1. Jeff Wayne is a composer k… Read Full Bio ↴There are two artists using this name:
1. Jeff Wayne is a composer known mostly for his musical version of H.G. Wells' The War Of The Worlds. In the production of The War Of The Worlds he put together all of the music himself and contributed some vocals to the final track of the original 1978 release.
He also wrote several advertising jingles in the 1970s which appeared on television in the United Kingdom, notably the Gordon's Gin commercial, which was systematically covered and re-covered by the Human League. Other well-known themes he wrote include Good Morning Britain (TV-am) and LBC radio.
2. Jeff Wayne is an Irish singer who, early in his entertainment career, worked with Joseph Locke.
The Spirit of Man 2009
Jeff Wayne Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I felt unable to leave him to the mercy of the red weed, and decided to bury him, decently
Nathaniel! Nathaniel!
The parson's eyes flickered open
He was alive!
Don't touch me!
But it's me, Beth! Your wife!
No! You're one of them - a devil!
He's delirious!
Lies! I saw the devil's sign!
What are you saying?
The green flash in the sky
His demons were here all along, in our hearts and souls
Just waiting for a sign from Him
And now they're destroying our world!
But they're not devils, they're Martians
We must leave here!
Look, a house still standing, come Nathaniel, quickly
We took shelter in a cottage, and black smoke spread, hemming us in
Then a fighting machine came across the field
Spraying jets of steam that turned the smoke into thick, black dust
Ulla!
Dear God, help us!
The voice of the Devil is heard in our land!
Listen, do you hear them drawing near
In their search for the sinners?
Feeding on the power of our fear
And the evil within us?
Incarnation of Satan's creation of all that we dread
When the demons arrive those alive would be better off dead!
There must be something worth living for
There must be something worth trying for
Even some things worth dying for!
And if one man can stand tall
There must be hope for us all
Somewhere, somewhere in the spirit of man
Once there was a time when I believed
Without hesitation
That the power of love and truth could conquer all
In the name of salvation
Tell me what kind of weapon is love when it comes to the fight?
And just how much protection is truth against all Satan's might?
There must be something worth living for
There must be something worth trying for
Even some things worth dying for
And if one man can stand tall
There must be some hope for us all
Somewhere, somewhere in the spirit of man
People loved you, and trusted you, came to you for help
Didn't I warn them this would happen?
Be on your guard, I said, for the Evil One never rests
I said exorcise the devil!
But no, they wouldn't listen, the demons inside them grew and grew
Until Satan gave his signal and destroyed the world we knew!
No Nathaniel, oh no, Nathaniel
No Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life
There has to be a way that we can
Restore to life the love we used to know
(No) Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life
There has to be a way that we can
Restore to life the light that we have lost
Now darkness has descended on our land
And all your prayers cannot save us
Like fools we've let the devil take command
Of the souls that God gave us
To the altar of evil like lambs to the slaughter were led
When the demons arrive the survivors will envy the dead!
There must be something worth living for
(No, there is nothing!)
There must be something worth trying for
(I don't believe it's so!)
Even some things worth dying for
If just one man could stand tall
There would be some hope for us all
Somewhere, somewhere in the spirit of man
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone!
Didn't I warn them? Pray, I said! Destroy the devil, I said!
They wouldn't listen! I could have saved the world!
But now it's too late, too late!
No Nathaniel, oh no, Nathaniel
No Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life
There has to be a way that we can
Restore to life the love we used to know
(No) Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life
There has to be a way that we can
Restore to life the light that we have lost
Dear God!
A cylinder's landed on the house
And we are underneath it, in the pit!
The Martians spent the night making a new machine
It was a squat, metallic spider with huge, articulated claws
But it, too, had a hood in which a Martian sat
I watched it pursuing some people across a field
It caught them nimbly and tossed them into a great metal basket upon its back
Beth! She's dead! Buried under the rubble Why?
Satan! Why did you take one of your own?
