The palace guards are all sleeping
Their fires burn into the night
There's a threat of rain on the dark horizon
And all that’s left is a quarter moon of light

He climbs up through the darkness
No weapon but his surprise
The greatest thief in the high Sahara
Enters the room where a sleeping princess lies

All your money, your pretty necklace
This is my work on such a night
There's a storm coming over the mountain
I'll be gone long before the morning

After the rain has fallen
After the tears have washed your eyes
You find that I've take nothing, that
Love can't replace in the blink of an eye

He was as gentle as the night wind
As no lover had been before
And the rings she wore for her bride groom
Slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor

Take me with you, take me with you
Before my lonely life is set
I've been promised to another
To a man I've never even met

After the rain has fallen
After the tears have washed your eyes
You'll find that I’ve take nothing, that
Love can't replace in the blink of an eye
After the thunder's spoken, and
After the lightning bolt's been hurled
After the dream is broken, there’ll
Still be love in the world

She said take me to another life
Take me for a pirate’s wife
Take me where the wind blows
Take me where the red wine flows
Take me to the danger
Take me to the life of crime
Take me to the stars
Take me to the moon while we still have time

After the rain has fallen
After the tears have washed your eyes
You'll find that I've taken nothing, that
Love can't replace in the blink of an eye

After the thunder's spoken, and
After the lightning bolt's been hurled
After the dream is broken, there’ll
Still be love in the world
Still be love in the world

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
It's not warm when she's away
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And she's always gone too long anytime she goes away

Wonder this time where she's gone
Wonder if she's gone to stay
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't no home anytime she goes away

And I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know

Hey, I ought to leave the young thing alone
But ain't no sunshine when she's gone, only darkness everyday
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't no home anytime she goes away

Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away

With her smile as sweet as a warm wind in summer
She's got me flying like a bird in a bright June sky
And then just when she thinks that I've got her number
Brings me down to the ground with her wintry eye
That's my baby
She can be all four seasons in one day

And when the nighttime comes with no interference
To our warm summer love with all its charms
But like a thoroughbred horse she can turn on a sixpence
And I find that I'm back in mistress winter's arms
That's my baby
She can be all four seasons in one day

How will I know?
How can I tell?
Which side of the bed she takes when the day begins
She can be kind
She can be cruel
She's got me guessing like a game show fool

She can change her mind like she changes her sweaters
From one minute to the next it's hard to tell
She blows hot and cold just like stormy weather
She's my gift from the lord or a fiend from hell
That's my baby
She can be all four seasons in one day

Watching the weatherman's been no good at all
Winter, spring, summer, I'm bound for a fall
There are no long term predictions for my baby
She can be all four seasons in one day

How will I know?
How can I tell?
Which side of the bed she takes when the day begins
She can be kind
She can be cruel
She's got me guessing like a game show fool

If it's a sunny day I take my umbrella
Just in case the raindrops start to fall
You could say that I'm just a cautious fellow
I don't want to be caught in a sudden squall
That's my baby
She can be all four seasons in one day
That's my baby
She can be all four seasons in one day

I looked out across
The river today,
I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower
Where the seagulls play.
I saw the sad shire horses walking home
In the sodium light
I saw two priests on the ferry
October geese on a cold winter's night

And all this time, the river flowed
Endlessly to the sea.

Two priests came round our house tonight
One young, one old, to offer prayers for the dying
To serve the final rite,
One to learn, one to teach,
Which way the cold wind blows
Fussing and flapping in priestly black
Like a murder of crows

And all this time, the river flowed
Endlessly to the sea
If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river
And I'd bury the old man,
I'd bury him at sea

Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth
Better to be poor than a fat man in the eye of a needle
And as these words were spoken I swear I hear
The old man laughing,
'What good is a used up world, and how could it be
worth having'

And all this time the river flowed
Endlessly like a silent tear
And all this time the river flowed
Father, if Jesus exists,
Then how come he never lived here.

The teacher told us, the Romans built this place
They built a wall and a temple, an edge of the empire
Garrison town,
They lived and they died, they prayed to their gods
But the stone gods did not make a sound
And their empire crumbled, 'til all that was left
Were the stones the workmen found

And all this time the river flowed
In the falling light of a northern sun
If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river
Men go crazy in congregations
But they only get better
One by one
One by one...

Every day that goes by, a new hungry baby starts to cry
Born astride a painful grave, drowned in hunger's tidal wave
Pick a child that you can save, it'd be the only one
If Africa escapes starvation, not only food but education
The desert grows with every minute, trapping everybody in it
All the children look the same, they wonder why they came

(But) it's hard to tell the poison from the cure
Harder still to know the reson why (why why)
The only thing I really know for sure
Is that another day, another day's gone by
(Bye bye...)

Every day that goes by, a brand new missile points towards the sky
We're survivors of a game of chance, beneath an arms race avalanche
If you survive this winter's cold, you'd be the only one
If we escape anhillation, not only hope but education
The world is ruled by Bellophiles(see note), adding to their weapon piles
Imagine what your taxes buy, we hardly ever try

 [chorus]

Oh that this too sullied flesh would melt and resolve into a dew
Suffocating lassitude, drowning in my platitude
Trapped by insecurities, I'm not the only one
If I survive this dislocation, have to use my education
The world is ruled by Bellophiles, adding to their weapon piles
Imagine what your taxes buy, we hardly ever try

 [chorus]

***