Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression, Part 2)
(Emerson/Lake)
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!
There behind a glass is a real blade of grass
be careful as you pass.
Move along! Move along!
Come inside, the show's about to start
guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth
The greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth.
You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo.
You've got to see the show, it's rock and roll ....
Right before your eyes we pull laughter from the skies
And he laughs until he cries then he dies then he dies
Come inside the shows about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart
You gotta see the show
It's a dynamo
You gotta see the show
It's rock and roll
Soon the Gypsy Queen in a glaze of Vaseline
Will perform on guillotine
What a scene! What a scene!
Next upon the stand will you please extend a hand
to Alexander's Ragtime Band
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!
Performing on a stool we've a sight to make you drool
Seven virgins and a mule
Keep it cool. Keep it cool.
We would like it to be known the exhibits that were shown
were exclusively our own,
All our own. All our own.
Come and see the show! Come and see the show! Come and see the show!
See the show!
Touch And Go
(Emerson, Gould, Lake)
Man in the street nowhere to sleep
No time for nothing no Patek Phillipe
Pedal to the metal Blow by Blow
You're runnin' with the devil it's touch and go
They're leaving you nothing and nowhere to go
Just put you in the corner like an old banjo
The strings are breakin' but you can't say no
You're runnin' with the devil it's touch and go
Systematic one man show
You're caught up in the middle where the four winds blow
No salvation 20 below
You're runnin' with the devil it's touch and go
All systems go friend or foe
It's all dependin' on the dice you throw
Come without a warning like a U.F.O.
You're runnin' with the devil it's touch and go
You see this woman on a T.V. show
She's drippin' in diamonds from head to toe
They make you believe it's the status quo
You're runnin' with the devil it's touch and go
All systems go friend or foe
It's all dependin' on the dice you throw
Come without a warning like a U.F.O.
You're runnin' with the devil it's touch and go
From The Beginning
(Lake)
There might have been things I missed
But don't be unkind
It don't mean I'm blind
Perhaps there's a thing or two
I think of lying in bed
I shouldn't have said
But there it is
You see it's all clear
You were meant to be here
From the beginning
Maybe I might have changed
And not been so cruel
Not been such a fool
Whatever was done is done
I just can't recall
It doesn't matter at all
You see it's all clear
You were meant to be here
From the beginning
Knife Edge
(Emerson, Lake, Fraser, Janacek)
Just a step cried the sad man
Take a look down at the madman
Theatre kings on silver wings
Fly beyond reason
From the flight of the seagull
Come the spread claws of the eagle
Only fear breaks the silence
As we all kneel pray for guidance
Tread the road cross the abyss
Take a look down at the madness
On the streets of the city
Only spectres still have pity
Patient queues for the gallows
Sing the praises of the hallowed
Our machines feed the furnace
If they take us they will burn us
Will you still know who you are
When you come to who you are
When the flames have their season
Will you hold to your reason
Loaded down with your talents
Can you still keep your balance
Can you live on a knife-edge
Bitches Crystal
(Emerson/Lake)
Bitches Crystal
Knows how you
Twist all the lines
Fortune Teller
Future Seller
Of time
Tortured spirits cry
Fear is in their eyes
Ghostly images die
Witches Potion
Mixed in the ocean
Of tears
Mystical Powers
Emerge From the towers
Of fear
Tortured spirits cry
Fear is in their eyes
Ghostly images die
Evil learning
People burning
Savage casting
No one lasting
Witchcraft
Sadness
Madness
Turning in their minds
Ritual killings
That swear in
The shillings to be
Heretic Priestess
Dwells on the
Weakness she sees
Tortured spirits cry
Ghostly images die
Creolo Dance
(...)
--- instrumental ---
Honky Tonk Train Blues
(Meade [Lux] Lewis)
--- instrumental ---
Take A Pebble
(Lake)
Just take a pebble and cast it to the sea,
Then watch the ripples that unfold into me,
My face spill so gently into your eyes,
Disturbing the waters of our lives.
Shread of our memories are lying on your grass;
Wounded words of laughter are graveyards of the past.
Photographs are grey and torn, scattered in your fields
Letters of your mem'ries are not real.
Sadness on your shoulders like a wornout overcoat
In pockets creased and tattered hang the rags of your hope.
The daybreak is your midnight; the colours have all died.
Disturbing the waters of our lives, of our lives, of our lives, lives,
lives, lives...
Of our lives.
Lucky Man
(Lake)
He had white horses
And ladies by the score
All dressed in satin
And waiting by the door
Oooh, what a lucky man he was
White lace and feathers
They made up his bed
A gold covered mattress
On which he was laid
He went to fight wars
For his country and his king
Of his honor and his glory
The people would sing
A bullet had found him
His blood ran as he cried
No money could save him
So he laid down and he died
Tarkus: Eruption
(Emerson)
--- instrumental ---
Tarkus: Stones Of Years
(Emerson, Lake)
Has the dawn ever seen your eyes?
Have the days made you so unwise?
Realize, you are.
Had you talked to the winds of time,
Then you'd know how the water rhyme,
Taste of wine,
How can you know where you've been?
In time you'll see the sign
And realize your sin.
Will you know how the seed is sown?
All your time has been overgrown,
Never known.
Have you walked on the stones of years?
When you speak, is it you that hears?
Are your ears full?
You can't hear anything at all.
Tarkus: Iconoclast
(Emerson)
--- instrumental ---
Tarkus: Mass
(Emerson/Lake)
The preacher said a prayer.
Save ev'ry single hair on his head.
He's dead.
The minister of hate had just arrived to be spared.
Who cared?
The weaver in the web that he made!
The pilgrim wandered in,
Commiting ev'ry sin that he could
So good...
The cardinal of grief was set in his belief he'd saved
From the grave
The weaver in the web that he made!
The high priest took a blade
To bless the ones that prayed,
And all obeyed.
The messenger of fear is slowly growing, nearer to the time,
A sign.
The weaver in the web that he made!
A bishops rings a bell,
A cloak of darkness fell across the ground
Without a sound!
The silent choir sing and in their silence,
Bring jaded sound, harmonic ground.
The weaver in the web that he made!
Pictures At An Exhibition: The Hut Of Baba Yaga
(Mussorgsky)
--- instrumental ---
Pictures At An Exhibition: The Great Gates Of Kiev
(Mussorgsky, Lake)
Come forth, from love's spire
Born in life's fire,
Born in life's fire.
Come forth, from love's spire
In the burning, all are [of our] yearning,
for life to be.
And in pain there will [must] be gain,
New Life!
Stirring in, salty streams
And dark hidden seams
Where the fossil sun gleams.
They were, sent from [to] the gates
Ride the tides of fate
Ride the tides of fate.
They were, sent from [to] the gates,
In the burning all are [of our] yearning,
For life to be.
There's no end to my life,
No beginning to my death:
Death is life.
Fanfare For The Common Man
(Aaron Copland; Arr. Emerson)
--- instrumental ---
Blue Rondo a La Turk
(Brubeck)
--- instrumental ---
Drum Solo
(Palmer)
--- instrumental ---
Blue Rondo a La Turk (Reprise)
(Brubeck)
--- instrumental ---