Cobalt Starstrong and the Clashing Greens

I put the Petrel down on a station I ain't seen
And the customs guy says: pick a side, there's two kinds of green
On the left the lizard folk are sunning on the stone
On the right the flower folk are fighting for the loam
And I'm standing in the middle going: fellas, what's the scene?
And they both say: you don't understand —
It's a green thing (it's a green thing!)

The clashing greens! (the clashing greens!)
The leaves and the scales don't get along
The clashing greens! (the clashing greens!)
The flowers say the lizards done 'em wrong
And the lizards say the flowers think they own the sun
The clashing greens! (ba-da-da-dum!)
Somebody help me 'cause I just got here
And I don't know what they've done

The flower fella's voice is like a hundred tiny bells
Singing pretty things that sound like threats if you listen well
The lizard lady's cool as sunset on a copper stone
She says: don't trust a flower, mammal —
They'll root right through your bones (right through your bones!)
And they both smell pretty good to a mammal from the stars
The flowers smell like honey and the lizards smell like rain
And I kinda like 'em all so far

The clashing greens! (the clashing greens!)
The roots and the tails don't get along
The clashing greens! (the clashing greens!)
They're singing two completely different songs
In the same key — and they don't even notice —
The clashing greens! (ba-da-da-dum!)
I came here for the beaches
And I think I found a war
The clashing greens!

I tried to buy a drink at a bar between the zones
But I've got leaf AND scale on my collar (bold look!)
That's a bold look for a tourist
And the bartender says: mammal —
Pick a green or go home (go home!)
And I'm going: pal, where I come from
Green's just a color you see on the ground
After it rains (after it rains!)

The clashing greens! (the clashing greens!)
The leaves and the scales don't get along
The clashing greens! (the clashing greens!)
Somebody help this mammal from the stars
The flowers smell like honey and the lizards smell like rain
And I like 'em both and that might be a crime
The clashing greens!
(The clashing greens!)
The clashing greens!
(Ba-da-da-da-dum!)
Somebody help this mammal out!

You've heard about seahorses — sure, everybody has
Little curly critters in the water and the glass
But I'm docked at a station on the edge of the Reach
And a fella says: you wanna see something?
Come down to bay thirteen (bay thirteen!)
And I follow him down and the airlock opens wide
And there's a herd of 'em — a HERD —
Running on the solar wind outside

Space horses! (space horses!)
Running on the nothing like it's solid ground
Space horses! (space horses!)
Manes like nebulas and hooves that don't make sound
They're galloping on starlight
And they don't need a road
Space horses!
(Ba-da-da-da-dum!)
The most beautiful thing I've ever been shown

They're bigger than my ship — did I mention that?
Each one's the size of a freighter, maybe more
And their hides are every color I've got a name for
And a couple I ain't seen before (ain't seen before!)
Silver like a comet tail and blue like deep space ice
And one's got spots like little galaxies
Scattered down her side
And they run — Lord, they RUN —
With their heads up and their tails out wide
Like a streak of living light
Across the black

Space horses! (space horses!)
Running on the nothing like it's solid ground
Space horses! (space horses!)
Manes like nebulas and hooves that don't make sound
They're galloping on starlight
And they don't need a road
Space horses!
(Ba-da-da-da-dum!)
I didn't know the universe had these in stock

The fella at the station says they're wild
Can't catch 'em, can't ride 'em, can't slow 'em down
They run from one system to the next
Like the whole galaxy's their paddock
And the stars are just the fence around the town
And I say: has anybody tried to ride one?
And he looks at me like: son (like: son!)
And I say: yeah, yeah, I know
But LOOK at 'em (look at 'em!)

