Peter Hammill - Four Pails Lyrics
Four pails of water and a bagfull of salts.That is all we are, that is all a man comprises,chemicals alone, with no spirit, soul or ghost -nothing so bizarre.No amount of faith disguiseswhat is true is what we fear the mostNothing can survivesave the things men leave behind them.Any other case would be really too absurd -if thoughts remained alivesurely modern science would find them?No, the soul is nothing but a word.All the wonders Man achievesemerge from cerebral tissue.Chemical reactions' ebb and surgeform that Thing that is you....It's a sad philosophy,but better sad than wrong.Face the truth instead:when you're dead you're dead,when you're gone you're gone...now she's gone.Four pails of water and a bagfull of salts.That is all she was, all my lover represented -that sounds just as mad as saying she will never die.Fools may clutch at strawsbut truth must not be circumvented:as the tree falls, so must that tree lie!Now that sounds so odd...once I would have preached it brightly.Now questions appear I rationally can't ignore...Nothingness or God,Which of them seems more unlikely?Once I would have answered clearly,now I only think I'm nearly sure.(Chris Judge Smith
