Long ago I heard a tale I never will forget

The time was in the telling on the bank the scene was set

The sky was rolling blindly on, the daylight had not gone

She washed her hair among the stones and saw what was to come

All this will pass

There will be blood among the corn and heroes in the hills

But there is more to come my boy before you've had your fill

Men will come and rape the soil as though it were their own

And they will bathe their feet in oil as I have bathed my own



All this will pass

All things must come

Just as I tell you here



Stones will stand together as if searching for the stars

And all come crashing down again before they reach too far

She turned to face the setting sun, I turned to walk away

But then she called my name again and beckoned me to stay



All this will pass

All things must come

Just as I tell you here



She told me of the famous sons who write their names in peace

Yet be cut down before the time has come for our release

Just as I tell you here

Even now I wait for the coming day

Even now she waits in the dawn

For the tales she tells, for the gifts that she will sell

For the sight she knows, for a vision that still grows

With the dream in her eyes no one's seen



I listened for so long that day that I can hardly tell

If what she said was heaven sent or brought to bear in hell

That men of hope would stand alone and still be cast a lie

Just as Romans cast them on the day they were to die



All this will pass

All things must come

Just as I tell you here



Even now I wait for the coming day

Even now she waits in the dawn

For the tales she tells, for the gifts that she will sell

For the sight she knows, for a vision that still grows

With the dream in her eyes no one's seen