Your all-time favourite prog lyric?
 

There can be few who would deny that prog rock has birthed some of the most effective, deep, overblown, out-there or whatever you want to call it lyrics. Few prog bands sing about lost loves (some do, sure, but those sort of songs are generally in the minority), and are more concentrated on the mythical, weird, offbeat and sometimes just plain completely kooky lyrics.
So, what would you say is the best, or worst, you've heard?

It's of course hard to pick the best out, but here are a few of my favourites:

"Sheathed within the Walkman, wear the halo of distortion
Aural contraceptive aborting pregnant conversation" --- Marillion, from Fugazi, title track of same album.

"If the thought processes of an individual can be permanently limited
to the point of strict conformity to an outside source of thought, the
said individual need no longer be considered as such. The enforcement
of order becomes possible for anybody with enough power to control
what is projected." --- Twelfth Night, "Fact and fiction", from, again, the album of the same name

"Here's to the lady, her eyes never sleep
With every weather that ends.
Breaking the towers and tables of land
She's holding the skies to defend
All of us.

Sometimes, sometimes
Sometimes
She cries" --- Mother Nature, Mostly Autumn from "The last bright light"

"Hey man, I'm the Sandman, and boy have I news for you!
They're gonna throw you in jail, and you know they can't fail
Cos sand is thicker than blood.
But a prison in sand is a haven in hell, for a gaol can give you a goal
And a goal can find you a role on a muddy pitch in Newcastle
Where it rains so much you can't wait for a touch of sun and sand" --- "Mad man moon", Genesis, from "A trick of the tail"

Just a few there, sure people have many more, so share! :)

It's getting late, for scribbling and scratching on the paper
Something's gonna give under this pressure
And the cracks are already beginning to show
It's too late
The weekend career girl never boarded the plane
They said this could never happen again
So wrong, so wrong

This time it seems to be another misplaced rendezvous
This time, it's looking like another misplaced rendezvous
With you
The parallel of you, you

Misplaced Rendevous (from 'Bitter Suite')-Marillion.

I find the lyrics on Lizard to be absolutely brilliant, both Prince Rupert Awakes and the later the Battle of Glass Tears. Not only are they sung very aptly by Jon Anderson and Gordon Haskell respectively but they're beautifully crafted as well.

As a single star glides swiftly down the night
A soft wetting note issues from the time-worn flute
Frowning slightly the herald listens wistful across the night
And from way back behind the day comes the echoed answer
The day advances oh so softly
His shadow lengthens and his voice is mute
But clear his flute and sadly walks forward followed by the day
Herald of morning walks across the earth eternally...

- Comus
"The Herald"

Whoever we are
Wherever were from
We shoulda noticed by now
Our behavior is dumb
And if our chances
Expect to improve
Its gonna take a lot more
Than tryin to remove
The other race
Or the other whatever
From the face
Of the planet altogether

They call it the earth
Which is a dumb kinda name
But they named it right
cause we behave the same...
We are dumb all over
Dumb all over,
Yes we are
Dumb all over,
Near n far
Dumb all over,
Black n white
People, we is not wrapped tight

Nurds on the left
Nurds on the right
Religous fanatics
On the air every night
Sayin the bible
Tells the story
Makes the details
Sound real gory
bout what to do
If the geeks over there
Dont believe in the book
We got over here

You cant run a race
Without no feet
n pretty soon
There wont be no street
For dummies to jog on
Or doggies to dog on
Religous fanatics
Can make it be all gone
(I mean it wont blow up
n disappear
Itll just look ugly
For a thousand years...)

You cant run a country
By a book of religion
Not by a heap
Or a lump or a smidgeon
Of foolish rules
Of ancient date
Designed to make
You all feel great
While you fold, spindle
And mutilate
Those unbelievers
From a neighboring state

To arms! to arms!
Hooray! thats great
Two legs aint bad
Unless theres a crate
They ship the parts
To mama in
For souvenirs: two ears (get down!)
Not his, not hers, (but what the hey? )
The good book says:
(it gotta be that way!)
But their book says:
Revenge the crusades...
With whips n chains
n hand grenades...
Two arms? two arms?
Have another and another
Our God says:
There aint no other!
Our God says
Its all okay!
Our God says
This is the way!

It says in the book:
Burn n destroy...
n repent, n redeem
n revenge, n deploy
n rumble thee forth
To the land of the unbelieving scum on the other side
cause they dont go for whats in the book
n that makes em bad
So verily we must choppeth them up
And stompeth them down
Or rent a nice french bomb
To poof them out of existance
While leaving their real estate just where we need it
To use again
For temples in which to praise our god
(cause he can really take care of business!)

And when his humble tv servant
With humble white hair
And humble glasses
And a nice brown suit
And maybe a blond wife who takes phone calls
Tells us our God says
Its okay to do this stuff
Then we gotta do it,
cause if we dont do it,
We aint gwine up to hebbin!
(depending on which book youre using at the
Time...cant use theirs... it dont work
...its all lies...gotta use mine...)
Aint that right?
Thats what they say
Every night...
Every day...
Hey, we cant really be dumb
If were just following gods orders
Hey, lets get serious...
God knows what hes doin
He wrote this book here
An the book says:
He made us all to be just like him,
So...
If were dumb...
Then God is dumb...
(an maybe even a little ugly on the side)

Haha, had I considered comus a prog band I would most certainly have just said the lyric in my signature.

You've never considered Comus progressive at all? How ironic....:P

Ah, no I didn't consider then when I was considering lyrics. They are certainly incredibly progressive and embody much of what I consider is needed to be considered prog rock. They just simply never crossed my mind. Hahaha it's like being called "Comus" on here makes me less likely to consider Comus as a band and more as my persona here. Regardless of how brilliant they are.

I have heaps, but one of my favs would have to be from Tool's Lateralus, just because it's a song with light at the end of the tunnel, and also he sings to the rhythm of the Fibonacci sequence (the syllables of each word make up the pattern).

Black
then
white are
all I see
in my infancy
red and yellow then came to be
reaching out to me
let's me see.

etc. But I have loads more other favourite prog lyrics from numerous bands.

Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine.

And no-one called us to the land
And no-one knows the wheres or whys
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb towards the light

Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can

And no-one calls us to move on
And no-one forces down our eyes
And no-one speaks and no-one tries
And no-one flies around the sun

Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes
inciting and inviting me to rise
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning

And no-one sings me lullabies
And no-one makes me close my eyes
And so I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky