Lyrics Shadows On the Wind - Janis Ian

Shadows On the Wind

In my dreams of late, I seem another
Someone I have never been
All around me are the shapes
Of shadows on the wind
Here’s the ghost of what my mother wanted
And the shade of father’s dreams
They are gone, and still I’m haunted
By restless go-betweens
Fatherless, motherless
Yesterday’s child begins
Life alone, missing home
Orphaned by time, I spin
Like shadows on the wind
In my dreams of late, I am a vagrant
And I’ve never known a past
All the memories I have
Are shadows on the glass
What I see of me is unfamiliar
Like some pearl without a shell
And the stranger in the mirror
Someone I once knew well
Fatherless, motherless
Yesterday’s child begins
Life alone, missing home
Orphaned by time, I spin
Like shadows on the wind
When I dream of love, I dream my mother
Anchored to the shifting sands
When I dream of strength
I dream my father’s hands
In my dreams of late are signs and wonders
On the faces I have worn
I can hear the distant thunder
Of shadows being born
Fatherless, motherless
Yesterday’s child begins
Life alone, missing home
Orphaned by time, I spin
Like shadows on the wind