The Hourglass
Savatage Lyrics

Standing alone by the edge of a river
Being isolated and contemplative near a body of flowing water

He's traded his life for a glass full of tears
He has exchanged his existence for a vessel filled with sorrow

The bargain was quick for one's life is less dearer
The transaction was swift, as a person's own life is of less value

When the sand's running out and the ending is near
As the sand within the hourglass diminishes and the conclusion approaches

The ending is near
The conclusion is imminent

The ending is near
The conclusion is imminent

The ending is
The conclusion is

The man climbed aboard and set sail for the ocean
The individual embarked on a voyage across the sea

He put on the mast all the canvas she'd take
He deployed all the sails the vessel could bear

Then laid himself down on the deck neath the tiller
Then positioned himself on the ship's deck beneath the steering apparatus

The ship was his coffin this moment his wake
The ship served as his burial vessel, and this instance was his funeral gathering

Runaway reasons
Motives that lead one astray

Runaway seasons
Passing time that slips away uncontrollably

Time is a treason
The concept of time is a betrayal

That I give back to you now
That I return to you in this moment

The wind touched the sail and the ship
The breeze made contact with the sail and guided the ship

Moved the ocean
Caused a ripple in the vast body of water

The wind from the storm set the course she would take
The wind from the tempest determined the path the ship would follow

From a journey to nowhere towards a soul on the ocean
From a voyage with no destination to one seeking solace on the open sea

From the wake of Magellan to Magellan's wake
From the trail left by Magellan's ship to the realm of the deceased Magellan

Everything in it
Everything contained within it

Hours and minutes
Units of time in the form of hours and minutes

You take tomorrow
You claim the future

Because it means nothing
Since it holds no significance

To me
To me

To me
To me

In the dark he heard a whisper
In the darkness, he perceived a faint voice

Asking him to understand
Beseeching him to comprehend

In the desert look for water
In arid surroundings, seek out hydration

On the ocean look for land
On the vast sea, search for solid ground

And there in the waves
And within the undulating water

Was a man in his grave
Lay a deceased individual

That he saw in the night
Whom he observed during the nighttime

'Tween the flashes of light
In between the moments of illumination

And he
And he

Could not be there
Was unable to be present

And all he had prayed
And everything he had earnestly wished for

Or had given away
Or had selflessly bestowed upon others

He now found to be wrong
He now realized to be incorrect

In the grip of the storm
In the clutches of a tempest

And he
And he

Could not be there
Was unable to be present

Could you keep our lives together
Can you ensure the unity of our lives

Safely back onto the shore
Securely returning us to land

Could you grant this last illusion
Can you bestow this final deception

Only this and nothing more
Merely this and nothing beyond

But what the sailor did not know
However, what the seafarer was unaware of

And would never learn
And would never come to understand

Was on that beach now far away
Was that on a distant shoreline

The young child had returned
The youthful child had come back

And finding the broken hourglass
And discovering the fractured timepiece

He reset it upright
He restored it to an upright position

Then placed sand from the beach inside
Then inserted sand from the shore within

And placed the lid on tight
And secured the lid firmly

Then examining his handiwork
Then inspecting his creation

He left it in the sand
He left it behind in the sand

And then he quickly ran back home
And then he hurriedly returned to his residence

Thinking god would understand
Believing that God would comprehend

Everything I ever had for one more tomorrow
Every possession I ever owned in exchange for an additional day

Everything I ever had for just one more night
Every belonging I ever possessed for a solitary additional evening

And if this is not to be I pray could I borrow
And if this is not possible, may I request a temporary loan

Just another final hour onto my life
Merely one more concluding hour added to my existence

Did you ever really want to
Did you genuinely desire to

Lord, tell me how it will be
Oh Lord, disclose how it will transpire

Standing once more by a boat on a river
Stood once again by a boat situated on a waterway

He pushes it off while he stays on the land
He propels the vessel away while he remains ashore

