A Man For All Seasons

Album: Time Passages (1978)
Play Video
  • What if you reached the age of reason
    Only to find there was no reprieve
    Would you still be a man for all seasons?
    Or would you just have to leave
    We measure our days out
    In steps of uncertainty
    Not turning to see how we've come
    And peer down the highway
    From here to eternity
    And reach out for love on the run
    While the man for all seasons
    Is lost behind the sun

    Henry Plantagenet still looks for someone
    To bring good news in his hour of doubt
    While Thomas More waits in the Tower of London
    Watching the sands running out
    And measures the hours out
    From here to oblivion
    In actions that can't be undone
    A sailor through the darkness
    He scans the meridian
    And caught by the first rays of dawn
    The man for all seasons
    Is lost beneath the storm

    And I should know by now
    I should know by now
    I hear them call it out all around
    Oh, they go
    There's nothing to believe in
    Hear them,
    Just daydreams, deceiving
    They'll just let you down

    What if you reached the age of reason
    Only to find there was no reprieve
    Would you still be a man for all seasons?
    Or would you just disbelieve?

    We measure our gains out in luck and coincidence
    Lanterns to turn back the night
    And put our defeats down to chance or experience
    And try once again for the light
    Some wait for the waters of fortune to cover them
    Some just see the tides of ill chance running over them

    Some call on Jehovah
    Some cry out to Allah
    Some wait for the boats that still row to Valhalla
    Well, you should try to accept what the fates are unfolding
    While some say they're sure where the blame should be falling
    You look round for maybe a chance of forestalling
    Bot too soon its over and done
    And the man for all seasons
    Is lost behind the sun Writer/s: AL STEWART
    Publisher: Spirit Music Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • Rabbi Meyer from Central WisconsinI was confused by Al's reference to "Henry Plantagenet" since Henry VIII was a Tudor, but I figured Al knew what he was doing; after all, he is so well-versed in history. But some thirty years later I read in an interview that he'd made a mistake and it had plagued Al all these years. Still a great song, especially the lyric "Well you try to accept what the Fates are unfolding/While some say they're sure where the blame should be falling..."
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Yacht Rock Quiz

Yacht Rock QuizFact or Fiction

Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.

Butch Vig

Butch VigSongwriter Interviews

The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.

80s Music Quiz 1

80s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

MTV, a popular TV theme song and Madonna all show up in this '80s music quiz.

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian OrchestraSongwriter Interviews

Writing great prog metal isn't easy, especially when it's for 60 musicians.

The Fratellis

The FratellisSongwriter Interviews

Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.

Victoria Williams

Victoria WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

Despite appearances on Carson, Leno and a Pennebaker film, Williams remains a hidden treasure.