Al Stewart - A Man for All Seasons lyrics

What if you reached the age of reason Only to find there was no reprieve Would you still be a man for all seasons Or would you just have to leave We measure our days out In steps of uncertainty Not turning to see how we've come And peer down the highway From here to eternity And reach out for love on the run While the man for all seasons Is lost behind the sun Henry Plantagenet still looks for someone To bring good news in his hour of doubt While Thomas More waits in the Tower of London Watching the sands running out And measures the hours out From here to oblivion In actions that can't be undone A sailor through the darkness He scans the meridian And caught by the first rays of dawn The man for all seasons Is lost beneath the storm And I should know by now I should know by now I hear them call it out all around Oh, they go There's nothing to believe in Hear them Just daydreams deceiving They'll just let you down So what if you reached the age of reason Only to find there was no reprieve Would you still be a man for all seasons Or would you just disbelieve We measure our gains out in luck and coincidence Lanterns to turn back in the night And put our defeats down to chance or experience And try once again for the light Some wait for the waters of fortune to cover them Some just see the tides of ill chance rushing over them Some call on Jehovah Some cry out to Allah Some wait for the boats that still row to Valhalla You try to accept what the fades are unfolding While some say they're sure where the blame should be falling You look round for maybe a chance of forestalling But too soon it's over and done And the man for all seasons Is lost behind the sun