The Eve Of The War
Featuring Richard Burton Lyrics

At midnight, on the 12th of August
At an exact time, in the middle of a particular night

A huge mass of luminous gas erupted from Mars and sped towards Earth
A large quantity of bright gas burst from the planet Mars and headed towards the planet Earth at high speed

Across two hundred million miles of void
Travelling through a massive empty space that is over two hundred million miles in length

Invisibly hurtling towards us
Moving incredibly quickly, but unseen by the human eye

Came the first of the missiles that were to bring so much calamity to Earth
The initial wave of the projectiles that would cause great destruction on Earth, arrived

As I watched, there was another jet of gas
While I was observing, I saw another stream of gas

It was another missile, starting on its way
It was a separate projectile, beginning its movement towards Earth

And that's how it was for the next ten nights
This was repeated for the following ten evenings

A flare, spurting out from Mars
A sudden, short burst of light that came from Mars

Bright green, drawing a green mist behind it
Shining with a vivid green hue and leaving a trail of green smoke behind it

A beautiful, but somehow disturbing sight
An aesthetically pleasing, yet unsettling scene

Ogilby, the astronomer, assured me we were in no danger
Astronomer Ogilby guaranteed me that we were not at risk of danger

He was convinced there could be no living thing on that remote
He was absolutely sure that there were no intelligent organisms on that distant and isolated planet

Forbidding planet
An unwelcoming and harsh planet

The chances of anything coming from Mars
The statistical probability of something originating from Mars

Are a million to one, he said (ah, ah)
He stated that there is almost no possibility of anything coming from Mars

But still, they come
Regardless, they are still arriving

Then came the night the first missile approached Earth
A night that was followed by the arrival of the first missile near Earth

It was thought to be an ordinary falling star
Initially, it was believed to be a common shooting star

But next day there was a huge crater in the middle of the common
However, the next day there was a massive hole in the center of the open area

And Ogilby came to examine what lay there
Ogilby visited the site to analyze what was present

A cylinder, thirty yards across, glowing hot
A cylinder, with a diameter of thirty yards, was radiating intense heat

With faint sounds of movement coming from within
Faint noises of activity were detected from the inside of the cylinder

Suddenly the top began moving: rotating, unscrewing
Suddenly, the upper portion of the cylinder began to move, rotating and then opening up

And Ogilby feared there was a man inside trying to escape
Ogilby was worried that a person was inside, attempting to break free

He rushed to the cylinder but the intense heat stopped him before
He quickly approached the cylinder, but the extreme temperature halted his progress

He could burn himself on the metal
As he got too close, there was a risk of being burned by the metallic object