The Eve of the War

No one would have believed
In the last years of the nineteenth century
That human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space
No one could have dreamed that we were being scrutinized
As someone with a microscope studies creatures that
Swarm and multiply in a drop of water

Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets
And yet, across the gulf of space
Minds immeasurably superior to ours
Regarded this Earth with envious eyes
And slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us

At midnight, on the 12th of August
A huge mass of luminous gas erupted from Mars and sped towards Earth
Across two hundred million miles of void
Invisibly hurtling towards us
Came the first of the missiles that were to bring so much calamity to Earth
As I watched, there was another jet of gas
It was another missile, starting on its way

And that's how it was for the next ten nights
A flare, spurting out from Mars
Bright green, drawing a green mist behind it
A beautiful, but somehow disturbing sight
Ogilvy, the astronomer, assured me we were in no danger
He was convinced there could be no living thing on that remote
Forbidding planet

The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, but still, they come

Then came the night the first missile approached Earth
It was thought to be an ordinary falling star
But next day there was a huge crater in the middle of the common
And Ogilvy came to examine what lay there

A cylinder, thirty yards across, glowing hot
With faint sounds of movement coming from within
Suddenly the top began moving, rotating, unscrewing
And Ogilvy feared there was a man inside trying to escape
He rushed to the cylinder but the intense heat stopped him
Before he could burn himself on the metal

The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, but still, they come

Yes, the chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, but still, they come

It seems totally incredible to me now that
Everyone spent that evening as though it were just like any other

From the railway station came the sound of shunting trains
Ringing and rumbling, softened almost into melody by the distance

It all seemed so safe and tranquil