Built a fortress on a hill
I built a castle in the sky
I built a lean-to in the village down below
A fountain where the land was dead and dry
I built a palace overlooking seven seas
I built a church upon a stone
Gonna let my pastures go to seed
And let the mountain be my home

There was a young girl, whose heart was a frown,
Because she was crippled for life, and couldn't speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she would stop living, so she decided to die.
She drew her wheel chair to the edge of the shore, and to her legs she smiled

"You won't hurt me no more."
But then a sight she'd never seen made her JUMP AND SAY
"Look, a golden winged ship is passing my way"
And it really didn't have to stop...it just kept on going.
And so castles made of sand slips into the sea,
Eventually

When the site was found
We laid the foundations down
It didn't take long before
They came back tumbling down
Don't build at night
You need a little light
How else are you going to see
What it is going to be like

So we picked up our tools
And we worked in the morning light
With the last stone placed
Wasn't it a wonderful site
But it fell back down
And scattered all around

Ever since we crawled out of the ocean and stood upright on land
There are some things that we just don't understand:
Relieve all pain and suffering and lift us out of the dark
Turn us all into Methuselah-
But where are we gonna park?
(Building, building)

The secrets of eternity-
We've found the lock and turned the key
We're shakin' up those building blocks
Going deeper into that box-(Pandora wouldn't like it)

And now the day is come
Soon he will be released
Glory hallelujah!
We're building the Perfect Beast
(Building, building)

If I was a gambler
I tell you what I'd do
I'd quit my gambling
And I'd work on the building too

I'm a working on building
I'm a working on building
Hallelujah
I'm a working on building
For my Lord, for my Lord

Cause I was born lonely down by the riverside
Learned to spin fortune wheels, and throw dice
And I was just thirteen when I had to leave home
Knew I couldn't stick around, I had to roam
Ain't good looking, but you know I ain't shy
Ain't afraid to look it girl, hear me out
So if you need some lovin, and you need it right away
Take a little time out, and maybe I'll stay
But I got to ramble (ramblin' man)
Oh I got to gamble (gamblin' man)
Got to got to ramble (ramblin' man)
I was born a ramblin' gamblin' man

I've been gambling here abouts
For ten good solid years
If I told you all that went down
It would burn off both your ears

Goes to show, you don't ever know
Watch each card you play and play it slow
Wait until that deal come round
Don't you let that deal go down, no, no

Everybody prayin' and drinkin' that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on the inside straight,
Well I got no chance of losin' this time

Last fair deal in the country,
Last fair deal in the town
Put your gold money where your love is baby,
Before you let my deal go down

These old love letters
Well, I just can't keep
Just like the gambler says:
"Read 'em and weep"
And the dawn don't rescue me no more

Without your love, I'm nothing at all
Like an empty hall, it's a lonely fall
Since you've gone it's a losing battle
Stampeding cattle, they rattle the walls

And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

Well, I love you so much
That it's all I can do
Just to keep myself from telling you
That I never felt so alone before

Ten thousand cattle in flight
The devil's ridin' herd tonight
The thunder of the hooves and the fury from the skies
Don't get out in front or every man dies.

Cold black clouds like funeral shrouds
Roll down their icy threat
And we face to fight this raging night
With odds on the side of death.

For a stampeding herd
When it's panic is stirred
Is a thing for a cowboy to shun
For no mortal man ever holds command
When the cattle are on the run
Stampede!

I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive
I'm a cowboy, I got the night on my side
I'm wanted dead or alive
And I ride, dead or alive
I still drive, dead or alive

When the cardboard cowboy dreams and his cornucopia
Opens up the sky and blows my mind to the corners of
Far in bar rent shine running beneath high trembling dove
Leaving me transfixed and raving in the wake of the hammer blow