Peter Hammill
The Great Experiment
[Verse 1]
"Is that all there is to it?" He asks
"No more conjecture or controversy?
Don't think I could go through it
I couldn't live with the memory
Now is the hour, it comes eventually;
How great the power as it falls on me!"

[Pre-Chorus]
He's raising his sense of occasion to the limit
(Big moment is coming up)
Practised, his sense of evasion... or is it?
(No sidestep or dummy run)
Craving a certain indulgence – would you give it?
Would you give it in time?

[Chorus]
Treading water, making waves
From the cradle to the grave;
Home by a whisker – close shaves!
I'm waiting, what I said I meant:
No faking The Great Experiment
I'm waiting, what I said I meant:
No faking The Great Experiment

[Verse 2]
Near the end of the reel now
He's hanging on by his fingertips
Oh, he knows how it feels;
At last the kiss of unearthly lips
Now is the hour to get a tighter grip
How great the power as the tide begins to rip!
[Pre-Chorus]
And he's raising his sense of occasion to the limit
(Big moment is coming up)
Practised, his sense of evasion... or is it?
(No sidestep or dummy run)
Craving a certain indulgence – would you give it?
Would you give it in time?

[Chorus]
Treading water, making waves
From the cradle to the grave;
Home by a whisker – close shaves!
I'm waiting, what I said I meant:
No faking The Great Experiment
I'm waiting, what I said I meant:
No faking The Great Experiment
I'm waiting, what I said I meant:
No faking The Great Experiment
I'm waiting, what I said I meant:
No faking The Great Experiment

[Guitar Solo]

[Outro]
I'm waiting -
No faking The Great Experiment