And seeing the hourglass now so much clearer
And perceiving the hourglass with greater clarity

Which someone had refilled by hand
That had been replenished manually by someone

And somewhere that boat's now adrift on the
And somewhere that boat is now floating aimlessly on the

Ocean
Vast body of saltwater

The mast at full sail and there's no one on board
The mast adorned with sails, but devoid of passengers

The hourglass no longer sits by the ocean
The hourglass no longer resides near the sea

Only his footprints all alone on the shore
Merely his footprints present, solitary on the coastline

And soon they're no more
And before long, they disappear entirely

No more
No more

No more
No more

Now our story's nearly over
Now our tale is almost concluded

And we've reached the final scene
And we have arrived at the ultimate moment

But we're sure that some have wondered
Yet we are certain that certain individuals have pondered

What had happened in-between
What transpired in the interim

From the moment when the boy was saved
From the instance of the boy's rescue

And their boat had reached the shore
And their vessel had arrived at the land

Well, they talked about life and death
They engaged in a conversation regarding life and death

And perhaps a little more
And conceivably some additional topics

The boy said he'd been a stowaway
The boy disclosed that he had been a clandestine passenger

Aboard the 'maersk dubai'
Onboard the vessel named 'Maersk Dubai'

When the captain had him thrown to the sea
When the captain had him cast into the ocean

And left him there to die
And abandoned him there to perish

At this the old sailor had stood up
In response, the elderly sailor had risen

His face now filled with rage
His countenance now consumed by anger

And swore that he would never rest
And vowed that he would never find peace

Until that captain had been caged
Unless that captain had been imprisoned

But the boy implored the sailor
However, the boy beseeched the sailor

That he not say a word
Not to utter a single syllable

Because he was an illegal immigrant
Because he was an undocumented migrant

And as of recently he'd heard
And he had recently learned

That going to the authorities
That seeking assistance from the government officials

Could often be unwise
Could frequently be ill-advised

When one's paper were illegal
When one's documentation was unlawful

The police just might not sympathize
The law enforcement might simply lack empathy

So when they reached the harbor
Thus, when they arrived at the port

With their journey at an end
With the culmination of their expedition

He left the boy on another ship
He abandoned the boy on a different vessel

Whose captain was a friend
Whose captain was an acquaintance

And when he saw it pull to sea
And upon witnessing its departure

And was once more all alone
And being once again solitary

He leaned against the tiller
He leaned against the steerage mechanism

And turned his ship back home
And directed his vessel toward his residence

Eventually he reached that beach
Eventually, he arrived at that shoreline

He'd left the night before
He had departed from the night prior

Then stepped a last time from the boat
Then disembarked from the boat for a final time

And waded to the shore
And walked through the water towards land

Then the old man picked the glass up
Then the elderly man lifted the glass

That he had left behind
That he had previously abandoned

And headed for the small cafe
And proceeded towards the modest café

For it was nearly time
As it was nearly time

And the ocean watched him leaving
And the ocean observed him departing

To find his lady fair
To locate his beloved woman

And as he left he heard her last words
And as he departed, he heard her final utterance

Drifting in the air
Wafting through the atmosphere

That every man
That every individual

Is born you see
Is brought into existence, you understand

Beneath the sword
Underneath the threat

Damocles
Of Damocles

For young and old
For both the young and the old

Are all alive
Are all living

On that next beat
At the sequence of heartbeats

On which we ride
On which we traverse

And that beat is such
And that rhythm is so

A fragile thing
An easily broken entity

In both old men
In both elderly men

Or youthful king
Or a youthful ruler

And that beat
And that rhythm

Stands all alone you see
Exists independently, you perceive

Between us
Between us

And black eternity
And the endless void

And until that time
And until that moment

When death won't wait
When death will no longer delay

Let each man rage
Allow every individual to express anger

Against his fate
In opposition to his destiny