The Great Unknown Lyrics

The Great Unknown lyrics




Words and music by Dar Williams

Once upon a time there was a nuclear
family,
And we lived in a family time,
And we'd unite in a family
way.
And off the ancient mountain,
They were splitting every
nucleus.
They said "don't be alarmed,
Just don't try this at
home."
And they were the mystery that made the world run
And we had
the power, 'cause they were the sun
And we called them our heroes, and the
future had come.
They said,"look at the light we're giving you,
And
the darkness we're saving you from."

Soon they were bringing it
into our showroom,
And they'd unveil it with it's title,
Bring your
family, bring your family,
It's the Great Unknown.
You can look, but you
can't fathom,
It's the Great Unknown.

I'm no ordinary princess, I was
born in the cold war,
And my team is the Rockets.
Go team, it's a
dangerous time.
And I dream of the moon and building lunar clone
colonies.
And I build my peace with strength, that's the best weapon
you've
got.
Oh, I am the brainchild, I am the mortar,
With a plastic
trophy and an eating disorder,
And vision as big as a great big wall,
And
they tell me that I'll move forward for the good of us all,
And the good of
nuclear families all.

And they think I think I am important.
I know I
never was, no I wasn't.
No I never, and how could I be?
It's the Great
Unknown.
Now we've built it, now it's ticking,
It's the Great
Unknown.

And I am your children, I am millions.
And I wanted to sell
out, I wanted to try,
But you know the sky got too low, and the ocean got
too high.
And I tried to take God into my own hands.
Am I too late? Is it
over?
Have I sacrificed my family to the Great Unknown?
There's a war
between my conscience and the Great Unknown.

So I walked out into the
Gamma fields 
Out in Mercury, Nevada.
Where I stood in circle and that
circle started to pray.
And the wind at the nuclear test sights floats the
data at the radiation.
From the underground testing,
Cross the line,
you'll get arrested.
And we came from all over in a silent appeal
As the
drill comes down like a presidential seal.
And we stand for the living, and
we stand for the dead,
And we looked out to see your enemies,
And we see
that you're looking all at us instead.

And you think I am being
disruptive?
But no I'm running home, I'm running,
'Cause I'm trying to
put the atom back together.
It's the Great Unknown.
I'm just trying to
put the atom back together.
It's the Great Unknown.