Empire of Delight Songtext

von Peter Hammill

Memory extends its empire,
Holds the frame but blurs the line.
Some other time invades the sense,
A moment caught and lost, second sight.

Suddenly I feel you near me,
Worlds away and close as this.
One stolen kiss upon my lips
And the moment slips away in mid-flight.

So many years ago, and now it's hard
To recall just what you meant to me.
Still I wait, I'm patient,
For the memory comes to me eventually.
Here you are, and though you may soon be gone
Somehow the song still burns as bright.
I felt it happen here tonight –
Here, in the empire of delight.

Dream and ghost the world around me,
You seem as real as ever you were...
But in a blur your breath on my cheek
Has gone and the evening come into night.

So many years ago, and now it's hard
To recall quite what you meant to me.
Still I wait, impatient,
Though the memory comes to me eventually.
Here I am, forever caught up in this mystery
And then,
That moment when the fire ignites –
I felt it happen here tonight,
Here, in the empire of delight.