The Eye Of The Universe

[Note: after the end of the final verse the final chord is A]

Am                                Bm7
I have been where time runs into time
           C(A) D(A)              Bm7
And so partaken of the vanished glamour
Am                          Bm7
I've seen Atlantis and the perfect crime
     C(A)          D(A)            Bm7
Felt eloquence replace my mental stammer
     Eb                              Bb
Seen every evil brought beneath the hammer
Cm
In this mood all that Faust desired is mine

Am                          F
I am the eye with which the universe beholds itself
G                   D
And knows itself divine

I have been to see my death prepare
Inside a Packard, somnolently cruising
A sure-fire way of giving me the air
And totting up exactly what I'm losing
Found such an end not too far from my choosing
I have settled up with Charon at the Styx
I am the eye with which the universe beholds itself
And knows itself a fix

I've crossed an atlas with the Golden Horde
Seen all the Seven Cities of Cibola
Olympus was a geriatric ward
The Promised Land is just the old payola
It's all the same shellac, the same Victrola
Eternity should have more in the bag
I am the eye with which the universe beholds itself
And knows itself a drag

I have been where age runs into age
Have seen the children burned, the slaves in halters
The cutting edge is wearing off my rage
I leave them their strange gods, their reeking altars
And the way the Reign of Terror never falters
They were fighting for the right to count the slain
I am the eye with which the universe beholds itself
And knows itself insane

I have seen the gentle meet the savage day
In the sunlight on the spandrels of the towers
And in the moonlight very far away
The honeymoon canoe glide through the flowers
And the party left behind go on for hours
For a while things were as peaceful as they seemed
I am the eye with which the universe beholds itself
And knows itself redeemed

I am the eye with which the universe beholds itself

Chord transcription by Ian Sorensen.

Pete Atkin adds: "... those first four lines are really almost modal-around-a-root rather than chordal (I think it may be Dorian mode, for those who care), in other words based on a scale. In other words, you can play any chords you like so long as they're made up only of notes in the scale. These days I tend to start it out fairly conventionally chordal (within the rules) and develop it in a more freely modal way as it goes on, eventually also breaking the bass out into a freer, walking thing, away from the A pedal. (Actually, I play it in G minor on keyboard these days - it's easier on the voice for one thing, but mainly because it's a more natural-feeling keyboard key, for me anyway.)"

back to Pete Atkin Discography