Columbus sailed on many moons
On a sea of hope
I'll be back it won't be soon
With every word i wrote
It's gone

A sentence in a dusty book
On a spartan shelf
The guards hold up her falling roof
With everything they know
It's gone, gone, gone

Upon the shores of Avalon
A soldier rests his head
The birds pick up the sweetest spot
To build their lonely nest
It's gone, gone, gone
It's gone, gone, gone

Mother, I tried
Mother, I tried
For us, for us, for us
For us

We pull the tree up by its roots
Its shade no longer full
The fish hide in the longest reeds
Ignoring their own rules
They're gone

Spinning a new parasol
She gathered up the street
They used far too much dynamite
To bring 300 feet
Of the wheel
On down

Kaleidoscopes of spinning tales
That i'd one day write
The island fell to disrepair
It fell right from my sight
It's gone, gone, gone

Mother, I tried
Mother, I tried
For us, for us, for us
For us

The horses dug the deeper pits
With strength here for not seen
We lived for gods we cannot see
They're gone

And everything i ever loved
I loved way too soon
A pauper plays his final act
Refusing to lose
But I'm gone

The men we know to hoist a glass
To every fallen friend
They tore the castle down so quick
Never thinking of the end
They're gone, gone, gone
Gone, gone, gone

Mother, I tried
Mother, I tried
For us, for us, for us
For us

The years don't need your oxygen
They need your summer rest
[?]
With every single guest
It's gone, gone, gone

He drew the lines upon her breast
Stopping to his eye
She stood and watched the ships come in
Passing on her left
They're gone, gone, gone

I reach for their benevolence
Cast in endless gold
Our cold is pure will to change
When everything is sold
It's gone, gone, gone
Gone, gone, gone

Mother, I tried
Mother, I tried
For us, for us, for us
For us

In every house a story lies
And we begin again
Conductor cues the Danube Waltz
As the swans begin to swim
They're gone

Some would call this happiness
Others mere progress
I drew the stanzas best I could
From the basement chest
It's gone, gone

The pianos played so out of tune
Their lids were nailed shut
The tracks of a thousand wheels
Had all been given up years ago
Gone, gone, gone

Mother, I tried
Mother, I tried
For us, for us, for us
For us

Zion sends her signal out
Out to outer space
God put me into his mouth
Like Jonah and the whale

A child was meant to lead us out
To show us where to rest
We found a spot beside her gaze
To watch the rockets bless us
It's gone

I wore your heart inside my heart
Until it grew scarred in
The sergeant took the sharpest knife
To cut the bullets out
Pinned to him
It's gone, gone, gone

Mother, I tried
Mother, I tried
For us, for us
For us

And one day when they strip her bare
Down to copper form
Will you be still standing there
Wondering whatever for
They do that which they do
They should leave it all to you