The fishing boats go out across the evening water
Smuggling guns and arms across the Spanish border
The wind whips up the waves so loud
The ghost moon sails among the clouds
Turns the rifles into silver on the border

On my wall the colours of the maps are running
From Africa the winds they talk of changes coming
The torches flare up in the night
The hand that sets the farms alight
Has spread the word to those who're waiting on the border

In the village where I grew up
Nothing seems the same
Still you never see the change from day to day
And no-one notices the customs slip away

Late last night the rain was knocking at my window
I moved across the darkened room and in the lampglow
I thought I saw down in the street
The spirit of the century
Telling us that we're all standing on the border

In the islands where I grew up
Nothing seems the same
It's just the patterns that remain
An empty shell
But there's a strangeness in the air you feel too well

The fishing boats go out across the evening water
Smuggling guns and arms across the Spanish border
The wind whips up the waves so loud
The ghost moon sails among the clouds
Turns the rifles into silver on the border

On the border
On the border
On the border


Lyrics submitted by kevin

On the Border Lyrics as written by Alistair Ian Stewart

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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On The Border song meanings
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4 Comments

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  • +2
    Song Meaning
    We just went to an Al Stewart concert at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, and before performing this song, he talked about how he saw the terrorist attacks on civilians coming when he wrote, "On the Border". Take a reread of this stanza: Late last night the rain was knocking at my window I moved across the darkened room and in the lampglow I thought I saw down in the street The spirit of the century Telling us that we're all standing on the border
    AzRunneron July 20, 2016   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    So, I feel a bit daft but, this is about the Spanish Civil War, right? Arms trafficking, the republican efforts to secure enough rifles, Franco's African Army, the to-and-fro of the frontlines, social upheaval, particularly in rural areas..
    hnryvkon June 15, 2016   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion
    First of all, I really love the tunes and the text of this music. Somehow it creates a mood of melancholia plus the sceneries he describes are impressive.
    kwasimotoon March 05, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    No the reference to "gun smuggling" is to the Basque troubles in Northern Spain , late 70's and the reference to "from Africa the winds they talk of change is coming" and " the hands that set the farms alight" is to the Rhodesian bush war, in what is now Zimbabwe, also in the late 70's. Makes sense. Al Stewart wrote the song in 1976. All about the dying days of colonialism in Africa.
    johnofdamascuson June 07, 2023   Link

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