DESCRIPTION:
Shadow Gallery - First Light from their album Legacy (2001)

I've uploaded another version of this song without the silence between 23:14 and 28:46 at: http://youtu.be/A6z3SX4jPCs

This song is just to enjoy, to support the artist, to get the music across.
To let the music be heard, that is what it deserves.

For Mike Baker!

Lyrics:

From the first grey light of the morning I've been gone
On my journey towards the stars
Will I know when I reach the other side?
The earth's so blue it's like I'm dreaming
Now I'm on my way
Tainted shadows fall like rain
Through the dark vast weight only silence lingers on
The origin of existence lies somewhere far far beyond
I feel unattached tranquility
A hand from the heavens guiding me
And wondering where this path will lead
In a dream I'm lost and floating through the atmosphere
Searching for significance against
Infinity, eternity
I've been taken by the vast and humbled by the weight of what I've seen
You know they called for heroes
Cause heroes carry on
I know the world is fading
So from the first grey light of the morning I've been gone
Now I pray for a better life
For all the ones I love
We search beyond our reach
And turn our gaze above
I hope that it's the way
To fill our basic needs
And my sacrifice not vain
And I'll return again
The sands will filter through the timeless hourglass
As I pass beyond the god of war
Distant voices hear them crying out
I must seek out new worlds and explore
And I know that there just must be a place
Where our children can be free from the pain
It must be somewhere out in space
The sands will filter from the timeless hourglass
As I pass beyond the god of war
Distant voices hear them crying out
I must seek out new worlds and explore
And I know that there must be a place
It must be somewhere out in space

Silver moonbeams relfect the sun
Martian landscapes, worlds beyond
I touch down with no trace
No sign of life on this place
Now I feel a surge of energy
The deepest passion burns in me
Somewhere there is a world not left to die
The stars will shine their light down unto me
(Illuminating)
The stars will shine their light and I will see
(Will I find my way?)
So back to the darkness I fly
In search of a hope in the sky
I should have known right from the start
I'll not return home
It seems so surreal as I go
(The sun I know is growing smaller)
The knowledge of science alone
(I drift for days on endless hours)
Can't save all the people I know
That I've left behind
(The sun I know is growing smaller)
(I drift for days on endless hours)
(No messages are getting through)
(I'm gone)

The pioneering spirit charges the unknown
Accept the consequence of risk
I'm all alone here
I don't know if I'll return and
The fate of life is on my heart
I left a dying world behind
On my way oh
Where's our oasis in the sky?
The future of our race
I left a poisoned world behind
Now I see there's no
Heaven bound oasis in the sky
Only dreams
I've got no destination
Helpless I drift on
The weight of silence how it's eating at my soul
And yet I sense a stirring
Something so spiritual
I wonder if the fate of mankind
Is in the hands of a higher power calling to us all
I left a dying world behind
On my way
Only God can stop the spiral down to hell
The future of our race
I left a poisoned world behind
Now I see only Heaven's the oasis in the sky
It's my dream...

Song explanation:
This song is about a man who goes out into space looking for another planet for mankind, as Earth is about to collapse. He becomes lost and unsure of his mission as he discovers that there is indeed no life on Mars. Effectively, he gives up entirely, but finds himself continuing with the quest anyway. This makes him come to realize once and for all that there is indeed a God, and that he is guiding this man on his quest out into a new world. The repetition of the "oasis in the sky" lines, with altered wording, makes this obvious.

Renewed in faith, the character (wordlessly) continues his search, and then fades out of known space in the long silence. The fourth part reveals he has indeed found his destination, and the sweet yet sad closing movement takes humanity back to the beginning.

I divide this piece into four movements, as if this story was a Biblical rebirth, a return to Genesis as it were.

Movement I, 0:00 to 9:19: "Fallen"
Movement II, 9:19 to 16:59: "Revelation"
Movement III, 16:59 to 27:18: "Exodus" (Instrumental)
Movement IV, 27:18 to 34:18: "Genesis" (Instrumental)

Conveniently, "Genesis" lasts seven minutes on the dot, which returns back to the religious theme.

"Genesis" is quite simply one of the most beautiful passages in all of music. It might seem familiar (some comment they've heard it in a movie), but when something is so incredibly amazing, who cares?

http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858789136/