Space horses! (space horses!)
Running on the nothing like it's solid ground
Space horses! (space horses!)
Manes like nebulas and hooves that don't make sound
They're galloping on starlight
And they don't need a road
Space horses!
(Ba-da-da-da-dum!)
I'm following this herd until my fuel runs out

And the little one at the back
She turned and looked at me (looked at me!)
Right through the cockpit glass
With eyes like binary stars
And I swear she was saying: keep up, mammal
Keep up if you can
And the Petrel shook and hummed
And I punched it — and we ran —
We ran with the space horses
For eleven minutes flat
Before they left us like we're standing still
And my ship sighed and I sighed
And the fella on the radio said:
Told you so (told you so!)
But oh — those eleven minutes —
Those were the best eleven minutes
I have ever known

Space horses!
(Space horses!)
Space horses!
(Space horses!)
Running on the starlight
Running on the nothing
Running on the everything
Space horses!
(Has anybody tried to ride one?)
(Son.)
(Yeah, yeah, I know — but LOOK at 'em!)

(Ooh-ooh-ah, ooh-ooh-ah)
(Wave, wave, wavity, wave)
(Osha, wosha, woah)

I heard about this world from a trader at the dock
She said: no land, no rock, no shore, no edge (no edge!)
I said: what do you mean no land?
She said: I mean it's wet (it's wet!)
All the way around, all the way down (ba-da-da-dum)
Every single inch is ocean
And I had to see it for myself
And when I got there — big and blue
And not a speck of tan anywhere —
I just started laughing (ha-ha-ha-ha!)

Oh woah oh oh
(Osha, wosha, woah)
One big endless wave (one big wave!)
No beach, no shore, no place to sit down
One big endless wave (one big wave!)
Just water going round and round and round
And it never stops (doo-doo-doo, it never stops!)
Is it really a planet
If it doesn't have a land mass?
Or is it just one big endless wave?
(One big endless wave! Ba-da-da-dum!)
(Osha, wosha, woah)

On every other world the ocean stops (the ocean stops!)
It hits the sand and turns around (turns around!)
Like somebody told it: that's enough
But nobody told this one — nobody said stop (nobody said stop!) —
And the wave just kept going
And the going kept waving (ooh-ooh-ooh)
And there's no line between
The water and the rest of it
Because there is no rest of it
It's all wave (all wave!)
And it never stops (never stops!)

Oh woah oh oh
(Osha, wosha, woah)
One big endless wave (one big wave!)
No beach, no shore, no place to sit down
One big endless wave (one big wave!)
Just water going round and round and round (round and round!)
And it never stops (doo-doo-doo, it never stops!)
And it never stops (ba-da-da, it never stops!)
Or is it just one big endless wave?
(One big endless wave! Ba-da-da-dum!)
(Osha, wosha, woah)

And yeah I miss the sand a little (just a little!)
I miss the part where you sit down (ooh-ooh)
And the water comes and finds your feet
I miss the edge where the going stops
But a world with no edges (no edges!)
Is the freest thing I've ever floated on
And the loneliest (ooh-ooh-ooh)
And the most beautiful
And I'm just gonna float here for a while
On a world that's just one word:
Ocean (ocean, ocean)
(Ocean, OCEAN, OCEAN)
And the word never stops (never stops!)
And I never want it to

Oh woah oh oh
One big endless wave
(One big wave! Ba-da-da-dum!)
And it never stops
(Doo-doo-doo, never stops!)
One big endless wave
(Round and round and round!)
And it never stops
(Osha, wosha, woah)
(Is it really a planet?)
(I don't care! Doo-doo-doo!)
(I don't care! Ba-da-da!)
(Float)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Float)

I kicked my boots off, put my feet up
Poured a drink and leaned way back (ba-da-da-dum)
And that's when something in the vent went: bloom
And I looked up and there's a flower
Growing out of my AC duct (ooh-ooh!)
And the flower looked at me
And I looked at the flower
And I said: oh no you don't

There's flowers in the engine (flowers in the engine!)
There's vines in the ventilation shaft
There's flowers in the engine (flowers in the engine!)
And I didn't sign up for this
I pull up two and there's four more
There's flowers in the engine
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
And the flowers won't quit

I pulled the first one out — came up easy (came up easy!)
Tossed it in the recycler and I went to bed
But morning came and there were six more (six more!)
One was growing out of my coffee maker's head (ooh-ooh)
Little purple bells just ringing in the galley
Little green vines curling 'round the water pipe
And the whole ship smelled like springtime
Which would be lovely
If I'd asked for it — which I did not (did not!)

