The Comet Songtext
von Peter Hammill

They say we are endowed with free will
At least that justifies our need for indecision
But between our instincts and the lust to kill
We bow our heads in submission
They say that no man is an island
But then they say our castles are our homes
And it′s felt the choices are between peace and violence
Oh yeah, we choose alone
And the comet spreads its tail across the sky
But it nowhere near defines the course it flies
Nor does it find its own direction
Though the path of the comet be sure
Its constitution is not
So its meaning is possibly more
Than the tracing of a tail in one brief shot at glory
Love and peace and individuality
So order and society are man-made
War and hate and dark depravity
Are we slaved?
Shamanic, aggressive and unchained


Like the death-wish and the will to survive
Indefining, unforgiving enemies
Yeah, that's the only way we know that we′re alive
In the slaughterhouse all corpses smell the same
Whether queens or pawns or innocents at the game
In the cemetery all uniformed cloaks and graves
Except for outward pomp and circumstance
And there is a time set in the calendar
When all reason seems barely enough
To sustain all the shooting stars
But times are up
And I'm waiting for something to happen here
It feels as though it's long overdue
Maybe a restatement of yesteryear
Or maybe something entirely new
And the knowledge that we gain in part
Always leads us closer to the very start
And to the founding questions
Like how do I tell
That the road sign to hell doesn′t lead up to heaven?
And what do I say
When in some obscure way
I am my own direction?