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Journey of the Magi Lyrics
Moses was old, chill in his bones
Falling apart, he knew in his heart
His time had come.
He lay in his tent, on hot desert sand
He smiled at how he would never see
His Promised Land
He sang "I could've lived and died an Egyptian Prince,
Could've played safe
In the end, journeys brought joys that outweighed the pain.
Odysseus sat, tired and alone
Always held out against all the doubt that
He would come home
Now he was here so found it strange
His wife and his dog, his son and his gods
And everything changed
He sang "I could have stayed and ruled an Ithican Prince
Could've played safe"
In the end, journeys brought joys that outweighed the pain.
Now, Balthazar rode for seven long years
Eastwards and far, he followed his star
And it brought him here.
A stable in ruins, some backwater town
To a Virgin defiled, no king but a Child
Too small for a crown
He sang "I could've lived with my gods as a Persian Prince,
Could've played safe."
Paupers and kings, princes and thieves
Singers of songs, righters of wrongs
What you believe.
Saddle your horse, shoulder your load
Burst at the seam, be what you dreamed
And take to the road.
Falling apart, he knew in his heart
His time had come.
He lay in his tent, on hot desert sand
He smiled at how he would never see
His Promised Land
He sang "I could've lived and died an Egyptian Prince,
Could've played safe
In the end, journeys brought joys that outweighed the pain.
Always held out against all the doubt that
He would come home
Now he was here so found it strange
His wife and his dog, his son and his gods
And everything changed
He sang "I could have stayed and ruled an Ithican Prince
Could've played safe"
In the end, journeys brought joys that outweighed the pain.
Eastwards and far, he followed his star
And it brought him here.
A stable in ruins, some backwater town
To a Virgin defiled, no king but a Child
Too small for a crown
He sang "I could've lived with my gods as a Persian Prince,
Could've played safe."
Singers of songs, righters of wrongs
What you believe.
Saddle your horse, shoulder your load
Burst at the seam, be what you dreamed
And take to the road.
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One of the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful songs I have ever heard. Turner's poetry is so good!
That last verse in particular will blow me away every time, though I would be amiss if I didn't correct it to "BE WHAT YOU BELIEVE." The version above leaves out "be," which is possibly the most important word in the song!
My favourite part of this song has to be in the last verse, "To a stable in ruins In some backwater town, To a virgin defiled, No king but a child, Too small for a crown." The rhyme of "defiled" and "child" just emphasises the pure innocence of the little baby, the virgin "defiled" answers both an atheist view that Mary may have been raped and used the story of the child of god as a cover or out of ignorance (equating her unmarried state with virginity) and the religious stance that she is a virgin and this virginity is broken by the birth of her child. This is absolutely beautiful, the "crown" for that little child being both the crown of the "king of the Jews" but also the crown of thorns. That that little child would one day be killed in the horrific Crucifixion. Frank Turner, like me, isn't a believer yet the imagery and poetry of this verse is inexplicably beautiful
I agree with Mwasa245 this song is so gorgeous. I've listened to it so many times and it's beautiful every time. I always wonder where the idea came for it though, it's so different to Franks other songs. The key its in helps to lure the sort of ancient feel of what he's talking about, Moses and ancient Egypt and other figures of ancient history. The haunting rise in the music fits so well with the stories. The whole song just carries the raw ancient essence of such old periods in history as those. Any ideas on where the idea came from would be good..