Nick Siepmann - Sirens Lyrics

Lashed to the mast, splashed by the spray of the waves as they crash on the bow
Searching the skyline, his heart in his throat as the wind chills the sweat on his brow
The crew hold their course as they heave at the oars
Deaf to the sound of their wild captain's roar
"Turn back, gods damn you all, turn back!"

A shape in the mist, a melody borne on the Mediterranean breeze
The air in the galley is stifling and hot with the deepening sense of unease
But the captain forgets all his terror and pain
As the unearthly music suffuses his brain
"We come, you sirens fair, we come!"

The rocks vanish into the twilight; the captain is writhing and raving no more
As they loosen his bindings they see he is not now the man that he had been before
In the stillness of night, unable to sleep
He leans on the side staring into the deep
"I know; for good or ill, I know"

"I have no tongue, no tongue to tell this mystery
There are no words, no description and no name
The life I knew, a dream beyond remembrance
I can no more return from whence I came"

Grey-haired and old, many years since regaining the island that once was his home
He still hears those voices in the songs of his son, in his eyes sees that cold ocean foam
"Beloved Telemachus, this I have seen
Gods grant that one day you will know what I mean
"My son, that which we are, we are"