Four Pails by Peter Hammill Lyrics
[Intro]
Four pails of water and a bag full of salts
[Verse 1]
That is all we are, that is all a man comprises
Chemicals alone, with no spirit, soul or ghost –
Nothing so bizarre
No amount of faith disguises
What is true is what we fear the most
[Verse 2]
Nothing can survive save the things men leave behind them
Any other case would be really too absurd –
If thoughts remained alive
Surely modern science would find them?
No, the soul is nothing but a word
[Verse 3]
All the wonders Man achieves emerge from cerebral tissue
Chemical reactions' ebb and surge form that Thing that is you...
It's a sad philosophy, but better sad than wrong
Face the truth instead:
When you're dead you're dead
When you're gone you're gone... (When you're gone you're gone)
(When you're gone you're gone)
(When you're gone you're gone)
(When you're gone you're gone)
Now she's gone
[Bridge]
Four pails of water and a bag full of salts
[Verse 4]
That is all she was, all my lover represented –
That sounds just as mad as saying she will never die
Fools may clutch at straws
But truth must not be circumvented:
As the tree falls, so must that tree lie!
[Verse 5]
Now that sounds so odd...
Once I would have preached it brightly
Now questions appear I rationally can't ignore...
Nothingness or God
Which of them seems more unlikely?
Once I would have answered clearly
Now I only think I'm nearly sure
So nearly sure
Ooh, no, no, no
[Outro]
(Once I would have answered clearly)
(Now I only think I'm nearly sure)
Four pails of water and a bag full of salts
[Verse 1]
That is all we are, that is all a man comprises
Chemicals alone, with no spirit, soul or ghost –
Nothing so bizarre
No amount of faith disguises
What is true is what we fear the most
[Verse 2]
Nothing can survive save the things men leave behind them
Any other case would be really too absurd –
If thoughts remained alive
Surely modern science would find them?
No, the soul is nothing but a word
[Verse 3]
All the wonders Man achieves emerge from cerebral tissue
Chemical reactions' ebb and surge form that Thing that is you...
It's a sad philosophy, but better sad than wrong
Face the truth instead:
When you're dead you're dead
When you're gone you're gone... (When you're gone you're gone)
(When you're gone you're gone)
(When you're gone you're gone)
(When you're gone you're gone)
Now she's gone
[Bridge]
Four pails of water and a bag full of salts
[Verse 4]
That is all she was, all my lover represented –
That sounds just as mad as saying she will never die
Fools may clutch at straws
But truth must not be circumvented:
As the tree falls, so must that tree lie!
[Verse 5]
Now that sounds so odd...
Once I would have preached it brightly
Now questions appear I rationally can't ignore...
Nothingness or God
Which of them seems more unlikely?
Once I would have answered clearly
Now I only think I'm nearly sure
So nearly sure
Ooh, no, no, no
[Outro]
(Once I would have answered clearly)
(Now I only think I'm nearly sure)