By the time the luminous descent of the bright star unfolds
And tablets of strange love are shattered and bruised
By the time the oleander has fallen from bloom
And the tears of the crocodile water the sun

By the time you make up your mind
If ever you do
I hear the drums of heaven too

By the time paradise alley is littered with rust
And the arc of the dayglo is curtained in gloom
By the time the kidney bone cities are crumbling to dust
And the empires and all of the emirates burn

Ice on the mountain
Wind and the dust storm
Sails in the desert
It's old and exploding
Seers and the prophets
Dramas of heaven

(Hirst/Moginie/Garrett)