The Fountain Of Salmacis

Album: Nursery Cryme (1971)
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  • From a dense forest of tall dark pinewood, Mount Ida rises like an island.
    Within a hidden cave, nymphs had kept a child;
    Hermaphroditus, son of gods, so afraid of their love.

    As the dawn creeps up the sky
    The hunter caught sight of a doe.
    In desire for conquest,
    He found himself within a glade he'd not beheld before.

    Hermaphroditus:
    "Where are you, my father?
    Give wisdom to your son"
    Narrator:
    Now lost, the boy was guided by the sun"
    "Then he could go no farther

    And as his strength began to fail
    He saw a shimmering lake.
    A shadow in the dark green depths
    Disturbed the strange tranquility.

    Salmacis:
    "The waters are disturbed
    Some creature has been stirred"
    Narrator:
    "The waters are disturbed
    Naiad queen Salmacis has been stirred"

    As he rushed to quench his thirst,
    A fountain spring appeared before him
    And as his heated breath brushed through the cool mist,
    A liquid voice called, "Son of gods, drink from my spring".

    The water tasted strangely sweet.
    Behind him the voice called again.
    He turned and saw her, in a cloak of mist alone
    And as he gazed, her eyes were filled with the darkness of the lake.

    Salmacis:
    "We shall be one
    We shall be joined as one"
    Narrator:
    "She wanted them as one
    Yet he had no desire to be one"

    Hermaphroditus:
    "Away from me cold-blooded woman
    Your thirst is not mine"

    Salmacis:
    "Nothing will cause us to part
    Hear me, O Gods"

    Unearthly calm descended from the sky
    And then their flesh and bones were strangely merged
    Forever to be joined as one.

    The creature crawled into the lake.
    A fading voice was heard:
    "And I beg, yes I beg that all who touch this spring
    May share my fate"

    Salmacis:
    "We are the one
    We are the one"
    Narrator:
    "The two are now made one
    Demi-god and nymph are now made one"

    Both had given everything they had.
    A lover's dream had been fulfilled at last,
    Forever still beneath the lake. Writer/s: ANTHONY BANKS, MICHAEL RUTHERFORD, PETER GABRIEL, STEVEN HACKETT
    Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, CARLIN AMERICA INC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • Craig from UsArmin, Tony said he and Peter wrote the lyrics.
  • Armin from GermanyLyrics by Mike Rutherford.
see more comments

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