High up above us, where all the hawks
Circle the mountain, riding the wind
Floating on updrafts and searching for prey
I think I saw them today

I climbed up higher than I've ever been
Walked through the rubble, the smog and decay
Up where the sky is not auburn but blue
I'd like to go there with you

Miles stretch below us, lost in the haze
Everything distant, everything strange
Birds in formations that I've never seen
Spelling a language of dreams

Trees low and twisted, flattened by storms
Stretch across granite to reach for the edge
I feel an impulse to spring and take flight
Everything seems to be right

And the snow that falls tomorrow
Like a blanket pure and white
Will erase the thousand crossroads I have found
And the blindly staring scarecrow watching over his dead field
Will keep vigil over restless wolves at night

I will stay with him
In the snowswept din
And when I am cold
He will be my fire

They are calling it a white-out
All the experts on tv
"Snow is general from Waikiki to Qatar"

But they do not know what scarecrow
Whispered in my frozen ear
Here's a winter that the spring will not relieve

I will stay with him
In the snowswept din
And when I am cold
He will be my fire

The guilts, the aches, the almost starts
The songs that break a million hearts
The slowly taking you apart
Your mother's voice, your father's hands
The long abandoned teenage plans

Those country boys just left you cold
The local girls, they acted old
Your mother's lips, your father's eyes
You'll never hear your baby cry

Birds on a sandy bank
And the tides wash away
All the season's remains
Scents on the wind
Autumn is here
Red leaves on water
And mists rolling in

Here, at the water's edge
Where the undertow beckons
to shadowy depths
Here is where all
comes to an end
Time ticking slower
Colours that fade

Red leaves on the water
Time is ticking slower
No-one saw it coming
Like a shadow across the land
Will you stand here with me
Hold my hand and you will see
Brace for heavy landing
And the sky will come crashing down
And the stars will drown
Hold my hand and you'll see

Time here is running out
Not a wave on the sea
And the air frozen still
Sand on the wind
Stuck in mid-air
Sound is suspended
In infinite loop

Red leaves on the water
Time is ticking slower
No-one saw it coming
Like a shadow across the land
Will you stand here with me
Watch the very end with me
Brace for heavy landing
And the sky will come crashing down
And the stars fall all around
Let the end credits roll

Dark October drifting past us
Sheets of rain that hum and drum
On this panoramic window
While the grammophone plays "Stormy Weather" again

And the winds that howl and holler
Like a lost and lonely beast
While this empty high-rise shivers
But for floor 67 where you and I sleep

The empty cabana
The wolves by the pool-side
The hawks in the grand foyer
And raggedy children
Who play after sundown
In cars that are all stripped bare

We are stocked and under lock
an ice machine, a movie screen
And drinks to last us 'til the end
Sobriety is not a friend

This was once a proud endeavour
Builders reaching for the sky
Now there's nothing here that lingers
But the cold, hollow cries of a market that died

But we stayed on through the winter
As the empire crashed and burned
And we heard the world grow quiet
And the voice on the radio said its goodbye

A wonderful vista
An endless siesta
So high up above it all
On floor 67
We danced in our heaven
While you watched the curtain fall

(Instrumental)

Tears on her pillow
Slumber is hard to resist
Sleep takes her by the hand
Opens another door
Time passes slowly
One day so much like the next
When did he say goodbye
When did the lights go out

She sees the laden sky
Wonders if he's alive
Oh since the waters rose
She has had no repose

Watches the branches
Weave in and out of the waves
She never thought she would
Live with an ocean view
Something approaching
Is it her brave sailor boy?
Heart beating faster now
No, just a drifting corpse

She sees the laden sky
Wonders if he's alive
Oh since the waters rose
She has had no repose

She is alone now
None but the vultures remain
Tuesday the last folks left
Embarked from the roof of the downtown mall
Everything's sinking, or is the tide on the rise?
She has been thinking
Of rowing her boat to the western hills

Up where the land is dry
She'll find her peace up high
Ever since Edward left
She has felt so bereft

(Instrumental)

As I walked out into the woods one day
I saw the earth was awaiting
No leaves were moving and the beasts were still
I held my breath 'til I swayed

As I rowed out onto the sea one night
I heard the water lamenting
Not even ripples touched its deep blue skin
I listened long to its song

The drifting snow
That hides the violent sea
The drifting snow is me
The howling wind
That strips the forest bare
That howling wind is here