The Colours of Dreams

On the day that they shot Martin down
I was working in the mill in a Scottish valley
Just marking time as the years rolled round
I had no star or dream to guide me.
"I have a dream" Martin said
so the slave masters shot him dead.
For they knew what it would mean
if they allowed a slave to dream.

Without dreams all we do is just exist
We're born, we live and die, then turn to dust
It's the colours of our dreams that make
Some sense of it all
that gives us hope and purpose
and makes us walk not crawl.
And though the future can't be seen
we can fill it with the colours of our dreams.

On the day Neil Armstrong walked on the moon
I was sailing across the Indian Ocean
where a new life was waiting for me
somewhere beneath that blue horizon.
I'd left it all behind
my family, friends and home
On the day Neil took his giant leap
I was takin' one of my own.

Sometimes you have to reach for the moon
sometimes you have to sing your own tune
sometimes it seems your life is just
a slow and endless dance
but in reality its a short and crazy game of chance.
The dance is over all too soon
so sometimes you have to reach for the moon.

On the day Nelson walked through those prison gates
I was driving down some dusty highway
sing my songs in one more dusty town
for the few that looked at the world in the same way.
I sang along with the radio
[can't get the words to this line - if anyone knows them, please email us!]
wishin' Martin was there to sing along with me
when Nelson walked free at last.

One by one, the walls come tumblin' down
brick by brick, row by row, stone by stone
relics of fear and bigotry
who've long outlived their time
they crumble into ruin, the foundations undermined
and not by weapons or machines
but by people armed with nothing more than dreams.

One by one, the walls come tumblin' down
brick by brick, row by row, stone by stone
relics of fear and bigotry
who've long outlived their time
they crumble into ruin, the foundations undermined
and not by weapons or machines
but by people armed with nothing more than dreams.

By people armed with nothing more than dreams.

Songwriter: Eric Bogle