Colonel Forbins Ascent - Lyrics by Phish


Lyrics

Colonel forbin stared up at the mountain
And wiped away the beads of sweat
That glistened on his brow
His tired feet were buried in the quagmire
And his bloodshot eyes saw all that lay between him
And fulfillment of his vow


And he felt his fingers wrap around a knotted root
And pulled his body upwards
To a sea green mossy boulder
And he dragged his weary carcass [or "shit-ass"] up the mountain


And he climbed so slowly
He climbed so slowly
Ahead
Ahead


Suddenly he heard the crack of thunder
And the rocks began to crumble overhead
And tumble down the mountain to the
Dismal swamp that lay beneath the jagged cliffs
Through which his path had led
And the earth began to quake beneath his feet
And the mighty mountain changed before his eyes
And he stood amidst a sea of dust and rocks and stones
Cascading down the mountain
And a thousand birds were headed for the sky. oh...


The sacred creed will be yours
And if you wait until tomorrow
The sacred creed will be yours
To devour
Yours
To seize
And to obey
Obey


When the dust had cleared, the colonel lifted up his head
And was driven to his knees by a blazing beam of light
And he saw the silhouette that stood before him
And he bowed in reverence
Trembling in the shadow of the mighty legend's form
Icculus the prophet stood before his eyes
Looking down on colonel forbin
Where he shuddered in the puddles and the muck
And he quietly addressed him


And he spoke so slowly
He spoke so slowly
Ahead
He said


Colonel forbin i know why you've come here
And i'll help you with your quest to gain the knowledge that you lack
I call upon my faithful friend the mockingbird
To fly and seize the helping book and bring it to your shack
And a tree of knowledge in your soul will grow
And the helping friendly book will plant the seed
But i warn you that all knowledge seeming innocent and pure
Becomes a deadly weapon in the hands of avarice
And greed


The sacred greed will be yours
And if you wait until tomorrow
The sacred creed will be yours
To devour
Yours
To seize
And to obey
And to obey





And the famous mockingbird swooped down out of the sky and landed on icculus's shoulder, and icculus whispered into the bird's ear, and it flew off toward wilson's castle in the valley below.


Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Hide Ad