The roll of distant thunder breaks
The afternoon of silence wakes
They hurry through from Petergate as if they know this dance
In fury blind I drive at night
Across the moors, the open roads
Beneath the freezing starry skies, racing in some trance

These cities are illusions of some triumph over Nature's laws
We've seen the iron carcass rust and buildings topple into dust
And as the waters rise it seems we cling to all the rootless things
The Christian lies, technology, while spirits scream and sing
Oh, God, I love the world

Well I never said I was a clever man
But I know enough to understand
That the endless leaps and forward plans will someday have to cease
You blind yourselves with comfort lies
Like lightning never strikes you twice
And we laugh at your amazed surprise as the Ark begins to sink

The temple that is built so well, to separate us from ourselves
Is a power grown beyond control and a will without a face
And watching from outside I wish that I could wash my hands of this
But we are locked together here, this bittersweet embrace
Oh, God, I love the world

And if one day the final fire
Explodes across the whitened sky
I know you said you'd rather die and make it over fast
With courage from your bravest friends
Waiting outside for the end
With no bitterness but an innocence that I can't seem to grasp

I know, somehow I will survive this fury just to stay alive
So drunk with sickness, weak with pain
I can walk the hills one last time
Scarred and smiling, dying slow
I'll scream to no one left at all
I told you so, I told you so, I told you so
Oh, God, I love the world