07. Parson Nathaniel / The Spirit of Man lyrics

[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]

I suddenly noticed the body of a parson lying on the ground in a ruined churchyard. I felt unable to leave him to the mercy of the red week, and decided to bury him, decently

[Julie Covington: ("Beth")]

Nathaniel! Nathaniel!

[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]

The parson's eyes flickered open. He was alive!

[Julie Covington: ("Beth")]

Nathaniel, I saw the church burst into flame, are you all right?

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Don't touch me!

[Julie Covington: ("Beth")]

But it's me, Beth! Your wife!

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

No! You're one of them- a devil!

[Julie Covington: ("Beth")]

He's delirious!

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Lies! I saw the devil's sign!

[Julie Covington: ("Beth")]

What are you saying?

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

The green flash in the sky. His demons were here all along, in our hearts and souls, just waiting for a sign from Him. And now they're destroying our world!

[Julie Covington: ("Beth")]

But they're not devils, they're Martians

[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]

We must leave here!

[Julie Covington: ("Beth")]

Look, a house still standing, come Nathaniel, quickly

[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]

We took shelter in a cottage, and black smoke spread, hemming us in. Then a fighting machine came across the field spraying jets of steam that turned the smoke into thick, black dust...

[Martians]

Ulla!

[Julie Covington: ("Beth")]

Dear God, help us!

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

The voice of the Devil is heard in our land!

[Verse 1: Phil Lynott ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Listen, do you hear them drawing near

In their search for the sinners?

Feeding on the power of our fear

And the evil within us?

Incarnation of Satan's creation of all that we dread

When the demons arrive those alive would be better off dead!

[Chorus 1: Julie Covington ("Beth")]

There must be something worth living for

There must be something worth trying for

Even some things worth dying for!

And if one man can stand tall

There must be hope for us all

Somewhere, somewhere in the spirit of man

[Verse 2: Phil Lynott ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Once, there was a time when I believed

Without hesitation

That the power of love and truth could conquer all

In the name of salvation

Tell me what kind of weapon is love when it comes to the fight?

And just how much protection is truth against all Satan's might?

[Chorus 1: Julie Covington ("Beth")]

There must be something worth living for

There must be something worth trying for

Even some things worth dying for

And if one man could stand tall

There must be some hope for us all

Somewhere, somewhere in the spirit of man

[Julie Covington: ("Beth")]

People loved you, and trusted you, came to you for help...

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Didn't I warn them this would happen? Be on your guard, I said, for the Evil One never rests... I said exorcise the devil! But no, they wouldn't listen, the demons inside them grew and grew, until Satan gave his signal and destroyed the world we knew!

[Chorus 2: Julie Covington ("Beth")]

No Nathaniel, oh no Nathaniel

No Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life

There has to be a way that we can

Restore to life the love we used to know

(No) Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life

There has to be a way that we can

Restore to life the light that we have lost

Guitar Solo (5:10 - 5:51)

[Verse 3: Phil Lynott ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Now darkness has descended on our land

And all your prayers cannot save us

Like fools we've let the devil take command

Of the souls that God gave us

To the altar of evil like lambs to the slaughter were led

When the demons arrive the survivors will envy the dead!

[Chorus 1: Julie Covington ("Beth") & Phil Lynott ("Parson Nathaniel")]

There must be something worth living for

(No, there is nothing!)

There must be something worth trying for

(I don't believe it's so!)

Even some things worth dying for

If just one man could stand tall

There would be some hope for us all

Somewhere, somewhere in the spirit of man

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone!

Instrumental (6:51 - 7:36)

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Didn't I warn them? Pray, I said! Destroy the devil, I said! They wouldn't listen! I could have saved the world! But now it's too late... too late!

[Chorus 2: Julie Covington ("Beth")]

No Nathaniel, oh no Nathaniel

No Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life

There has to be a way that we can

Restore to life the love we used to know

(No) Nathaniel, no, there must be more to life

There has to be a way that we can

Restore to life the light that we have lost...

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Dear God! A cylinder's landed on the house, and we are underneath it, in the pit!

[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]

The Martians spent the night making a new machine. It was a squat, metallic spider with huge, articulated claws, but it, too, had a hood in which a Martian sat. I watched it pursuing some people across a field. It caught them nimbly and tossed them into a great metal basket upon its back

[Phil Lynott: ("Parson Nathaniel")]

Beth! She's dead! Buried under the rubble. Why?

Satan! Why did you take one of your own?

[Chorus 3: Phil Lynott ("Parson Nathaniel")]

There is a curse on Mankind

We may as well be resigned

To let the devil, the devil take the spirit of man

[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]

As time passed in our dark and dusty prison, the Parson wrestled endlessly with his doubts. His outcries invited death for us both - and yet, I pitied him...

• Artist:Jeff Wayne
• Album:Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (1978)