Tree of Life

Far beyond the field of memory, far beyond the questin' mind
Hidin' in the tree of life and risin' through the roots of time
Here is history's anger dying, here the great utopian dreams
Cry for their abandoned homeland tears for loveless, lost regimes
Tears for loveless, lost regimes

Here an ancient Chinese writer scribbles on his coloured slate
Chartin' every misdemeanour carefully by time and date
Here each child is playin' with nothin' more than sunlight from the sun
Cradlin' his Kalashnikov and polishin' his Gatling gun
Polishin' his Gatling gun

Far beyond the worthless countin', far beyond those coloured beads
All across a poisoned land of consequences and misdeeds
Friends will sit and tell their tales to anyone who wants to hear
Of puppetry and power and the rattle of the musketeer
The rattle of the musketeer

So here's where I'll find my galaxy of bright and shinin' stars
Flashin' to celestial trumpets backed by a thousand steel guitars
Here's where the ghostly angels play their games of solitaire
At ten below, and now you know you really are too cold to care
You really are too cold to care

This icy wind from way up North will petrify whatever breathes
A blast that howls through every pore is strippin' bare the summer leaves
The crippled branches crack and fall, but finally, against the grain
Relentlessly the tree of life is risin' through the acid rain

The crippled branches crack and fall, but finally, against the grain
Relentlessly this tree of life is risin' through the acid rain