Lyric discussion by AzRunner 

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

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