Lizard
King Crimson Lyrics

Farewell the temple master's bells
Bid goodbye to the sound of the bells from the temple master, the kiosk and his poisonous black worm seed.

His kiosk and his black worm seed
The poisonous black worm seed from the kiosk of the temple master.

Courtship solely of his word
Blind obedience to the temple master's every command, without any reasoning.

With Eden guaranteed
Promised a utopic paradise as a reward for allegiance to the temple master, with no guarantee of receiving it.

For now Prince Rupert's tears of glass
Prince Rupert's crying, causing tears to fall like glass.

Make saffron sabbath eyelids bleed
Prince Rupert's sorrow causes pain and discomfort, leaving eyelids swollen and red.

Scar the sacred tablet wax
Destruction of the holy wax tablet.

On which the Lizards feed
The tablet on which the lizards feed, the destruction of which will affect them.

Wake your reason's hollow vote
Urge people to think logically and make informed decisions rather than blindly following and voting based on emotions.

Wear your blizzard season coat
Preparing for winter's fury with appropriate wear like a coat.

Burn a bridge and burn a boat
Cut off any potential return route, leave no option or opportunity open.

Stake a Lizard by the throat
Punish the lizards or anyone who has betrayed, deceived or swindled, without mercy or pity.

Go Polonius or kneel
Be wise like Polonius, or show subservience and kneel in obedience.

The reapers name their harvest dawn
Farmers/workers start their day early in the morning to cultivate and reap their harvest.

All your tarnished devil's spoons
All the dirty, corrupted spoons used by the devil for evil purposes.

Will rust beneath our corn
Those corrupted spoons will be buried under the cornfields and will rust away, as the harvest grows.

Now bears Prince Rupert's garden roam
Wildlife is free to wander through Prince Rupert's secluded gardens.

Across his rain tree shaded lawn
Over the lush green lawn shaded by rain trees.

Lizard bones become the clay
The remains of the lizards will transform into the soil underfoot.

And there a swan is born
A swan is hatched from the transformed soil, signifying a new start.

Gone soon Piepowder's moss-weed court
A place frequented by the Piepowder to sell their lizard-themed art and trinkets is no more.

Round which upholstered Lizards sold
The piepowder court was a place for lizard-inspired souvenirs, sold by vendors with plush upholstery.

Visions to their leaden flock
The piepowder vendors sold counterfeit visions of paradise to their gullible customers at the market.

Of rainbows' ends and gold
Their counterfeit visions promised unimaginable rewards, like the ends of rainbows, and copious wealth.

Now tales Prince Rupert's peacock brings
Peacocks which roam Rupert's garden bring stories of their journeys to share with others.

Of walls and trumpets thousand-fold
The peacocks share fanciful stories about grand walls and the sounds of thousands of trumpets.

Prophets chained for burning masks
Prophets who burned masks are now imprisoned and chained.

And reels of dreams unrolled
The stories of dreams unrolled by the peacocks.

Night enfolds her cloak of holes
Night falls, with a cloak full of holes that let in light.

Around the river meadow
The light from the holes of the cloak fills the area around the meadow by the river.

Old moon-light stalks by broken ploughs
The full moon looks upon broken ploughs in the field.

Hides spokeless wheels in shadow
The moon's light covers the wheels missing spokes in the darkness of the shadows.

Sentries lean on thorn wood spears
Guards lean on spears made of thornwood.

Blow on their hands, stare eastwards
The guards breathe warmth onto their cold hands and gaze towards the east.

Burnt with dream and taut with fear
Tense with a mixture of dreams and fears.

Dawn's misty shawl upon them
The guards are covered in the misty shawl brought by the dawn.

Three hills apart great armies stir
Three hills separate warring armies, and they organize themselves for battle.

Spit oath and curse as day breaks
The armies start swearing and cursing as day breaks, preparing for battle.

Forming lines of horse and steel
The warriors form lines of cavalry and infantry to prepare for war.

By even yards march forward
They march forward in even and uniform steps on the battleground.