Strange Affair - Bonnie "Prince" Billy

This is a strange affair

The time has come to travel and the road is filled with fear

This is a strange affair

My youth has all been wasted and I’m bent and grey with years

And all of my companions are now taken away

And who will provide for me against my dying day?

I took my own provisions, but they fooled me and wasted away

Oh, where are my companions?

My mother, father, lover, friend and enemy

Where are my companions?

They’re prisoners of death now and they’re taken far from me

And where are the dreams I dreamed in the days of my youth?

They took me to illusion when they promised me the truth

And what do sleepers need to make them listen?

Why do they need more proof?

Won’t you give me an answer?

Why is your heart so hard against the one who loves you best?

When the one with the answer

Has wakened you, and warned you, and brought you to the test

And wake up from the sleep that plays like clouds upon your eyes

And win back the life you had lived before this dream of lies

Turn your back on yourself and if you follow through you’ll win the lover’s

prize

This is a strange, a strange affair