The penultimate track to “In Camera,” Gog is intense even by Hammill’s own standards. The song describes a deity reflecting on the ways in which it is worshipped, with the lyrics being largely comprised of rapid-fire allusions and symbols, contrasting the perspective of humanity to the perspective o...
["Gog"]
[Verse 1]
Some...
Some call me SATAN, others have me GOD
Some name me NEMO... I am unborn
Some speak of me in anagrams
Some grieve upon my wrath...
The ones who give me service, I grant my scorn
My words are 'Too late', 'Never', 'Impossible', and 'Gone';
My home is in the sunset and the dawn
My Name is locked in silence
Sometimes it's whispered out of spite
All gates are locked
All doors are barred and bolted
There is no place for flight
Will you not come to me
And love me for one more night?
[Verse 2]
Some see me shining, others have me dull;
Gun-metal and cut diamond - I am ALL
Some swear they see me weeping in the poppy-fields of France...
In the tumbling of the dice see them fall!
Some laugh and see me laughing down the corridors of power:
Some see my sign on Caesar and his pal
My face is robed in darkness
Sometimes you glimpse me in the shade
All friends have gone
All calls are weak and wasted
There is no more to say
Will you not crawl to me
And love me for one more day?
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3]
Some wish me empty, others will me full
Some crave of me infinity - I am NONE
Some look for me in symbols
Some trace my line in stars
Some count my ways in numbers:
Well, I am No One
Some chronicle my movements, my colours and my clothes
Some trace the work in progress
Well, it is done
It is done!
It is done!
My soul is cast in crystal
Yet unrevealed beneath the knife
All wells are dry, all bread is masked in fungus
And now disease is rife
Will you not run from this
And love me for one more life?
My soul is cast in crystal
Yet unrevealed beneath the knife
All wells are dry, all bread is masked in fungus
And now disease is rife
Will you not run from this
And love me for one more life?
Will you not run from this
And love me for one more life?
Will you not run from this
And love me for one more life?
[Instrumental Break]
["Magog (In Bromine Chambers)"]
[Intro]
In Bromine Chambers
[Verse 4]
In Bromine Chambers
There can be no mercy
No bitter flagellation for your sins;
No forgiveness and no sackcloth
Can cease the dance
Of ashes on the wind
[Verse 5]
Too late now for a wish
To change all wishing;
Too late to change, to breathe, to grow
Too late to smother out the tell-tale footprints
Which mark your passage through the greying snow
Gog Magog (In Bromine Chambers) was written by Peter Hammill.
Gog Magog (In Bromine Chambers) was produced by Peter Hammill.