Caress Of Steel

"Bastille Day"

There's no bread, let them eat cake

There's no end to what they'll take

Flaunt the fruits of noble birth

Wash the salt into the earth

But they're marching to Bastille Day

La guillotine will claim her bloody prize

Free the dungeons of the innocent

The king will kneel, and let his kingdom rise

Bloodstained velvet, dirty lace

Naked fear on every face

See them bow their heads to die

As we would bow as they rode by

And we're marching to Bastille Day

La guillotine will claim her bloody prize

Sing, o choirs of cacophony

The king has kneeled, to let his kingdom rise.

Lessons taught but never learned

All around us anger burns

Guide the future by the past

Long ago the mould was cast

For they marched up to Bastille Day

La guillotine - claimed her bloody prize

Hear the echoes of the centuries

Power isn't all that money buys

"I Think I'm Going Bald"

I looked in the mirror today

My eyes just didn't seem so bright

I've lost a few more hairs

I think I'm going bald

I think I'm going bald

Seems like only yesterday

We would sit and talk of dreams all night

Dreams of youth

And simple truths

Now we're so involved

So involved with life

Walk down vanity fair

Memory lane everywhere

Wall Street shuffles there

Dressed in flowing hair

Once we loved the flowers

Now we ask the price of the land

Once we would take water

But now it must be wine

Now we've been

And now we've seen

What price peace of mind

Take a piece of my mind

My life is slipping away

I'm aging every day

But even when I'm grey

I'll still be grey my way

"Lakeside Park"

Midway hawkers calling

Try your luck with me

Merry-go-round wheezing

The same old melody

A thousand ten cent wonders

Who could ask for more

A pocketful of silver

The key to heaven's door

Lakeside Park

Willows in the breeze

Lakeside Park

So many memories

Laughing rides

Midway lights

Shining stars on summer nights

Days of barefoot freedom

Racing with the waves

Nights of starlit secrets

Crackling driftwood flames

Drinking by the lighthouse

Smoking on the pier

Still we saw the magic

Fading every year

Everyone would gather

On the twenty fourth of May

Sitting in the sand

To watch the fireworks display

Dancing fires on the beach

Singing songs together

Though it's just a memory

Some memories last forever

"The Necromancer"

I. Into Darkness

As grey traces of dawn tinge the eastern sky, the three travelers, men of Willow Dale, emerge from the forest shadow. Fording the River Dawn, they turn south, journeying into the dark and forbidding lands of the Necromancer. Even now the intensity of his dread power can be felt, weakening the body and saddening the heart. Ultimately they will become empty, mindless spectres, stripped of will and soul. Only their thirst for freedom gives them hunger for vengeance...

Silence shrouds the forest

As the birds announce the dawn

Three trav'llers ford the river

And southward journey on

The road is lined with peril

The air is charged with fear

The shadow of his nearness

Weighs like iron tears

II. Under the Shadow

Shreds of black cloud loom in overcast skies. The Necromancer keeps watch with his magic prism eyes. He views all his lands and is already aware of the three helpless invaders trapped in his lair...

Brooding in the tower

Watching o'er his land

Holding ev'ry creature

Helplessly they stand

Gaze into his prisms

Knowing they are near

Lead them to the dungeons

Spectres numb with fear

They bow defeated

III. Return of the Prince

Enter the Champion. Prince By-Tor appears to battle for freedom from chains of long years. The spell has been broken...the Dark Lands are bright, the Wraith of the Necromancer soars away...in the night.

Stealthily attacking

By-Tor slays his foe

The men are free to run now

From labyrinths below

The Wraith of Necromancer

Shadows through the sky

Another land to darken

With evil prism eye...

Terminat hora diem; terminat auctor opus [loosely translated: As the hour ends the day, the author ends his work]

"The Fountain of Lamneth"

I. In the Valley

I am born

I am me

I am new

I am free

Look at me

I am young

Sight unseen

Life unsung

My eyes have just been opened

And they're open very wide

Images around me

Don't identify inside

Just one blur I recognize

The one that soothes and feeds

My way of life is easy

And as simple are my needs

Yet my eyes are drawn toward

The mountain in the east

Fascinates and captivates

Gives my heart no peace

The mountain holds the sunrise

In the prison of the night

Till bursting forth from rocky chains

The valley floods with light

Living one long sunrise

For to me all things are new

I've never watched the sky grow pale

Or strolled through fields of dew

I do not know of dust to dust

I live from breath to breath

I live to climb that mountain to

The Fountain of Lamneth

II. Didacts and Narpets

Unofficial lyrics, not included in lyric sheet:

"Stay!"

"Go!"

"Work!"

"No!"

"Think!"

"Live!"

"Earn!"

"Give!"

<"Wait" or "Fight"?>/<"Right">

<Laugh?>/<"Right" or "Wait"?>

Listen...

III. No One At the Bridge

Crying back to consciousness

The coldness grips my skin

The sky is pitching violently

Drawn by shrieking winds

Seaspray blurs my vision

Waves roll by so fast

Save my ship of freedom

I'm lashed helpless to the mast

Call out for direction

And there's no one there to steer

Shout out for salvation

But there's no one there to hear

Cry out supplication

For the maelstrom is near

Scream out desperation

But no one cares to hear

Remembering when first I held

The wheel in my own hands

I took the helm so eagerly

And sailed for distant lands

But now the sea's too heavy

And I just don't understand

Why must my crew desert me

When I need a guiding hand

IV. Panacea

The whiteness of confusion

Is unfolding from my mind

I stare around in wonder

Have I left my life behind

I catch the scent of ambergris

And turn my head... surprised

My gaze is caught and held

And I am helpless, mesmerized

Panacea - liquid grace

Oh let me touch your fragile face

Enchantment falls around me

And I know I cannot leave

Here's a meaning for my life

A shelter from the storm

Pacify my troubles with

Her body, soft and warm

Naked in our unity

A smile for every tear

Gentle hands that promise me

Comfort through the years

Yet I know I must be gone

Before the light of dawn

Panacea - passion pure

I can't resist your gentle lure

My heart will lie beside you

And my wandering body grieves

V. Bacchus Plateau

Another endless day

Silhouettes of grey

Another glass of wine

Drink with eyes that shine

To days without that chill at morning

Long nights time out of mind

Draw another goblet

From the cask of '43

Crimson misty memory

Hazy glimpse of me

Give me back my wonder

- I've something more to give

I guess it doesn't matter

- There's not much more to live

Another foggy dawn

The mountain almost gone

Another doubtful fear

The road is not so clear

My soul grows ever weary

And the end is ever near

VI. The Fountain

Look... the mist is rising

And the sun is peaking through

See, the steps grow lighter

As I reach their final few

Hear, the dancing waters

I must be drawing near

Feel, my heart is pounding

With embattled hope and fear

Now, at last I fall before

The Fountain of Lamneth

I thought I would be singing

But I'm tired... out of breath

Many journeys end here

But, the secret's told the same

Life is just a candle

And a dream must give it flame

The key, the end, the answer

Stripped of their disguise

Still it's all confusion

And tears spring to my eyes

Though I've reached a signpost

It's really not the end

Like Old Sol behind the mountain

I'll be coming up again...

I'm in motion

I am still

I am crying

I am still

I'm together

I'm apart

I'm forever

At the start

Still... I am