Sleep Now - Peter Hammill

Sleep now:

another day in your young lives is done,

go to sleep now.

Tomorrow brave new worlds will surely come,

and trouble deep;

you’re such a wonder, such a mystery to me.

Somewhere

your future friends are lying as you are

and your lovers

right now are only crying babes in arms

oh, the world turns under our feet,

our lives are passing by

in our sleep.

So soon you’ll be gone to that wide world —

the tunes of adulthood calling little girls.

Remember,

whatever else in life you find to doubt,

do remember,

although you hear him mostly in a shout,

your father loves you

as though he never knew the meaning of the words

until just now.

So soon you’ll be gone to that wide world.

One tune of childhood I sing my little girls…

Sleep now,

one day I’ll tell you how my life has been.

Oh, so strange

to think your eyes will fall on things

that mine have never seen,

these eyes that gently flicker

in some lost childhood dream.

Sleep now,

safe and warm in the haven of your bed,

go to sleep now…

Although you won’t remember what I’ve said,

your father loves you

as though he never knew the meaning of the words

until just now,

as though he never knew the meaning of the words

until just now.