The Tide Falls Away by Dar Williams Lyrics

I walked a spiraling village one night
Drawn by the word of a bell or a light
Out on the flats saw it rose to a spire
It all becomes clear as the tide falls away

Parent and child and an ocean between
One is not heard and the other not seen
Too many bottles but each had a message inside
It all becomes clear as the tide falls away
It all becomes clear as the tide falls away

Lucky we are when the starts leave us singing
A hymn or a dirge when the surge of the ocean is gone, is gone

And the old woman just stares at her hands
So many heroes have crumbled to sand
All those cathedrals were merely by men
It all becomes clear as the tide falls away
It all becomes clear as the tide falls away
All falls away