In the darkness I rise, long before the dawn
I was dreaming of home and the life I led
But now I hear the sound of the engines roar
And I crave the embrace of my empty bed, where I'm safe
But the call is clear, and the task is set
And my enemies wait in the dark sky
Do they fear the same fear? Do they dream like us?
And do they long for the day when it's over, and they're safe?
Now we’re cruising above the horizon
Never knowing if we will return
In a moment we'll loose the destruction
And we'll justify all that we burn
Here the air is cold, but my thoughts are clear
And so I'm pondering why I must be here
For the evil that can come from the heart of a man
must be answered in kind 'til it disappears, and we're safe
Now we're cruising above the horizon
Never knowing if we will return
In a moment we'll rain down destruction
And we'll justify all that we burn
Here they come!
I'm dodging all the tracers, sky is full of lead
I can see the pilots' faces
Safety in our numbers, Eagles overhead
We are in the sight of aces
Flak, bursting all around!
Friends, going down in flames!
And now we're hit, it's happened, this is what I feared
Something's telling me my time has come
Though it should be panic, I can feel a peace
Strangely, now I know my purpose...
Hey boys! Hey, get out while you can!
I'll try to take us home
I'm going home...
I was dreaming of home and the life I led
But now I hear the sound of the engines roar
And I crave the embrace of my empty bed, where I'm safe
And my enemies wait in the dark sky
Do they fear the same fear? Do they dream like us?
And do they long for the day when it's over, and they're safe?
Never knowing if we will return
In a moment we'll loose the destruction
And we'll justify all that we burn
And so I'm pondering why I must be here
For the evil that can come from the heart of a man
must be answered in kind 'til it disappears, and we're safe
Never knowing if we will return
In a moment we'll rain down destruction
And we'll justify all that we burn
I can see the pilots' faces
Safety in our numbers, Eagles overhead
We are in the sight of aces
Friends, going down in flames!
Something's telling me my time has come
Though it should be panic, I can feel a peace
Strangely, now I know my purpose...
I'll try to take us home
I'm going home...
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It seems to me that this is "part 2" of Icarus (duh)... because the first part says he wants to fly and he is free. He is doing it for fun. But this part he has been chosen as a great pilot and has been put into the air force. Now his hobby has turned into something he doesn't want to do, and he is going to die for it.
This song was a dedication in general to World War II pilots, in specific it was inspired by General Frederick Castle, posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. I suspect its called Icarus II only because both Icarus's are about flying.
If you follow the lyrics, specifically, he flies a bomber. WW2 bombers usually had to take off at night regardless of whether it was a day or night raid. The raining down destruction part is about dropping their bombs. The most interesting part for me is how creative Joel was with the tempo and beat for the "battle scene" especially using snare drums to simulate gunfire. The aces he refrences are enemies that were waiting for the bomber well in advance of their arrival. This just a great song and one of my favorites.
the greeks made the story of icarus because they wanted to concure the sky as well as the sea. then kansas made a song about the freedom of flying witch is what the greeks where doing with icarus. then they made a secound song about concuring the skies only this time in a war.
ps. the first time i heard this i got chills from the last line.