Point Of Know Return
Phil Ehart /Robby Steinhardt /Steve Walsh
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

I heard the men saying something
The captains tell they pay you well
And they say they need sailing men to 
Show the way, and leave today
Was it you that said, "How long, how long?"

They say the sea turns so dark that
You know it's time, you see the sign
They say the point demons guard is
An ocean grave, for all the brave,
Was it you that said, "How long, how long,
How long to the point of know return?"

Your father, he said he needs you
Your mother, she says she loves you
Your brothers, they echo your words:
"How far to the point of know return, to the point of know return"
"Oh Oh, how long, how long?"

Today I found a message floating
In the sea from you to me
It wrote that when you could see it
You cried with fear, the Point was near
Was it you that said, "How long, how long, how long
To the Point of Know Return?"

"How Long? How Long to the point of no return?"
No Return 

How Long?

"How Long? How Long to the point of no return?"
No Return 

How Long?


Paradox
(Kerry Livgren /Steve Walsh)
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

I'm on fire
Burning with the question in my mind
Strange desire
Seems there's nothing else for me to find

'Cause I've been here, and I've been there,
Seems like I've been everywhere before
I've seen it all a hundred times
Still I think there surely must be more

I've been livin', I had to take my time and change my style
Now I wonder is something gonna make it all worthwhile

I know there's more than meets the eye
Like to see it 'fore I die for sure.
Something tells me it's all right
Only one step farther to the door

There ain't no feelin', feels the same as findin' out the key
Now I'm reelin', thinking of the things that I might see

I'm not afraid to face the light
I'm not afraid to think that I might fall
I was going nowhere fast
I was needing something that would last 


The Spider
Walsh
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

(Instrumental)


Portrait (He Knew)
(Kerry Livgren /Steve Walsh)
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

He had a thousand ideas, you might have heard his name
He lived alone with his vision
Not looking for fortune or fame
Never said too much to speak of
He was off on another plane
The words that he said were a mystery
Nobody's sure he was sane

But he knew, he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view, Oh where was he going to

He was in search of an answer
The nature of what we are
He was trying to do it a new way
He was bright as a star
But nobody understood him
"His numbers are not the way"
He's lost in the deepest enigma
Which no one's unraveled today

But he knew, he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view, Oh where was he going to
And he tried, but before he could tell us he died
When he left us the people cried,
Oh where was he going to?

He had a different idea
A glimpse of the master plan
He could see into the future
A true visionary man
But there's something he never told us
It died when he went away
If only he could have been with us
No telling what he might say

But he knew, he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view
Oh, where was he going to
But he knew, you could tell by the picture he drew
It was totally something new,
Oh where was he going to?

Closet Chronicles
(Kerry Livgren /Steve Walsh)
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

Once carried through the current, and being swept away
The king is in his closet, he's hiding from today
And though he owns all fortunes, this room is where he'll stay
And his world is filled with darkness, turning grey

Gazing out the window of the forty-second floor
He is separate from all others, no one knocks upon his door
And it might as well be raining, 'cause the sunlight hurts his eyes
And his ears will never hear the children's cries

Once proud and full of passion, he fought the cause of man
Many people loved his courage, many followed his command
He changed the old into the new, and the course of things to come
And then one day they noticed he was gone.

At first it didn't matter, nobody seemed to care
They all became too busy to find him anywhere
But no one knew not even him, the problems he would find
On the day he journeyed deep into his mind

I close my eyes, I go far away
Away from this battlefield
In my dreams, well
Here I will enjoy it

Where innocence plays with all
The laughing children,
The kind who are crying right now.
A taste of freedom from the pain
Of everything here I see
Life is sweet but I took it all for granted
And now I don't know if I could even tell you
Just what we permit, we allow

Allow me to forget the life I've made my own,
I've held this nation in my hand, and yet it's not my home
Oh, allow me just one answer, and one reason why
Why this refugee of the family of man must die
Tell me why

Daydreams filled his nighttimes, and night-dreams filled his days
Confusion and uncertainty, a puzzled mind of haze
You thought he was so powerful, and set upon his ways
Well he left us all to follow through this maze
I heard the king was dying, I heard the king was dead,
And with him died the chronicles that no one ever read.
The closet's fully empty now, it's occupied by none,
I'll draw the drapes, now destiny is done.


