Lyrics Empire Of Delight - Peter Hammill

Empire Of Delight

Memory extends its empire
Holds the frame but blurs the line
Some other time invades the sense
A moment caught and lost, second sight
Suddenly I feel you near me
Worlds away and close as this
One stolen kiss upon my lips
And the moment slips away in mid-flight
So many years ago, and now it’s hard
To recall just what you meant to me
Still I wait, I’m patient
For the memory comes to me eventually
Here you are, and though you may soon be gone
Somehow the song still burns as bright
I felt it happen here tonight —
Here, in the empire of delight
Dream and ghost the world around me
You seem as real as ever you were…
But in a blur your breath on my cheek
Has gone and the evening come into night
So many years ago, and now it’s hard
To recall quite what you meant to me
Still I wait, impatient
Though the memory comes to me eventually
Here I am, forever caught up in this mystery
And then
That moment when the fire ignites —
I felt it happen here tonight
Here, in the empire of delight