Farewell to a Percival

So you planned to chip away at trouble
But it left you standing in the rubble
Now your tears are trapped in crystal puddles
With a stone portrait of your double

And if you begged me to remain around
Would grief keep tearing at your gown
All the sadness waltzing around your frown
Well, it's bound to bring some ceilings down

Now there ain't no reason my heart will hear
So you can shed the pickax and climbing gear
But please don't stand and watch my back disappear
As I fade into the mountains there

Whose to say the sky is mean
If it stands between you and your kingdom?
They say some things are meant to be seen
And some things are meant to be kept hidden

All those saints who feed on virtue are ruthless
Saying you need a deed to be so virtuous
And guilt is vainly plainly discouraged
As we kow-tow to their courage

But I saw the glorious white arch fall
And the great soldier children were crushed and all
The townspeople looked and saw their shadows
And then had to stay inside and drain their pillows

Then I had a dream seven nights in a row
You were following me through all these doomed places I go
Well I knew I was weak but I guess I didn't know
I was in need of a guardian angel

Whose to say the sky is mean
If it stands between you and your kingdom?
They say some things are meant to be seen
And some things are meant to be kept hidden

The river I follow has turned so small
I can't hardly swallow any strength at all
And the pale fish rotting in its muddy walls
I know they lost their eyes before they stalled

So I search and I yearn and I barely breathe
And the person who once knew you is no longer me
With my torn yellow map and my dry canteen
I can't stop to count my blessings

Or the curved lines of longitude
I burned as if they were fuses
To pass the mirage and land the oasis
Where I'm going to fill up all these empty spaces

Whose to say the sky is mean
If it stands between you and your kingdom?
They say some things are meant to be seen
And some things are meant to be kept hidden

To pass the mirage and land the oasis
Where I'm going to fill up all these empty spaces
And free myself of these earthly races
I'll send you my thirst first and then the laces
Of my shoes