There's flowers in the engine (flowers in the engine!)
There's roots beneath the cabin floor
There's flowers in the engine (flowers in the engine!)
Something's putting down roots in my ship
And growing through every door
There's flowers in the engine
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
And I think they're gonna last

(Bah-da-da-da bloom… bah-da-da-da bloom…)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh… sha-la-la-la…)
(Bah-da-da-da bloom… bah-da-da-da bloom…)
(Smell so sweet… smell so sweet…)

And here's the thing I won't admit (won't admit it!)
To anyone at any port (ooh-ooh)
The ship runs better with the flowers in it
The vines keep all the rattling parts in place (in place!)
The purple bells chime when the pressure drops
Like a warning system I didn't have before (didn't have before!)
And the whole ship smells like springtime
And my coffee tastes like flowers
And I kinda — don't tell anyone —
I kinda like it more (like it more!)

There's flowers in the engine (flowers in the engine!)
And the engine's never hummed so sweet
There's flowers in the engine (flowers in the engine!)
And the ship smells good
And the coffee's weird but fine
There's flowers in the engine
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
And I think the flowers might be mine
(Might be mine!)
(Might be mine!)
I think the flowers might be mine
(Bah-da-da-da bloom…)

I found a ledge above the port (above the port!)
Where the light comes in at just the right slant
And a lizard girl was stretched out on the stone
And a flower fella had his leaves out like a fan (ooh-ooh)
And neither one was talking to the other
And neither one was mad
They were just — lying there — eyes closed
Soaking up the same good sun
And I thought: well, there's room for one more
So I sat down (ba-da-da-dum)

Sunbathing with strangers (sunbathing with strangers!)
Nobody's talking, nobody's asking why
Sunbathing with strangers (sunbathing with strangers!)
Just a mammal and a flower and a reptile
Sharing the same sky
And the sun doesn't pick a side (ooh-ooh-ooh)
The sun doesn't pick a side
Sunbathing with strangers
And the sun doesn't pick a side

The lizard girl cracked one golden eye (one golden eye!)
Looked me over, looked away, went back to warm
The flower fella rustled but he didn't say a thing
Just tilted one more leaf into the light (into the light!)
And I don't photosynthesize
And I don't run on solar heat
But I do like the way it feels
When the light hits my face
And there's nowhere else to be (nowhere else to be)
Three different reasons to be here
And all of them are right (ba-da-da-dum)

Sunbathing with strangers (sunbathing with strangers!)
Nobody's talking, nobody's asking why
Sunbathing with strangers (sunbathing with strangers!)
Just a mammal and a flower and a reptile
Sharing the same sky
And the sun doesn't pick a side (ooh-ooh-ooh)
The sun doesn't pick a side
Sunbathing with strangers
And the sun doesn't pick a side

(Sha-la-la-la… sha-la-la-la…)
(Warm, warm, warm…)
(Sha-la-la-la… sha-la-la-la…)

After a while the flower hummed a little tune (little tune)
And the lizard girl tapped her tail against the stone (ooh-ooh)
Not together — not quite — almost —
Two rhythms that kept bumping close
And I started humming something too
And none of it matched
And all of it worked (all of it worked!)
Three different songs in the same sun
And I thought: why can't it always be like this?
And then I thought: don't think —
Just be warm (just be warm)
Just be warm

Sunbathing with strangers (sunbathing with strangers!)
Nobody's talking, nobody's asking why
Sunbathing with strangers (sunbathing with strangers!)
Just a mammal and a flower and a reptile
Making three different sounds
Under the same sky
And the sun doesn't pick a side (ooh-ooh-ooh)
The sun doesn't pick a side
Sunbathing with strangers
(Sha-la-la-la)
And the sun doesn't pick a side
(Warm, warm, warm)
The sun never picks a side

I'm docked at the beacon where we always meet (always meet!)
And my buddy comes rolling in — but something's wrong
His ship's not silver anymore
His ship is GREEN (ba-da-da-dum!)
I said: what happened to your old one?
He said: sold her — check this baby out!
And his ship — I swear on every star I've seen —
His ship had LEAVES (had leaves! ooh-ooh!)