Lightning's Hand
(Kerry Livgren /Steve Walsh)
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

On a winter's nigt, stars are cold and bright in the sky,
The slumber of the earth is pure and deep
From a distant wood, drifts the echo of a beast
The old man stirs and wakens in the night
He stands before his window gazing at the grave
Forgotten dreams are flashing through his weary mind
And though his life is empty, he pretends that she's still there
With hunger in his soul, he yearns for love and life gone by,
With memories his one and only joy
All he has to give, he would give to bring back the life,
And raise the one who lies beneath the snow
He lights a lamp and looks at pictures of the past
The faces of their youth still glow with new-found love,
But the picture's faded, and time has stolen youth away
With a spoken word that he thought he heard from her lips,
He felt another presence in the room,
He was filled with fear but filled with joy he arose
And turned to face the image that he knew
She stood before him and her hand reached out for his
A peaceful light shone in her eyes
She said she'd come to soothe him, and someday they'd be as one
She began to fade and her image disappeared,
So he was left alone to face the night,
Never in his life, had he been so held in awe,
As he faced the apparition of his wife
He stood before the window gazing at the grave,
And with a lightened heart he saw the first of dawn,
He knew that she was waiting, that someday they'd be as one 


Dust In The Wind
(Kerry Livgren)
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

Well I close my eyes, 
Only for a moment 
And the moment's gone. 
All my dreams 
Pass before my eyes of curiosity. 
Dust in the wind: 
All we are is dust in the wind. 

Same old song, 
Just a drop of water 
In an endless sea. 
All we do 
Crumbles to the ground, 
Though we refuse to see. 
(Ah-ah-ah)Dust in the wind, 
All we are is dust in the wind, Oh.. 

(Instrumental Break) 

Now, don't hang on; 
Nothing lasts forever 
But the earth and sky; 
It slips away, 
And all your money 
Won't another minute buy. 

Dust in the wind: 
All we are is dust in the wind. 
Dust in the wind: 
Everything is dust in the wind. 

(Everything is dust in the wind. 
In the wind....) 


Sparks Of The Tempest
(Kerry Livgren /Steve Walsh)
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

The sparks of the tempest rage a hundred years on
The voice of the dreamer screams, the cause of the pawn
The King and the Queen are gone, each piece is the same
The difference between us is a part of the game

Darkness is spreading like a spot on the sun
The dead are the living in the age of the gun
While everyone clamors for the justice they seek
The world is corrupted and the strong take the weak

They mold you and shape you, they watch what you do
The sparks of the tempest are burnin' you through
Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain
Though they may promise, they only bring pain

The future is managed, and your freedom's a joke
You don't know the difference as you put on the yoke
The less that you know the more you fall into place
A cog in the wheel, there is no soul in your face

Run for the cover, Millennium's here
Bearing the standard of confusion and fear
Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain
Though they may promise, they only bring pain

Blood in the sand, a cry in the street
Now the cycle is nearly complete
Ten thousand years, and nothing was learned
No turning back, now the wheel has turned

Big Brother is watching and he likes what he sees
A world for the taking, when he's ready to squeeze
The King and the Queen are gone, each piece is the same
The difference between us is a part of the game

Soothsayer saying now tell me no lies
What is this madness that is filling the skies
Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain
Though they may promise, they only bring pain 


Nobody's Home
(Kerry Livgren /Steve Walsh)
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

It's empty now, no friendly face,
and nothing lives within.
I look around and I find no trace
To tell me what has been
So far I've come to find there's no one here, no life & fear
I came for nothing, they have gone
And Nobody's Home.
I came to learn, perhaps to teach
But I can tell somehow
The world that I was sent to reach
Has got no future now
Across the galaxy to spread the word, and no one heard
I came for nothing, I'm alone
And Nobody's Home
A requiem was never sung, no elegy was read
No monument was carved in stone in memory of the dead
For those who made this place do not remain, they feel no pain
A stranger fate was never known


Hopelessly Human
(Kerry Livgren)
Album: Point Of Know Return (October 1977)

It's a strange aberration, this brainstorm of youth
Though it's lost in translation from fancy to truth
It's hopelessly human, both inside and out
A joyous occasion, no reason to doubt
It's easy somehow, what once was elusive is calling me now

I am waiting, I am patiently,
Doing nothing, in a reverie
Climbing higher, seeing everything
Interacting, slowly, spiralling
I am giving, while I'm watching the
Life I'm living, precious energy
Escalating, what was once just a game
It's never the same, no one's to blame

It's a strange situation, there's no cause for alarm
All these hot licks and rhetoric
Surely do you no harm
They're hopelessly human, both inside and out
A joyous occasion, there's no reason to doubt
When each word is read, would you know the difference
If nothing was said

All is rhythm, all is unity
I am laughing, as it's meant to be
Just amusing, I am using the
Word was given, making harmony
Moving slowly, dancing aimlessly
Endless circle, turning fearlessly
Resurrected, falling down again
Introspective, I'm just stating my views
Now you can choose, what do you feel
Is it for real this time