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Cathedral Lyrics
6 o'clock in the morning,
I feel pretty good,
So I dropped in to the luxury of the Lord;
Fighting dragons and crossing swords
With the people against the hoards
Who came to conquer.
Seven o'clock in the morning,
Here it comes; I taste the warning,
And I'm so amazed I'm here today,
Seeing things so clear this way.
In the car on my way to Stonehenge.
I'm flying in Winchester Cathedral,
Sunlight pouring through the break of day.
Stumbled through the gate and into the chamber.
There's a lady setting flowers on the table, covered lace,
And a cleaner in the distance finds a cobweb on her face,
And a feeling deep inside of me
Tells me this can't be the place.
I'm flying in Winchester Cathedral;
All religion has to have its day.
Expressions on the face of the saviour
Made me say, I can't stay.
Open up the gates of the church
And let me out of here.
Too many people have lied in the name of Christ
For anyone to heed the call.
Too many people have died in the name of Christ
That I can't believe at all.
And now I'm standing on the grave of a soldier that died in 1799.
And the day he died, it was a birthday,
And I noticed it was mine.
And my head didn't know just who I was,
And I went spinning back in time.
And I am high upon the altar,
High upon the altar,
High!
I'm flying in Winchester Cathedral;
It's hard enough to drink the wine.
The air inside just hangs in illusion,
But, given time, I'll be fine.
I'll be fine.
Open up the gates of the curch and let me out of here.
Too many people have lied in the name of Christ
For anyone to heed the call.
So many people have died in the name of Christ
That I can't believe it all.
And now I'm standing on the grave of a soldier that died in 1799.
And the day he died, it was a birthday,
And I noticed it was mine.
And my head didn't know just who I was,
And I went spinning back in time.
And I am high upon the altar,
High upon the altar,
High!
I feel pretty good,
So I dropped in to the luxury of the Lord;
Fighting dragons and crossing swords
With the people against the hoards
Who came to conquer.
Here it comes; I taste the warning,
And I'm so amazed I'm here today,
Seeing things so clear this way.
In the car on my way to Stonehenge.
Sunlight pouring through the break of day.
Stumbled through the gate and into the chamber.
There's a lady setting flowers on the table, covered lace,
And a cleaner in the distance finds a cobweb on her face,
And a feeling deep inside of me
Tells me this can't be the place.
All religion has to have its day.
Expressions on the face of the saviour
Made me say, I can't stay.
And let me out of here.
Too many people have lied in the name of Christ
For anyone to heed the call.
Too many people have died in the name of Christ
That I can't believe at all.
And the day he died, it was a birthday,
And I noticed it was mine.
And my head didn't know just who I was,
And I went spinning back in time.
And I am high upon the altar,
High upon the altar,
High!
It's hard enough to drink the wine.
The air inside just hangs in illusion,
But, given time, I'll be fine.
I'll be fine.
Too many people have lied in the name of Christ
For anyone to heed the call.
So many people have died in the name of Christ
That I can't believe it all.
And the day he died, it was a birthday,
And I noticed it was mine.
And my head didn't know just who I was,
And I went spinning back in time.
And I am high upon the altar,
High upon the altar,
High!
Song Info
Submitted by
zinbobdan On Jun 10, 2004
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i love this song.
Fantastic song about the reality of religion, although people may try as they may to do the whole "peace thing" people are constantly slipping up and failing. If you really want to live in Christ's image and be a true Christian you must go against the killing, the lieing and all the problems and embrace the idea of working fro the kingdom by living in Christ's image. This song spells out what all Christians should be.
Secular humanists?
Secular humanists?
Grahm Nash Himself said this was litterly a song about a bad acid trip that ended in winchester cathedral.
MrHistory explained it. The setting is a bad acid trip, but that's not what the song is really "about".
MrHistory explained it. The setting is a bad acid trip, but that's not what the song is really "about".
The song may be about a bad acid trip but it has a much deeper metaphoric meaning. The “People fighting dragons and crossing swords” is a representation of the early Christian’s in England during the reign of the Romano British Empire just preceding the Saxon invasions of England following the gradual collapse of the Western Roman Empire, these people were justified in fighting in the name of Christ as they were defending their home and their religion. The "People who lied in the name of Christ" refers to Christian Leaders who used Christ, or God as justification for war such as Pope Urban the II whom declared the first crusade which was the first blatant Christian Attack on Islam. As far as the “Soldier who died in 1799” 1799 is considered the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. The comments about it being hard to drink the wine refers to it being difficult to accept the “Body and Blood” of Christ at communion because he understands the deep troubles all the Christian Churches face due to the hypocrisy of most Christian Faiths.
awesome in concert...just Graham and his piano
They were all believers of reincarnation, that's all that I should say. Figure it out. Listen to the song!
@Coopnbg I agree. It is about reincarnation.
@Coopnbg I agree. It is about reincarnation.
I absolutely love this song - the lyrics, the vocalization, the music, and the message - it all resonates very powerfully for me with respect to my own dissolution with Christianity due to lies, hypocrisy, the Inquisition, rape, pillaging, and plundering during the Crusades in the name of Christ, and lack of connection with the Earth. In that respect, Cathedral reminds me very much of The Garden of Love, a poem by William Blake.
Brilliance
It's a shame that his reason to not believe in Christ is because others have burned him. His decision is a reaction to emotions instead of looking at the claims of who Jesus said he was...He said he is the only way to Heaven. He was either lying, telling the truth or had some sort of delusional mental disorder, or he was a manipulator. You decide
Great song about religious disillusionment and what being a Christian truly means. The "too many people..." part is fairly straightforward, it's the part about standing on the grave of the dead soldier that seems a bit more abstract...I have no idea what that part means actually...