@ALBUM: the crossing Artist: Big Country Album: The Crossing note: There are several discrepancies between what is written on the lyric sheet and what is actually sung on the album. This version sticks to the latter. This left a very few bits to guesswork; I've enclosed these in ??. ( ano@uk.ac.rdg.cs.csug ) @SONG: In A Big Country I never saw you look like this without a reason Another promise fallen through, another season passes by you I never took the smile away from anybody's face And that's a desperate way to look for someone who is still a child In a big country dreams stay with you Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside Stay alive I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime In a big country dreams stay with you Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside Stay alive So take that look out of here, it doesn't fit you Because it's happened doesn't mean you've been discarded Pull up your head off the floor, come up screaming Cry out for everything you ever might have wanted I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered @SONG: Inwards I wouldn't want to go home on a night like this When I find out that some of the past has been missed And the light in the window has burned it's fuse I pull everything inwards but everything's loose Everything inwards, but everything's loose Everything inwards, but everything's loose I wouldn't want to stay out with news like this All the engines too loud all the pavements hiss How the scouts in the stairwell will ?meet? again I pull everything inwards but everything's ?changed? @SONG: Chance All the rain came down on a cold new town As he carried you away From your father's hand that always seemed like a fist Reaching out to make you pay He came like a hero from the factory floor With the sun and moon as gifts But the only son you ever saw Where the two he left you with Oh lord where did the feeling go Oh lord I never felt so low Now the skirts hang so heavy around your head That you never knew you were young Because you played chance with a lifetime's romance And the price was far too long Oh lord where did the feeling go Oh lord I never felt so low @SONG: 1000 Stars Now we play our final hand Move in closer, understand This time like never before only the black queen scores A card so high and so wild we should burn it The luck of a thousand stars won't get me out of this The luck of a thousand stars; losing it's charm There are people I have loved Hypnotized by lies in defensive disguise Some say protect and survive; I say it's over Hold me through the darkest night I feel secure in your arms while all the city's on fire It's not between you and me but we are losing @SONG: The Storm I came from the hills with a tear in my eye The winter closed in and the crows filled the sky The houses were burning the flames gold and red The people were running with eyes filled with dread Ah my James They didn't have to do this We chased them for miles I had hate in my eyes Through forest and moors as the clouds filled the skies The storm broke upon us with fury and flame Both hunters and hunted washed out in the rain I know I can never return To the time of hope when I was born Let the strength of peace run through my hand When we walk away from the ?stormy shore? Then I will be afraid no more And now I'm sure of where I stand Let the strength of peace run through this land And nobody smiled as we took back our own While rain beat upon us the thunder did moan And nobody smiled when we knew what was lost We knew well enough only time proves the cost @SONG: Harvest Home Who saw the fences falling Who broke the ploughman's bread Who heard the winter calling Who wore the tailor's thread How many sheaves were counted How did the carriage shine How many thoughts were doubted How did the landlord dine Just as you sow you shall reap Who led the mayday feasting Who saw the harvest home Who left the future wasting Who watched the families go See where the bowls are empty See where the arms reach See where the butter melted See where the altars creak Where were the days of promise Where were the gifts divine Where were the heroes honest Where was the summer wine Watch how the waves must shatter Watch how the shore divides Watch how the nets will tatter Watch Canute and his bride @SONG: Lost Patrol We lay the night in anguish, snakes drawn out by the tide The compass of decision falls always on one side But many went before us, and still the cries are clear There is no beauty here, just the stench of wine and beer We save no souls We break no promises We can do nothing more than move on headlong through the gloom The thorn between our lips is the missionaries tune Men with open arms turn their faces half away Observe as we approach that we have not come to save We stand as thick as vines though the fruit is torn away There is no beauty here, friends, just death and dark decay @SONG: Close Action A score of years this line has run Above the crests that drown the sun A mile high the turbines turned The stokers sweat the monkeys burned I will carry you home with the gods in my eyes I will carry you home while the westerlies sigh The continents will fly apart The oceans scream and never part Divided souls can never rest Must join the nations break the test For endless hours the sirens wail Await the tide that brings the sail Cling to the walls and close the shore The lovers wait who walk no more @SONG: Fields Of Fire Beween the father and his son Between the city and the one Between the teacher and the test Between the journey and the rest The shining eye will never cry The beating heart will never die The house on fire holds no shame I will be coming home again Four hundred miles Without a word until you smile Four hundred miles On fields of fire Between the woman and the boy Between the child and a toy Between the following of the west Between the journey and the rest @SONG: Porrohman Night hangs on the city like a blanket on a cage A sacrifice prepared Laughter lies on faces where the sun has never shone The fear of life is strong We are waiting in the forest deep and dark behind the wall What is hidden in our hearts Absolves of all worry when our fate is in the hands Of a demon or a god Porroh man come from the inside of time Takes his dust from a moving line On our knees with our eyes on the ground Those once lost have now been found Save us from all worldly pain Save us from the glowing rain Save us all from love and hope