The Priest

[Verse 1]
I'm Peter van der Hold
I'm 68 years old
My doubts and questions have increased
In 42 years of being a priest

I'm at the end of my life
I'm not sure if I'm gonna survive
I often don't know what to say
When I talk to Him when I pray

In reply I receive
Only silence, no relief
I've waited in vain for a little advice
From that great voice in the ethereal skies

[Verse 2]
Once I was revolutionary
A devoted mercenary
A gifted student in God's hands
Now I'm old, and sick of his demands

I tried to be honest and good
Did my job the best I could
But I always stayed that average man
Right in the spot where I'll began

During the grief, with which I've dealt
S'been three decades since I've felt
The certainty I so adored
'Bout the existence of the Lord

[Chorus]
I've seen enough
That's why I know
God left this place
Long, long time ago

[Verse 3]
I'll give him to my perish
Things I don't have myself but cherish
And namely love and charity
Mostly purpose, that's what sets you free

So I'm where the metaphors
Are not comforting anymore
I think I'm almost done with my search
Got old so fast, here, in my church

But feels as if I'm kept out
Some sort of secret about
The meaning of life sometimes
Can't fail to notice these are mediocre times

[Chorus]
I've seen enough
That's why I know
God left this place
Long, long time ago
I've seen enough
That's why I know
God left this place
Long, long time ago

[Verse 4]
And time has made me good at one thing
And horrible at everything else
The blessings of a world divine
Were always elsewhere, were never mine

Oh, I would like to hold someone
Briefly, maybe, have some fun
My body's oddly designed
So I'm not really the hugging kind

Not once has there been
Someone with softer skin
Who reached out for me in the middle of the night
Across my own lumpy mattress when I turn on the light

[Verse 5]
I think I've been miscast
And the time of saints is passed
My faith is weak, last, but not least
After 42 years of being a priest

And the church is like a woman
Thing out of reach like a vision
She glimmers in the distance to which I could never quite get
Now I am left here with my regret

[Chorus]
I've seen enough
That's why I know
God left this place
Long, long time ago
I've seen enough
That's why I know
God left this place
Long, long time ago

I've seen enough
That's why I know
God left this place
Long, long time ago
I've seen enough
That's why I know
God left this place
Long, long time ago

[Outro]
It's my portion
It's my cup
It's my portion
It's my cup
It's my portion
It's my cup
It's my portion
It's my cup

It's my portion
It's my cup
It's my portion
It's my cup
It's my portion
It's my cup
It's my portion
It's my cup