In a Bottle by Peter Hammill Lyrics
With the sense of anticipation burning on his skin
And the train of consequences running at full throttle
Before the touch, before the kiss
This moment just before their history begins
He'd give anything to put this in a bottle
No sense of time, no sense of place
In case of senselessness he'll swear to her alone
(He'll swear to her alone.)
Though he knows tomorrow this will be another face he's forgotten
(No memory's quite his own)
Before the fire, before the fall, all this is magical
The future so unknown
He'd pay anything to get this in a bottle
(as if that's a thing he could ever own)
He'd pay anything to get this in a bottle
Don Juan had been so careful but he let it slip
That the elixir he craved was moist upon her faithless lips
And in the hint of her perfume that lingered on his fingertips...
Distillation
Overstrength, this eau-de-vie
(What a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip finally...
He got the bottle, he knocked back the eau-de-vie.)
He's stripped of recollection
He's left with no protection
This won't come again
Although he always knew that he'd foresee
Much more than he'd ever remember
(This won't come again.)
Losing the thread, losing the plot
It wasn't/not possible to stay on fire as he was then
He'd do anything to breathe life in these embers
(But the secret stays untold...)
He'd give anything to get life from these embers
(and the fire has grown cold, cold, cold.)
Between the present and the past, his mouth agape
And the elixir he drained has twisted essence out of shape;
And with dark perfume he is wraithed
Now that the genie has escaped from the bottle
Sangrial, the eau-d-vie
(What a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip finally...
Eau-de-vie, eau-de-vie
Don Juan had been so careful but he let it slip
Don Juan had been so careful
Eau-de-vie...)
And the train of consequences running at full throttle
Before the touch, before the kiss
This moment just before their history begins
He'd give anything to put this in a bottle
No sense of time, no sense of place
In case of senselessness he'll swear to her alone
(He'll swear to her alone.)
Though he knows tomorrow this will be another face he's forgotten
(No memory's quite his own)
Before the fire, before the fall, all this is magical
The future so unknown
He'd pay anything to get this in a bottle
(as if that's a thing he could ever own)
He'd pay anything to get this in a bottle
Don Juan had been so careful but he let it slip
That the elixir he craved was moist upon her faithless lips
And in the hint of her perfume that lingered on his fingertips...
Distillation
Overstrength, this eau-de-vie
(What a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip finally...
He got the bottle, he knocked back the eau-de-vie.)
He's stripped of recollection
He's left with no protection
This won't come again
Although he always knew that he'd foresee
Much more than he'd ever remember
(This won't come again.)
Losing the thread, losing the plot
It wasn't/not possible to stay on fire as he was then
He'd do anything to breathe life in these embers
(But the secret stays untold...)
He'd give anything to get life from these embers
(and the fire has grown cold, cold, cold.)
Between the present and the past, his mouth agape
And the elixir he drained has twisted essence out of shape;
And with dark perfume he is wraithed
Now that the genie has escaped from the bottle
Sangrial, the eau-d-vie
(What a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip finally...
Eau-de-vie, eau-de-vie
Don Juan had been so careful but he let it slip
Don Juan had been so careful
Eau-de-vie...)