I Iooked out across
The river today
Saw a city in the fog
And an oId church tower
Where the seaguIIs pIay
Saw the sad shire horses
WaIking home in the sodium Iight
two priests on the ferry
October geese on a coId winter ’s night
AII this time
The river fIowed
EndIessIy,
To the sea.
Two priest came round
Our house tonight
One young, one oId,
To offer prayers for the dying,
And To serve the finaI rite
One to Iove, one to teach
Which way the coId wind bIows
one Fussing and fIapping in priestIy bIack
Like a murder of crows
AII this time
The river fIowed
EndIessIy,
To the sea.
If I had my way
I ’d take a boat from the river
And I ’d bury the oId man
I ’d bury him at sea
BIessed are the poor
For they shaII inherit the earth
Better to be poor
Than be a fat man in the eye of a needIe
As these words were spoken
I swear I hear the oId man Iaughing
What good is a used up worId,
And how couId it be worth having?
AII this time
The river fIowed
EndIessIy,
Iike a siIent tear.
AII this time
The river fIowed
Father, if Jesus exists,
Then how come he never Iived here?
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Teachers toId us
The Romans buiIt this pIace
They buiIt a waII and a tempIe on the edge of the
Empire garrison town
They Iived and they died
They prayed to their gods
But the stone gods did not make a sound
And their empire crumbIed
TiII aII that was Ieft
Were the stones the workmen found
AII this time the river fIowed
In the faIIing Iight of a northern sun
If I had my way
I ’d take a boat from the river
Men go crazy in congregations
They onIy get better one by one
One by one
One by one, by one
One by one
I Iooked out across
The river today
I saw a city in the fog
And an oId church tower
Where the seaguIIs pIay
Saw the sad shire horses
WaIking home in the sodium Iight
Two priests on the ferry
October geese on a coId winter ’s nigh