They crossed over the border the hour before dawnMoving in lines through the dayMost of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they layWaiting for orders we held in the wood - word from the front never cameBy evening the sound of the gunfire was miles awayAh, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the treesCrossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and our kneesAnd all that I ever was able to seeThe fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the smoke on the breezeAll summer they drove us back through the UkraineSmolyensk and Viyasma soon fellBy autumn we stood with our backs to the town of OrelCloser and closer to Moscow they come - riding the wind like a bellGeneral Guderian stands at the crest of the hillWinter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roadsGluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snowAnd all that I ever was able to seeThe fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breezeIn the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winterFalling back before the gates of Moscow,Standing in the wings like an avengerAnd far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forestComing unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promiseYou'll never know, you'll never knowWhich way to turn, which way to look, you'll never see usAs we're stealing through the blackness of the nightYou'll never know, you'll never hear usAnd the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely comingThe morning road leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly hummingTwo broken Tigers on fire in the night flicker their souls to the windWe wait in the lines for the final approach to beginIt's been almost four years that I've carried a gunAt home it'll almost be springThe flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to BerlinAh, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the groundThe old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us downAnd all that I ever was able to seeThe eyes of the city are opening now it's the end of the dreamI'm coming home, I'm coming homeNow you can taste it in the wind, the war is overAnd I listen to the clicking of the train wheels as we roll across the borderAnd now they ask me of the timeThat I was caught behind their lines and taken prisonerThey only held me for a day, a lucky break, I say;They turn and listen closerI'll never know, I'll never knowWhy I was taken from the line and all the othersTo board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy RussiaAnd it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullenAnd the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be comingAnd I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answersNeverAnd the evening sighs and the steely Russian skies go on forever
Lyrics by Al Stewart
(A Child's View Of) The Eisenhower Years \ A Long Way Down From Stephanie A Long Way Down To Stephanie A Man For All Seasons A Small Fruit Song Accident On 3rd Street Almost Lucy Amsterdam Angel Of Mercy Angry Bird Anna Anniversary Antarctica Apple Cider Re-Constitution Bad Reputation Ballad Of Mary Foster Bedsitter Images Beleeka Doodle Day Black Hill Broadway Hotel Cafe Society Candidate Candy Came Back Candy Came Back [*] Carol Charlotte Corday Class of '58 Cleave To Me Clifton In The Rain Constantinople Denise at 16 Don't Forget Me Ear Of The Night Electric Los Angeles Sunset Elvis At The Wheel End Of The Day Feel Like Fields Of France Flying Sorcery Football Hero Genie On A Table Top Gethsemane, Again Gypsy & the Rose Hanno The Navigator Here in angloa Here in angola Hipposong How Does It Happen [*] I'm Falling If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It [Live] In Brooklyn In Red Square [*] - Al Stewart, Peter White In the Dark Indian Summer Ivich Josephine Baker Katherine Of Oregon King Of Portugal Last Days Of The Century License To Steal Life And Life Only Life In Dark Water Like William McKinley Loneliest Place On The Map Lord Grenville Lord Salisbury Lori don t go right now Lori, Don’t Go Right Now Love Chronicles Lover Man Lover Man [*] Manuscript Merlin's Time Midas Shadow Midnight Rocks Modern Times Mona Lisa Talking Mondo Sinistro Murmansk Run / Ellis Island Murmansk Run\/Ellis Island Murmansk runellis island My Enemies Have Sweet Voices Necromancer Next Time Night Meeting Night Rolls In Night Train To Munich Nostradamus Not The One Old Admirals Old Compton Street Blues On the Border One Stage Before One That Got Away - Al Stewart, Peter White One Two Three One two three 1 2 3 One, Two, Three (1, 2, 3) Optical Illusion Out in the Snow Paint By Numbers Peter On The White Sea Post World War Two Blues Pretty Golden Hair Rain Barrel Real And Unreal Red Toupee Ringing Of Bells Ringing of Bells [*] Roads To Moscow Rocks In the Ocean Royal Courtship Rumours Of War Rumours of War - Al Stewart, Peter White Running Man Russians & Americans Sailing Into The Future Samuel, Oh How You've Changed Samuel, Oh How You've Changed! Sand in Your Shoes Scandinavian Girl Shah Of Shahs Silver Kettle Sirens Of Titan Sleepwalking Soho (Needless To Say) Soho (Needless to Say) [Alternate Take] Somewhere in England 1915 Song On the Radio Song on the Radio [Live] Songs Out of Clay Strange Girl Swiss Cottage Maneuvers Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres Terminal Eyes The Candidate The Carmichaels The Dark And Rolling Sea The Dark And The Rolling Sea The Ear Of The Night The Elf The Gypsy and the Rose The Last Day of June 1934 The Loneliest Place On The Map The News From Spain The One That Got Away The Palace Of Versailles The Year of the Cat Time Passages Time Passages [Live] Timeless Skies Tonton Macoute Tonton Macoute [*] Trains Trespasser Turn Into Earth Valentina Way Warren Harding What's Going On? Where Are They Now Where Are They Now? Year Of The Cat You Don't Even Know Me You Should Have Listened To Al Zero She Flies