There is a curse on Mankind
We may as well be resigned
To let the devil, the devil take the spirit of man
As time passed in our dark and dusty prison
The Parson wrestled endlessly with his doubts
His outcries invited death for us both - and yet, I pitied him
The Spirit of Man is a song from Jeff Wayne's musical adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. The song features the parson Nathaniel and his wife Beth, who have taken refuge in a cottage during the Martian invasion. Nathaniel, who has been infected by the red weed, becomes delirious and believes that Beth is a devil. He claims to have seen the green flash in the sky and believes that Satan has sent his demons to destroy the world. Beth tries to reason with him that the invaders are Martians and not devils. Suddenly the couple is forced to flee as the fighting machine comes across the field. The second half of the song features the parson's ongoing battle against his faith, as well as the hope that the spirit of man will ultimately triumph over evil.
The lyrics of The Spirit of Man incorporate themes of faith, love, and the power of the human spirit. The parson, who has lost his faith, believes the world has been destroyed by Satan and his demons. However, his wife remains steadfast in her belief that humans have the power to overcome evil. The song highlights the struggle between good and evil, personified by the Martians and human resistance, respectively. Ultimately, the song suggests that the human spirit is capable of enduring even the most trying of circumstances.
Line by Line Meaning
I suddenly noticed the body of a parson lying on the ground in a ruined churchyard
I saw a body lying in an old graveyard
I felt unable to leave him to the mercy of the red weed, and decided to bury him, decently
I buried the body because I didn't want it destroyed by the aliens' red weed
Nathaniel! Nathaniel!
Calling out to the parson, Nathaniel
The parson's eyes flickered open
The parson opened his eyes
He was alive!
The parson was still alive
Nathaniel, I saw the church burst into flame, are you all right?
Asking Nathaniel if he's alright after witnessing the church burn down
Don't touch me!
Nathaniel doesn't want to be touched
But it's me, Beth! Your wife!
Beth identifies herself to Nathaniel
No! You're one of them - a devil!
Nathaniel confuses Beth with a devil
He's delirious!
Beth thinks Nathaniel may be delirious
Lies! I saw the devil's sign!
Nathaniel accuses Beth of lying and seeing the devil's sign
What are you saying?
Beth asks Nathaniel what he means
His demons were here all along, in our hearts and souls
Nathaniel believes the demons were always inside them, waiting for a signal
Just waiting for a sign from Him
Nathaniel believed that the demons were waiting for a signal from Satan
And now they're destroying our world!
Nathaniel believes that the aliens are destroying the world
But they're not devils, they're Martians
Beth corrects Nathaniel, telling him that the aliens are not devils, but Martians
We must leave here!
They agree to leave the area
Look, a house still standing, come Nathaniel, quickly
Beth spots a house that's still standing and asks Nathaniel to hurry
We took shelter in a cottage, and black smoke spread, hemming us in
They take shelter in a cottage, but black smoke surrounds them
Then a fighting machine came across the field
They spot a fighting machine coming towards them
Spraying jets of steam that turned the smoke into thick, black dust
The fighting machine sprays steam that turns the black smoke into dust
Ulla!
The fighting machine makes a noise
Dear God, help us!
They call out to God for help
The voice of the Devil is heard in our land!
They hear the voice of the devil in their land
Listen, do you hear them drawing near
Asking if they can hear the aliens approaching
In their search for the sinners?
The aliens are searching for people to attack
Feeding on the power of our fear
The aliens are feeding on the fear of the humans
And the evil within us?
They wonder if the aliens are feeding on the evil within them
Incarnation of Satan's creation of all that we dread
The aliens are like a manifestation of all that humans fear
When the demons arrive those alive would be better off dead!
They believe that death would be better than being alive when the aliens arrive
There must be something worth living for
They believe there's something worth living for
There must be something worth trying for
They believe there's something worth trying for
Even some things worth dying for!
