I recall when I was small
How I spent my days alone
The busy world was not for me
So I went and found my own
I would climb the garden wall
With a candle in my hand
I'd hide inside a hall of rock and sand
On the stone an ancient hand
In a faded yellow-green
Made alive a worldly wonder
Often told but never seen
Now and ever bound to labor
On the sea and in the sky
Every man and beast appeared
A friend as real as I

[Chorus]
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood

Can it be this sad design
Could be the very same
A wooly man without a face
And a beast without a name
Nothin' here but history
Can you see what has been done
Memory rush over me
Now I step into the sun

[Chorus]


Lyrics submitted by Nightvoice

The Caves of Altamira Lyrics as written by Walter Carl Becker Donald Jay Fagen

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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The Caves of Altamira song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    This one has been bugging me so I'll give it a shot:

    Fagen and Becker have a history of simplifying their explanations like most artists.

    You've got three verses and the final one is extremely complex to figure out.

    The first verse he talks about going into the cave as a kid. He's exploring doing what kids do.

    The second verse he talks about the cave paintings he found.

    The verse explains they were written because they were aware of their mortality and they wrote it for us to see and for us to understand them.

    The last verse he has visited the cave as an adult and he is the cave paintings. He's aware of his mortality. He's become them. Now I step out in the sun he leaves the cave.

    bkabbotton December 19, 2013   Link

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