A Potential Song (in other words, these lyrics
are looking for a tune)
Walking willowed ways
Through peat bogs hiding idols once revered,
Passing rain-soaked fields
That cover bones of warriors once feared,
Gazing toward the setting sun
Where fog rolls in as night-time’s shadows fall,
I watch the eagle owl take flight
Above this land I care for most of all.
Land of thousand shades of grey,
Land of amber gleam in shell-strewn sands,
It’s Lowlands on my mind each day.
It’s Lowlands on my mind in distant lands.
Hiking on the heath
Where juniper stands guard by dolmen graves,
Biking on the dike
Through gusts of salt whipped up from pounding waves,
I think I hear a foghorn wail
Across the tideland from a distant shore
And look as far the eye can see
Across the land that once was ocean floor.
Land of thousand shades of grey,
Land of amber gleam in shell-strewn sands,
It’s Lowlands on my mind each day.
It’s Lowlands on my mind in distant lands.
Walking winding streets
On asphalt above stones of yesteryear,
Stopping by a church
Where stones bear names that were once common here,
Looking up the slim façades
To read old writing dimmed by smog and grime,
I hear old voices speak the tongue,
The language of this place before my time.
Land of thousand shades of grey,
Land of amber gleam in shell-strewn sands,
It’s Lowlands on my mind each day.
It’s Lowlands on my mind in distant lands.
Strolling down the quay
Where warehouse halls now house what’s new today.
Where longshoremen once toiled
Stand ships’ containers by a motorway.
Billowing sails once hid the sky
Where now a faceless office complex lies,
And names from distant lands now flash
Where emigrants once waved their last good-byes.
Land of thousand shades of grey,
Land of amber gleam in shell-strewn sands,
It’s Lowlands on my mind each day.
It’s Lowlands on my mind in distant lands.
Palaces of might
Avert their eyes from tenements of old
And glass towers of wealth
Keep looking toward distant shores for gold.
The rain eased off. A rainbow shows.
A wish takes wings and soars up and away:
Where flags of greed still shade the sun
May colours of compassion fly someday.
Land of thousand shades of grey,
Land of amber gleam in shell-strewn sands,
It’s Lowlands on my mind each day.
It’s Lowlands on my mind in distant lands.
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