inside your purse
The fist inside the glove
Remember how it felt to be
The only one who cared
You peeked behind the open door
The bride is always bared

You always knew this day would come
You lie in bed alone
The TV flickers silently
A dream in every home (early mixes exist in which Gary sings 'A dream without a home')

Remember when you felt it first?
When you played kiss and tell
The moment that the arrow pierced
The pearl inside the shell
Remember how good it felt to be?
To really come alive
You peeked behind the open door
The secrets of the hive

 

The hand that rocks the cradle

(Brooker / Reid / Thompson)
When you're out in the dark
nothing to believe in
And you can't find a way back home
There's a man with a secret
There's a visionary sister
Who knows what's right or wrong?
Little by little I turn to the light
And one day I'll be satisfied

Like the hand that rocks the cradle
I gotta be gentle and strong
The hand that rocks the cradle
Gonna be the lucky one

When the wind blows cold
And you lose your resistance
Slipping down on the darkest side
You can push too hard
You can run too fast
Don't get lost in the looking glass
Little by little the wheel turns around
And one day I'll be satisfied

Like the hand that rocks the cradle
I gotta be gentle and strong
The hand that rocks the cradle
Gonna be the lucky one

The King of Hearts

(Brooker / Reid / Noble)
There was trouble in the air
Just a subtle hint of danger
And a woman dressed in black
out looking for a stranger
Well she took me to her room
Where she offered me a wager
She promised me the moon
So I took a chance

Yes I played the King of Hearts
Put my cards out on the table
I thought the odds were in my favour
But she laid the Ace of Spades
And I wound up where I started
The King of Hearts no more
But the King of the Broken-hearted

She cut the deck one more
By the light of thirteen candles
She said, "the winner takes it all --
Is that too much for you to handle?
So I wandered through my playing cards
And tried to understand her
I was looking for a face
It was right there in my hand

Yes I played the King of Hearts
Put my cards out on the table
I thought the odds were in my favour
But she laid the Ace of Spades
And I wound up where I started
The King of Hearts no more
But the King of the Broken-hearted

All Our Dreams Are Sold

(Brooker / Reid / R.Trower)
Rings upon your fingers
Bells upon your toes
Ev'ry day's a game of chance
Ev'ry body knows
In the king's apartment
Heavy lies the crown
There must be a thousand ways
To bring that castle down

Wave the mighty dollar
Make us live again
Lead and we will follow
Faithful to the end
Wave the mighty dollar
Pave the streets with gold
Lead us by the collar
All our dreams are sold

Rings upon your finger
Stardust in your hair
Jumping through that wall of fire
All for the market share
In the king's apartment
Desperate human greed
Try to find a diff'rent way
Satisfy that need

Wave the mighty dollar
Make us live again
Lead and we will follow
Faithful to the end
Wave the mighty dollar
Pave the streets with gold
Lead us by the collar
All our dreams are sold

 

Perpetual motion

(Brooker / Reid / Noble)
Rings around the crescent moon
Passions rise from basement rooms
Fountains play and worlds collide
We gently swing and sway from side to side

Dancers in perpetual motion
Slip and sliding across the floor
Ships out on a moonlit ocean
Sailing t'ward a distant shore

Star-crossed lovers they spoon and swim
The laughing gods they just reel them in
Hostages they're tempting fate
See them wait down on the line to take the bait

Dancers in perpetual motion
Slip and sliding across the floor
Ships out on a moonlit ocean
Sailing t'ward a distant shore

The simple stuff we build our dreams upon
Waxing, waning, now it's almost gone
Passion plays the sweetest tune
These velvet days are gone far too soon

Dancers in perpetual motion
Slip and sliding across the floor
Ships out on a moonlit ocean
Sailing t'ward a distant shore

We spend our nights on silken sheets
We play for gold but not for keeps
Dancers in perpetual motion
Slip and sliding across the floor
Ships out on a moonlit ocean
Sailing t'ward a distant shore

Learn to fly

(Brooker / Reid / Fisher)
You and me got a chance to make things right
The writing ... the writing's on the wall
You and me got a chance to turn things 'round
We got no time ... the future's slipping
through our hands

Learn to fly
Where eagles only dare to try
We're on the wing
We dare to win
We see the future and we're gonna make it
Learn to live
You know you got so much to give
It's in the air
it's everywhere
We got a vision and we're gonna claim it

You and me we can't turn back at all
The die is cast ... (you know) the deal is done
you and me we knew this day would come
And now it's here ... the journey's just begun

Learn to fly
Where eagles only dare to try
We're on the wing
We dare to win
We see the future and we're gonna make it
Learn to live
You know you got so much to give
It's in the air
it's everywhere
We got a vision and we're gonna claim it

 

The pursuit of happiness

(Brooker / Reid / Noble)
One into one won't go
Two out of three don't know
Time and tide in man's affairs
Trouble always comes in pairs
Wonder where the picture went?
What we got ain't worth a cent
What we got ain't worth a damn
Someone's screwed the master plan

The pursuit of happiness
It's a common goal
The pursuit of happiness
Doing what we're told
The pursuit of happiness
To the very end
It goes 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round again

Bite the bullet in the dust
Got to take their word on thrust
No use counting down your prayers
All God's children running scared
No use howling at the moon
Planet Earth is going soon
Starving children stand on line
Living now on borrowed time

The pursuit of happiness
It's a common goal
The pursuit of happiness
Doing what we're told
The pursuit of happiness
To the very end
It goes 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round again
 

Warning about copyright Words from other Procol Harum albums


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