OVERTURE

[instrumental]


CHAPTER 1

my world had fallen to waste and sorrow
day by day, not much time left to borrow
lost inside my reverie
struggling from bonds of misery

my wish to leave had consumed through all thought
year by year, horrified to strive for what I sought
lost inside my seed of doubt
I set my eyes to ocean's route

above the rolling seas
a bird is navigating its life
in a traceless flight
beyond the shaking waves of temper

inspired I commence
regaining control of destiny
a ship is setting sail
I'm in the torrents of desire

the man in charge - king of the world!
I take command, my will assured
invincible to the unknown
the ocean is my own

in my mind I see myself
rule the entire world
unsated thirst, my mind in chains
salt water in my veins

now in their minds they're
thinking I'm becoming
carelessly self-obsessed
(he's become a puppet of the ego)

narrow-minded, greedy without mercy
I've turned my back on humility

my world has fallen beneath my own care
guilty now of adding to the despair
lost within a selfish mind
struggling to see where I went blind
alone...


CHAPTER 2

[instrumental]

Why have I become
harsh as the ocean?


CHAPTER 3

then awakened by dissonance from the sea
fearing the strings are taken from me

will I lose it all
the items I possess
once highly cherished
now seem so meaningless

then defeated and cast off into the sea
too far from shore and nowhere to flee

with no air to breathe
I see illusions fail
no more denial
I'm drowning, shattered and frail

for what I've sown from pain
becomes my private misery
and with my heart of stone
I reap my loss alone
fallen from my throne

then arrives the new dawning sun from the east
humiliation finally released

I slowly feel compassion is spreading
I chance upon an injured bird
incapable of flying
can it be saved from dying?

expand, letting go
of the ego's destructive advance
we should've ceased long ago

the journey's long
I've put myself in the way
with foolish goals
that have led me astray
the bird seemed free up there in the sky
but the distance was a lie

expand, letting go
of the fears that forbid sympathy
now I sail with the flow

sun sets and storms break
I fear what they'll take
rage set in motion
wrath of the ocean


CHAPTER 4

[instrumental]


CHAPTER 5

lights awaken my mind
once again the dawn is kind
below the surface
I've left the madness behind

now a man in poverty
but with a mind, clear and free
despite the storm that's swelling on the outside
I'm steady in the depths of the sea

I set the bird free to fly
my inner peace unwinding
it reappears amid the setting sun
the transformation begun

I'm surrounded by a lightness
and feeling endless compassion
now pain and joy awake my empathy
it's opened up the world for me

I finally see everything's connected
my actions have cause and effect
I influence those I'll never meet
the suffering we can defeat

my compassion's further extending
to all around me in all the world
to beings of all kinds
I've crossed my mental confines
expand!


EPILOGUE

the journey's long
we've put ourselves in our way
with foolish goals
that have led us astray
the time slips by our hands as we rise
to reach towards the brighter skies