Big Big Train

The Underfall Yard Lyrics



Steel in the skies and the road,

somehow travelling far.

Chasing a dream of the west

made with iron and stone.



These are old hills that stand in the way

breaking the line.

It came out of the storm,

out of the sea

to the permanent way

Using just available light,

he could still see far.



Deep in the heart of the land

breaking through the old stone.

Chasing the trail of the water

down through underground streams.



Working the way through the valleys and fields,

grass grown hills and stone.

Parting the land

with the mark of man,

the permanent way,

Using just available light,

he could still see far skies,

deep time.



These are old places stood in the way.

Low cloud comes to ground.

The grey and the green and the bold and the brave

on the permanent way.

Using just available light,

he could still see far.

Using just available light,

he could still see far.



Twelve stones from the water

continents apart

the clouds are gathering again,

filling up the sky,

it rains on England.



Roofless engine houses

distant hills like bookends

frame electrical storms

moving out to sea

away from England.



Those days have gone, those days...

Those days have gone,

their names are lost

the stories left untold.

Under an ordinary star

we are just moments of time,

it is the end of the line

this place is worked out.



Those days have gone.

their names are lost

the stories left untold.



A faultline opens in the ground

waves make their way to the shore,

this is the end of the line,

time worn and broken.



These things have faded with the light

few know the stories now,

this is the end of the line,

time worn and broken.

Under steel grey skies

he is drawn across the river.

No bands played,

there was no sound.

A sunray met the dark

of the fuller's earth.

It is gone now.

It is over.



All good things and everything...

this used to be a railway town

now we're travelling without knowing,

without meaning.



Light bleeds from the world,

Starcross, the Underfall Yard,

the iron and the stone is broken,

the dream of the Western mind,

searching for reason

is gone now.



These are old places stood in the way,

grass grown hills and stone.

Parting the land

with the mark of man,

the permanent way,

Using just available light,

he could still see far.