[ti:The Comet, The Course, The Tail] [ar:Peter Hammill] [al:In Camera] [by:] [offset:0] [00:00.00]The Comet, The Course, The Tail - Peter Hammill [00:01.32]Written by:Peter Hammill [00:02.64]They say we are endowed with free will [00:09.08]At least that justifies our need for indecision [00:16.62]But before our insticts and the lust to kill [00:20.93]We bow our heads in submission [00:29.27]They say that no man is an island [00:36.83]But then they say our castles are our homes [00:44.66]It's felt the choice is ours between peace and violence [00:50.05]Oh yes we choose alone [00:54.74]While the comet spreads it's tail across the sky [01:03.19]It nowhere near defines the course it flies [01:10.46]Nor does it find it's own direction [01:27.57]Though the path of the comet be sure [01:31.77]It's constitution is not [01:37.07]So it's meaning is possibly more [01:41.55]Than the tracing of a tail [01:43.39]In one brief shot at glory [02:31.65]Love and peace and individuality [02:39.58]So order and society are man made [02:47.85]War and hate and dark depravity [02:54.00]Or are we slaves [03:00.44]Channeling aggressive energies [03:08.14]The death wish and the will to survive [03:16.40]Into finding and preserving enemies [03:22.18]Is that the only way we know that we're alive [03:31.00]In the slaughterhouse all corpses smell the same [03:39.40]Whether queens or pawns or innocents at the game [03:47.59]In the cemetery a uniform cloaks the graves [03:55.05]Except for outward pomp and circumstance [04:02.59]There is a time set in the calendar [04:08.81]When all reason seems barely enough [04:19.39]To sustain all the shooting stars [04:25.05]Times are rough [04:30.72]And I'm waiting for something to happen here [04:39.54]It feels as though it's long overdue [04:48.34]Maybe a restatement of yesteryear [04:54.16]Or something entirely new [04:59.14]And the knowledge that we gain in part [05:07.33]Always leads us closer to the very start [05:14.88]And to the founding questions [05:28.98]How can I tell that the road signed to hell [05:36.49]Doesn't lead up to heaven [05:43.03]What can I say when in some obscure way [05:48.75]I am my own direction