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BOOK ONE: THEN lyrics: J. Morse © 1984 I - Decadence Crumbling down, all around Littering the sidewalk, dust and dreams Tenements fall, sirens call You can hear the asphalt talk The city's full of decadence No one knows how to face the day An endless search for dollars and cents Has made us all this way Too much change rearranged Everything I was used to This used to be a place to see But now what am I going to do? The streets are full of violence Can't see why it stays this way We're drowning in our own decadence 'Cause we've forgotten about today II - Another Road As I flow down another stream of consciousness I look back on the way that things once were As I run down another road I see the night But in the darkness I can't see where you are Oh, won't you tell me where you are? I'm on my way to you, where are you now? I just want to see your face, shining in the light I've got to hit the road to your front door Will you let me in? If that's the case Oh, you've gone and left without a trace. . . III - Bridge (instrumental) IV - Chasm Once upon a time, I could walk across this road The grass grew either side, and the evening scent Of fresh-cut grass and barbecue Would drift across and make me close my eyes Then the freeway came, six lanes of speeding traffic The flowers died beside, and the sickly smell Of burning gas and hot rubber Would drift across and make me close my eyes As the water runs down Close my eyes As the landscape changes once again Close my eyes As the air becomes thick Close my eyes And remember how it once had been Where there once was dirt, there's an elevated walk- Way across the highway, closed within a fence Climb up the ramp, and then look down And walk across and reach the other side And the water runs down Hide my eyes From the way my city changes once again Close my eyes And scurry down the ramp Close my eyes And remember how it once had been V - Emergence Through the trees On the other side Across the creek Where remnants of the old town Still linger quietly Across the tracks Where the rails shine The signals blink But the trains don't seem to run now Their day has passed away I pause And take some time to look around Could be That this progress isn't so bad Yet still I can wear my regrets on my sleeve For the life That we no longer seem able to lead. . . On my feet Continue my walk Across the street Into the ghost of this old town It whispers quietly "Don't forget me." Continued in Book Two: Now Composition notes on CITY |