Shell Songtext
von Peter Hammill

Turn a card, turn a page
The action sure to start
Second-stage reaction
To illogical thought on random lines
In a Borges dream we move toward the writing of lies

Leave it out, leave it in
No edits, with a shout, with a grin
I said it was a certainty that I′d arrive
In an Escher sketch we walk around the drawing of lines

The character Uncertainty
As he contemplates his lot
And tries to move with urgency
Though he's rooted to the spot

On the brink, on the edge
But lately, what I think, what I said
Escapes me in a flash
A tiger burning bright
Does the visionary trance obscure the burgeoning night?


And she said, "What are you doing?"
And he said, "What do you think?"
Oh no, what on earth are we doing?

The characters procrastinate
On the threshold of the door

There′s something here that fascinates
Though the meaning's still unsure
And the plot so thick
Is it some kind of history?
Sketch the thumbnail to the quick
Oh, even though it's full of contradiction
Though it′s flawed in the design
This is no fiction

It′s a lifeline

Here we are, there we went
Full circle, shooting stars
Heaven-sent, turn turtle on the beach
Our shells are left behind
Like a library, like a memory
Of our ghostwritten lives