MARILLION, "EL DORADO, I-V"

The wars are all about money
They always were
And the money's dressed up in religion

And when it's not showing off, the money's hiding  --Marillion

wait for the build to the 1:11 minute mark... seriously magical. https://t.co/PHRzrYGWR9

— Tom Luongo (Head Sneetch) (@TFL1728) September 2, 2024 

i. Long-Shadowed Sun

I remember.
The enchanted English walled garden
Days of summer air and honey-suckled nights
The capricious dance of lavenders and cabbage-whites
Made more than 3D, glowing in the evening long-shadowed sun
Nowhere better. But in England, although nothing really changes, the weather always does…

ii. The Gold

The gold stops us
The gold always did
The gold took more lives than Uranium
Than Plutonium
Pandemonium…

The thunder approaches
The heavy sighing of the monster…
Come to break the heavy weather
Come to silence all the singing birds
Tearing up the sky like paper
White-welding through dark steel of clouds
And the release of the sudden rain

The gold stops us
The gold always did
The gold took more lives than Uranium
Than Plutonium. Pandemonium.
The Gold!

Jet engines and demolition
And the summer rain
Like finding a lost child

The roads are traveled by many
Like promises of peace
And some choose not to go
The f e a r looks like bravado
It always did
I see them waiting, smiling
On the borders in dawn's mist
Or lost to the world in their upturned boats
I'll be free or I'll die trying to be
Trying to BE.

iii. Demolished Lives

I see myself in them
The people at the borders
Waiting to exist again
Brothers, sisters, sons and daughters
Denied our so-called golden streets
Running from demolished lives
Into walls

The "haves" and the "have nothings"
The accepted and rejected
We can't keep letting them in
We can't keep letting them in?

The gold stops us
The gold always did
The gold took more lives than Uranium
Than Polonium. Pandemonium.

And as I stand here wondering why
A man beheaded on a smartphone
Falls into my pocket from the sky
Modern life
Everything is everywhere .'know what I mean?
Handy.
And obscene.

iv. F E A R

FEAR is everywhere here
Under the patio
Under the hard-earned bought and paid-for home
Cushions, scented candles, and the lawn
Mowing to the beat and the rumble of the coming storm

We all know about the wars that are raging
All the millions who just cannot see
There's so much more that binds us than divides us
But our fear denies it
While the papers stir it
The colors of the flag we wave
Were and will become blood red again

And the madmen all say they hear voices
God tells them what to do
The wars are all about money
They always were
And the money's dressed up in religion
And when it's not showing off, the money's hiding.

Something is cooking inside me...
It ain't ready, but already…
I'm becoming harder to live with
Becoming harder to live with
You say I'm becoming harder to live with
I'm becoming harder to live with
But you can't see into my head
You can't see into my head
You can't see into my head

No, you can't see into my head.

You can't see into my head
You can't see into my head

And the roads are full of weapons
That slide by in the night
Tanks all covered in yellow mud
Pass you on the motorway
As you drive by with the kids and the buckets and spades
Happy Days.

v. The Grandchildren of Apes

Metal in the air
Brimstone in the lungs
Breathe deeply of it
The wind is carrying the pictures
The rain is muttering the names
The wind-chimes in my garden ring like keys
To all the stolen doors.

We are the grandchildren of apes, not angels
But only we are gifted with the eyes to see
On days without fear, when our heads are clear

That angels, we could be. 

Marillion was formed in 1979.  In early 1989, Marillion announced Steve Hogarth as their new lead singer.  "El Dorado, I-V, is from their 2016 album, Fuck Everyone and Run, [F E A R].  Steve Hogarth comments on the title, 

”This title is adopted not in anger or with any intention to shock. It is adopted and sung (in the song "New Kings”) tenderly, in sadness and resignation inspired by an England, and a world, which increasingly functions on an “Every man for himself” philosophy. I won’t bore you with examples, they’re all over the newspapers every day. There’s a sense of foreboding that permeates much of this record. I have a feeling that we’re approaching some kind of sea-change in the world – an irreversible political, financial, humanitarian and environmental storm. I hope that I’m wrong. I hope that my FEAR of what “seems” to be approaching is just that, and not FEAR of what “is” actually about to happen.”