[Verse 1]
I remember what it felt like at seventeen:
I was a cat, a snake, a lizard, a mouse...
Still got an interest for the limousine
And a spouse and a brat
Country house, London flat
[Verse 2]
I'm gonna head for the island when the summer's out
I'm gonna do all the stuff that I can
Drink like a fish in a waterspout -
I'm a fan of the flow
It began long ago
I'm a man who should know
It doesn't stop
[Instrumental Break]
[Bridge]
There's so much to remember
So much to forget:
We're all in the possession of the future tense
We just don't know it yet
And the flesh comes through the spirit
And the spirit through the flesh...
And we look the Sphinx in the face for answers
And, of course, we're not impressed
And we're caught between age and beauty
Experience and youth
So we feel the need acutely
For any kind of Truth
[Bridge]
Oh, but we get copped some days
Caught between options we've failed to play
Such wasted chance
Though I join the wastrel's dance:
It has slow as well as fast movements
And any change must be an improvement
On simply fossilizing, standing still
[Verse 3]
I got a steady vocation for the Quiet Zone
I just can't wait for the song to be sung
I'm still possessed by the promise of the Pleasure Dome
[Chorus]
You're so young, so old
You're so here, you're gone, such a drag to be told
You're so near, you're so wrong
You're so young, you're so old
You're so queer, you're so strong, such a drag
[Guitar Solo]
The Sphinx in the Face [The Margin] was written by Peter Hammill.
The Sphinx in the Face [The Margin] was produced by Peter Hammill.