THE GATHERING
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                          "THE MAY SONG" '97
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                             The May Song
                      The May Song  (Radio Edit)
                 The Earth Is My Witness (Radio Edit)
                           Strange Machine


                             The May Song
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~
        I'm waiting for your hands
        to fold around my wrist
        I'm mellowing in warm grass
        And the scent of you I've missed

        And blue is representing
        The draft in my heart
        I'm wandering through thin skies
        And the transparent air I've missed

        Pale is my face
        You might want to colour
        while I breathe

        I'm following large drops of rain
        With my eyes on the sight of you I've missed


                      The May Song  (Radio Edit)
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        I'm waiting for your hands
        to fold around my wrist
        I'm mellowing in warm grass
        And the scent of you I've missed

        And blue is representing
        The draft in my heart
        I'm wandering through thin skies
        And the transparent air I've missed

        Pale is my face
        You might want to colour
        while I breathe

        I'm following large drops of rain
        With my eyes on the sight of you I've missed


                 The Earth Is My Witness (Radio Edit)
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Mother earth looks at her closely
        She looks at her baby and she sighs
        The slight breathing pause that she takes
        It builds her and makes her strong

        She refuses to give her up
        and we close our eyes

        Her hands touch the round stomach
        and feel the kick
        The eyes that have seen so much
        cry with the water
        She starts to rinse her face

        And refuses to give her up
        And we close our eyes
        And you close your eyes


                           Strange Machine
                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        It has always been in the back of my mind
        Dreaming about going through corners of time
        I always wanted to fly in strange machines

        I wanna do centuries in a lifetime
        And feel it with my hands
        Touch world war II and Cleopatra
        flying...

        Could it be that my dream would come true
        Building a machine that would actually do
        What I want to do

        Russian revolution, let's do it in one day
        Beethoven and Gershwin I think that would be OK
        More than anything I wanna fly in strange machines

        I wanna do centuries in a lifetime
        And feel it with my eyes
        Watch Jesus rise.  If he ever did
        Flying...

        I wanna do centuries in a lifetime
        And feel it with my hands
        Touch renaissance and Shaka Khan
        Flying...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anneke Van Giersbergen    Vocals
Rene Rutten               Guitars
Jelmer Wiersma            Guitars
Frank Boeijen             Synthesizer, Grand Piano
Hugo Prinsen Geerligs     Bass
Hans Rutten               Drums

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(C) 1997 Magic Arts Publishing
(P) 1997 Century Media Records