Had we never come across the vastness of pavement

The barrenness of waves and the grayness of the sea

Never lost or ne'er been misguided

We'd have ne'er reached seas so shining



Or come from out of a hansom in Camden

To a bar in the basement

While all the while it rained

Or come around to the friendliest of faces

Handsomest in ugly places



Or come from out of the tunnels we dig in

To see that tunneling's not living 

And working doesn't work

Or come to find that loving is labor

Labor's life and life's forever



Or come to see that keeping's not giving

You get what you've given

You get what you deserve

And in the midst of all of the action

Maybe only there found satisfaction



Chasing sea-foam dreams 

Around another dirty old town

Parallel run streams 

Toward the gray ocean from the green ground

'Oed und leer, das meer

But look beneath the glassy surface

All the songs you hear

Down there they have a purpose



All in all we cannot stop singing

we cannot start sinking

We swim until it ends

They may kill and we may be parted

But we will ne'er be broken hearted