Peter Hammill
The Sphinx in the Face
[Instrumental Intro]

[Verse 1]
I remember what it felt like at seventeen:
I was a cat, a snake, a lizard, a mouse...
Still got an interest in the limousine
And a spouse and a brat
Country house, London flat

[Verse 2]
I'm gonna head for the island when the summer's out
I'm gonna do all the stuff that I can
Drink like a fish in a waterspout -
I'm a fan of the flow
It began long ago
I'm a man who should know
It doesn't stop

[Break]

[Accapella]

[Break]

[Verse 3]
There's so much to remember
And so much to forget:
We're all in the possession of the future tense
But don't know it yet
[Verse 4]
The flesh comes through the spirit
The spirit through the flesh...
We look the Sphinx in the face for answers
Oh, and, of course, we're not impressed

[Verse 5]
We're caught between age and beauty
Experience and youth
So we feel the need acutely
For any kind of Truth

[Bridge]
Oh, but we get copped some days
Caught between options we've failed to play
Such wasted chance
So I join the wastrel's dance:
It has slow as well as fast movements
And any change must surely be an improvement
On simply fossilizing, standing still

[Instrumental]

[Verse 6]
I got a steady vocation for the Quiet Zone
I just can't wait for the song to be sung
I'm still possessed by the promise of the Pleasure Dome
You're so young, you're so old
You're so here, you're so gone
Such a drag to be told
You're so near, you're so wrong
You're so young, you're so old
You're so queer, you're so strong
[Outro]
Such a drag to be told
You're so here, you're so gone
You're so young, you're so old
You're so near, you're so wrong
You're such a drag to be told
You're so queer, you're so strong
You're so young, you're so old
You're so here, you're so gone
Such a drag to be told
You're so near, you're so wrong
You're so young, you're so old
You're so queer, you're so strong
Such a drag to be told (To be told)
You're so near, you're so wrong
You're so young, so old
So near, so wrong
Such a drag to be told
You're so queer, you're so strong
So young, so old
You're so here, so gone
Such a drag to be told
You're so near, you're so wrong
You're so young, you're so old
You're so queer, you're so strong
Such a drag to be told