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

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

Which Songs are About Drugs?

Which Songs are About Drugs?Fact or Fiction

"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.

Sam Hollander

Sam HollanderSongwriter Interviews

The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.