Deserted Kingdom

This song is based on a journal I wrote at Trinity Forum Academy about a walk through Central Park after a Tim Keller sermon on how the Gospel story is the true tale that all other stories point to (I've got it up on my blog here). I originally conceived it as a song, which I started writing at the Academy but never finished - I finally finished the lyrics on a long flight from Asia. This a demo recording I did on GarageBand.

Words and music by David



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Verse 1
Down the forgotten grand stair
Empty stone courtyards, snow in the air
The wind rips across the expanses where we walk alone.
Gargoyles stare out, empty of will
From towering fountains, now silent and still
There's a majesty but also a sadness
To this deserted kingdom of stone

Chorus 1
It's as if a bright living scene
Full of sounds of the people so busy existing
One moment was there, and the next, found itself suddenly turned
To a painting that pleases the eye,
But it's silent and frozen and none of the people
Remain, and the question that hangs is whether they'll ever return

Verse 2
We pass to the underground hall
More whispers of grandeur escape from the walls
Where faded frescoes and intricate patterns astound
Here played the band, here the dancers twirled
As music enfolded this light-flooded world
But now the darkness has captured the hall
And only our echoes resound

Chorus 2
And I'm lost in the tale of this place
What spell locks the realm in the silence of winter?
What caused it to fall from a height so great I cannot discern?
And I long for a day yet to come
When the wrong is set right and this land is restored
And the glory now veiled is revealed when a king of old shall return.

Bridge
Then we step from the borders of Central Park
Out into the turmoil of the streets of New York
And we stumble through puddles and piles of lead snow
Lights and horns blaring in cacophonous show
And the story is lost, just another ideal
Dropped on the way. This is fact. This is real.
It's all silver-gray buildings piled up to the sky
And flashes of yellow as the taxis dart by
And the pulsating colors standing on high
Screaming, "Buy! Buy! Buy!"

Verse 3
Why does this story stir me so deep,
Great heroes and realms in an enchanted sleep?
Oh why do I yearn for this tale to be true?
For the king of old to return?

Chorus 3
Could it be that the legends are real?
Could the resonance point to a tale still unfolding?
Is ours a land that can only be saved by a love that's unearned?
Is it true there's a new reign at hand?
Did a foretaste come in a prince who was slain?
Will the trees really clap and rejoice when the king of old does return?

I still long for a day yet to come
When all wrongs are set right and this land is restored,
And in hope I will patiently wait for the king of old to return.