Time to Burn - Peter Hammill

Time to burn, we could talk all the problems through…

Are the promises still unbroken,

do the spoken words still ring true?

Oh, and where are you?

Time to burn, wakes and weddings, celestial choirs,

and while one hand shakes on the bargain

see the other stoke the suttee pyre;

so we’re all on fire,

burning for tomorrow.

So much time wish- and hoping,

soon the future will come

with a bridal wreath for the wedding

in the hands of the prodigal son.

So much left undone,

here we are with time to burn.

So much time wishful thinking,

all the whitest of lies

with the prodigal caught at the border

and the order of service awry.

No time for goodbyes,

will we ever start to learn?

Time to burn, wakes and weddings become confused,

all the faces over-familiar

in the whirlwind of deja-vu…

Oh, but where are you?

Time to burn, all our lifelines are gathered round

with a speech from the back of a postcard

all the memories free in one bound.

Free, and gone to ground,

free, and gone forever.

Free, and gone to ground,

so I will remember

so much lost and found.

Here we are with time to burn.