They believe there are things worth dying for
And if one man can stand tall
They believe that if one person can stand tall, others can too
There must be hope for us all
They believe that there's hope for everyone
Somewhere, somewhere in the spirit of man
They believe there's hope within the human spirit
Once there was a time when I believed
Reflecting on a time when they had hope
Without hesitation
They believed without doubt
That the power of love and truth could conquer all
They believed that love and truth could overcome anything
In the name of salvation
They had faith in salvation
Tell me what kind of weapon is love when it comes to the fight?
They question if love is enough to fight against evil
And just how much protection is truth against all Satan's might?
They question if truth can stand up against Satan's power
Even some things worth dying for
They believe that some things are worth dying for
There must be some hope for us all
They believe there's hope for everyone
People loved you, and trusted you, came to you for help
Remembering how people loved and trusted Nathaniel
Didn't I warn them this would happen?
Nathaniel wonders why no one listened to his warnings
Be on your guard, I said, for the Evil One never rests
Nathaniel warned people to be cautious of evil
I said exorcise the devil!
Nathaniel believed in exorcising demons
But no, they wouldn't listen, the demons inside them grew and grew
People didn't listen and the evil inside them continued to grow
Until Satan gave his signal and destroyed the world we knew!
Now, the world has been destroyed
No Nathaniel, oh no, Nathaniel
Beth objects to Nathaniel's despair
No Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life
Beth believes there's more to life than despair
There has to be a way that we can
They believe there's a solution
Restore to life the love we used to know
They want to restore the love they once knew
(No) Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life
Beth still believes there's more to life
Restore to life the light that we have lost
They want to restore the light that has been lost
Now darkness has descended on our land
They're in a dark place with no hope
And all your prayers cannot save us
They don't believe that prayers will save them
Like fools we've let the devil take command
They feel foolish for letting evil take over
Of the souls that God gave us
They believe that God gave us souls
To the altar of evil like lambs to the slaughter were led
People were led to evil and were helpless like lambs to the slaughter
When the demons arrive the survivors will envy the dead!
They believe that those who survive will envy the dead
(No, there is nothing!)
Nathaniel thinks there's no hope left
(I don't believe it's so!)
Beth doesn't believe there's no hope left
If just one man could stand tall
They believe that if one person can stand tall, it gives hope to all
There would be some hope for us all
They believe that one person can inspire hope in everyone
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone!
They've lost hope in goodness and mercy
Didn't I warn them? Pray, I said! Destroy the devil, I said!
Nathaniel reflects on the warnings he gave and the advice he gave them
They wouldn't listen! I could have saved the world!
Nathaniel thinks he could've saved the world if they'd listened to him
But now it's too late, too late!
They realize it's too late to change things
Dear God!
Calling out to God in despair
A cylinder's landed on the house
The aliens' cylinder has landed on their house
And we are underneath it, in the pit!
They are trapped underneath the cylinder
The Martians spent the night making a new machine
The aliens made a new machine overnight
It was a squat, metallic spider with huge, articulated claws
The new machine was like a metallic spider with large claws
But it, too, had a hood in which a Martian sat
Like the other machines, it had a hood with a Martian inside
I watched it pursuing some people across a field
They witness the new machine chasing people in a field
It caught them nimbly and tossed them into a great metal basket upon its back
The machine caught the people and put them in a metal basket
Beth! She's dead! Buried under the rubble Why?
They discover that Beth has died and wonder why
Satan! Why did you take one of your own?
Nathaniel blames Satan for taking Beth
There is a curse on Mankind
They believe that there's a curse on humanity
We may as well be resigned
They feel helpless and resigned
To let the devil, the devil take the spirit of man
They feel that evil will prevail and take the spirit of man
As time passed in our dark and dusty prison
They spend time trapped in their dusty prison
The Parson wrestled endlessly with his doubts
Nathaniel is struggling with his doubts
His outcries invited death for us both - and yet, I pitied him
Nathaniel's cries could've led to their deaths, but Beth still pities him
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JEFF WAYNE, GARY OSBOURNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind