The Underfall Yard

Steel in the skies and the road
Somehow travelling far
Chasing a dream of the west
Made with iron and stone.

These are old hills that stand in the way
Breaking the line
It came out of the storm
Out of the sea
To the permanent way
Using just available light
He could still see far.

Deep in the heart of the land
Breaking through the old stone
Chasing the trail of the water
Down through underground streams.

Working the way through the valleys and fields
Grass grown hills and stone
Parting the land
With the mark of man
The permanent way
Using just available light
He could still see far skies
Deep time.

These are old places stood in the way
Low cloud comes to ground
The grey and the green and the bold and the brave
On the permanent way
Using just available light
He could still see far
Using just available light
He could still see far.

Twelve stones from the water
Continents apart
The clouds are gathering again
Filling up the sky
It rains on England.

Roofless engine houses
Distant hills like bookends
Frame electrical storms
Moving out to sea
Away from England.

Those days have gone those days...
Those days have gone
Their names are lost
The stories left untold
Under an ordinary star
We are just moments of time
It is the end of the line
This place is worked out.

Those days have gone
Their names are lost
The stories left untold.

A faultline opens in the ground
Waves make their way to the shore
This is the end of the line
Time worn and broken.

These things have faded with the light
Few know the stories now
This is the end of the line
Time worn and broken
Under steel grey skies
He is drawn across the river
No bands played
There was no sound
A sunray met the dark
Of the fuller's earth
It is gone now
It is over.

All good things and everything...
This used to be a railway town
Now we're travelling without knowing
Without meaning.

Light bleeds from the world
Starcross the Underfall Yard
The iron and the stone is broken
The dream of the Western mind
Searching for reason
Is gone now.

These are old places stood in the way
Grass grown hills and stone
Parting the land
With the mark of man
The permanent way
Using just available light
He could still see far.