Cygnus X-1, Book II: Hemispheres (London, UK, June 1980) Songtext
von Rush

When our weary world was young
The struggle of the ancients first began
The Gods of Love and Reason
Sought alone to rule the fate of Man

They battled through the ages
But still neither force would yield
The people were divided
Every soul a battlefield
Every soul a battlefield

"I bring truth and understanding
I bring wit and wisdom fair
Precious gifts beyond compare
We can build a world of wonder
I can make you all aware
I will find you food and shelter
Show you fire to keep you warm
Through the endless winter storm
You can live in grace and comfort
In the world that you transform"


The people were delighted, coming forth to claim their prize
They ran to build their cities and converse among the wise
But one day, the streets fell silent, yet they knew not what was wrong
The urge to build these fine things seemed not to be so strong
The wise men were consulted and the Bridge of Death was crossed
In quest of Dionysus to find out what they had lost

"I bring love to give you solace
In the darkness of the night
In the heart′s eternal light
You need only trust your feelings
Only love can steer you right
I bring laughter, I bring music
I bring joy and I bring tears
I will soothe your primal fears
Throw off those chains of reason
And your prison disappears"

The cities were abandoned and the forests echoed song
They danced and lived as brothers, they knew love could not be wrong
Food and wine they had aplenty and they slept beneath the stars
The people were contented and the Gods watched from afar
But the winter fell upon them and it caught them unprepared
Bringing wolves and cold starvation and the hearts of men despaired


The universe divided as the heart and mind collided
With the people left unguided
For so many troubled years
In a cloud of doubts and fears
Their world was torn asunder into hollow hemispheres

Some fought themselves, some fought each other
Most just followed one another
Lost and aimless like their brothers
For their hearts were so unclear
And the truth could not appear
Their spirits were divided into blinded hemispheres

Some who did not fight brought tales of old to light
"My Rocinante sailed by night on her final flight"
To the heart of Cygnus' fearsome force, we set our course
Spiralled through that timeless space, to this immortal place

I have memory and awareness, but I have no shape or form
As a disembodied spirit, I am dead and yet unborn
I have passed into Olympus, as was told in tales of old
To the city of Immortals, marble white and purest gold

I see the Gods in battle rage on high
Thunderbolts across the sky
I cannot move, I cannot hide
I feel a silent scream begin inside

Then all at once the chaos ceased
A stillness fell, a sudden peace
The warriors felt my silent cry
And stayed their struggle, mystified

Apollo was astonished
Dionysus thought me mad
But they heard my story further
And they wondered and were sad
Looking down from Olympus, on a world of doubt and fear
Its surface splintered into sorry hemispheres

They sat a while in silence, then they turned at last to me
"We will call you Cygnus, the God of Balance you shall be"

We can walk our road together, if our goals are all the same
We can run alone and free, if we pursue a different aim
Let the truth of love be lighted
Let the love of truth shine clear
Sensibility, armed with sense and liberty
With the heart and mind united in a single perfect sphere