My buddy's new ride (my buddy's new ride!)
It's alive and it's green and it's growing
My buddy's new ride (my buddy's new ride!)
I think I saw it breathing on the starboard side
He says it's the future
And I say: does the future smell like that?
My buddy's new ride
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
I don't know where to look and I can't look back

He walks me through the inside (the inside!)
And the walls are soft and warm
And there's flowers in the cockpit
And the floor's got something like a lawn
And I say: where's the engine?
And he points at — I think — a root? (ooh-ooh)
And I say: where's the hull?
And he says: you're touching it
And I pull my hand back
'Cause the hull just MOVED (it moved! it moved!)

My buddy's new ride (my buddy's new ride!)
It's alive and it's green and it's growing
My buddy's new ride (my buddy's new ride!)
The cockpit smells like rain and the hallway smells like spring
He says she's faster than anything he's flown
And I say: she?
And he says: she
And I don't know what to say to that
My buddy's new ride
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
I think my buddy's in love

(Sha-la-la-la-la… sha-la-la-la…)
(Leaf and vine… leaf and vine…)
(Sha-la-la-la-la… sha-la-la-la…)

And we line up like we've done
A hundred times before (a hundred times!)
His ship of leaves, my ship of dents
The flower and the rust
And the signal drops and we're gone into the black
And I push her harder than I've pushed in years
And his new ride just — floats right past me —
Quiet as a fern uncurling (ooh-ooh)
No engine sound, no rattle, nothing
Just green silence getting smaller up ahead

My buddy's new ride (my green ride!)
She's faster and he's right and I hate it
My buddy's new ride (my green ride!)
He left me in the starlight
And I'm sitting here with my engine wheezing
And my hull ticking hot
And he's already at the finish
And I haven't even made the turn
My buddy's new ride
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
I hate it and I love it and I want one

But I pull back into port (back to port!)
And I put my hand on my hull
And she's warm the way she's always warm
'Cause the engine never fully cools (never cools!)
And that's a flaw but it feels like home
And my buddy comes swaggering over
Leaf in his teeth, grinning like a fool
And says: so — what do you think?
And I say: she's beautiful (she's beautiful)
But I'll keep mine (I'll keep mine!)
I'll keep mine

My buddy's new ride (my green ride!)
She's alive and she's fast and she's green
My buddy's new ride (my green ride!)
The prettiest ship that I have ever seen
But my girl's warm and my girl's mine
And a living ship can't hum the way
A busted engine hums at night
My buddy's new ride
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
Good for him
(Good for him!)
But I'll keep mine
(I'll keep mine!)
I'll keep mine

(Ah-oom-da-stay, da-oom-da-stay)
(Ah-oom-da-stay, da-oom-da-stay)

I met a girl who'd never left her town (never left!)
I said: you're kidding — not even once?
She said: what for? (what for?)
And I didn't have an answer
Just a list of everywhere I'd been
And she wasn't impressed by any of it
She said: I've watched the same sun
Set behind the same ridge
Every evening of my life (every evening)
And it's different every time
And I said: that's not possible
And she said: you're not paying attention

Rooted (rooted)
She's rooted where she stands
And she knows every crack in every stone
Like the lines on her own hands
Rooted (rooted)
And I've seen a thousand suns go down
On a thousand different worlds
And I can't describe a single one
The way she describes hers
(Ah-oom-da-stay, da-oom-da-stay)

She showed me where the river bends (the river bends!)
And she said: it wasn't here when I was young
It used to bend the other way
But I watched it change (ooh-ooh)
And I said: how long did that take?
And she said: longer than you've been alive
And shorter than you'd think
If you were here to see it
But you have to be here (have to be here)
That's the thing — you have to stay

Rooted (rooted)
She's rooted where she stands
And she knows the name of every bird
That nests along the ridge
Rooted (rooted)
And I've heard songs on every station
From here to the Reach
But I can't hum a single one
The way she hums the ones
Her grandmother taught her on that bridge
(Ah-oom-da-stay, da-oom-da-stay)

(Ah-oom-da-stay, da-oom-da-stay)
(Sha-la-la-la… sha-la-la-la…)
(Ah-oom-da-stay, da-oom-da-stay)
(Stay, stay, stay…)

I said: don't you ever wonder
What's out there? (out there!)
And she looked at me like I was sweet
But kind of dumb
She said: don't you ever wonder
What's right here? (right here)
When you sit still long enough
To let it come to you?
And I said: I don't sit still
And she said: I know (ooh-ooh)
I can tell by how you hold your cup
Like you're already leaving
Before you've finished what's in it

Rooted (rooted)
She's rooted where she stands
And she drinks her whole cup every time
And tastes it all the way down
Rooted (rooted)
And I'm halfway out the door
Of everywhere I've ever been
But she made me sit
And finish mine
For once (for once)
For once
(Ah-oom-da-stay, da-oom-da-stay)

And when I left she didn't ask me
To come back (didn't ask)
She didn't wave or say good luck
She said: you know where I am (ooh-ooh)
Same place as always
Same ridge, same river, same sun
And I walked back to my ship
And I punched it into the black
And for the first time in I don't know how long
I looked back (I looked back)
I looked back

Rooted (rooted)
She's rooted where she stands
And I'm a thousand miles away already
And I can still hear her voice
Rooted (rooted)
Saying: you're not paying attention
And she's right (she's right)
She's right
But I'm gone
And she's still there
And the river bends
And the sun goes down
And she sees it all
(She sees it all)
And I keep moving
(Keep moving)
And I don't know which one of us
Has it figured out
(Ah-oom-da-stay, da-oom-da-stay)
But I looked back
(Ah-oom-da-stay, da-oom-da-stay)
I looked back
(Ah-oom-da-stay)

I stopped at a station for a patch job on the hull (on the hull!)
And I heard something from the salvage yard next door
It wasn't music — not exactly — not at first (ba-da-da-dum)
More like someone dropped a toolbox down the stairs
And the toolbox liked it and did it again
And a dog barked and a drum went bang
And something almost like a melody
Came rattling through the door (through the door!)

The junkyard band! (the junkyard band!)
Playing on the scrap heap and it's beautiful
The junkyard band! (the junkyard band!)
A robot and a dog and a drum made from a can
And a horn made from a pipe
And a bass made from I-don't-know-what
The junkyard band!
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
The best worst band in all the land

The robot's banging drums on a fuel cell casing (bang bang bang!)
The dog's got a wrench in her mouth keeping time
There's a sorting unit playing bass
On a cable strung across a crate (ooh-ooh)
And the sound — Lord, the sound —
It's got no right to be this good
But my foot's already tapping
And I haven't smiled this hard
Since I can't remember when (can't remember when!)

The junkyard band! (the junkyard band!)
Nobody taught them, nobody told them how
The junkyard band! (the junkyard band!)
They just found the sound hiding in the junk
The junkyard band!
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
The best worst band in all the land

(Clang-a-lang-a-lang! Clang-a-lang-a-lang!)
(Boom-chicka-boom! Boom-chicka-boom!)
(Clang-a-lang-a-lang! Clang-a-lang-a-lang!)
(Woof! Boom-chicka-boom!)

The foreman says they tried to stop it once (tried to stop it!)
Took the instruments away and wiped the code
But the dog brought back a pipe
And the big one laughed again (laughed again!)
And the little ones came rolling back
With whatever they could find (ooh-ooh)
And the foreman shrugged and said:
Some things don't want to be fixed
Some things were never broken
They were just looking for a song

The junkyard band! (the junkyard band!)
You can't stop music once it figures out
It wants to exist
The junkyard band!
(Clang-a-lang-a-lang!)
The junkyard band!
(Boom-chicka-boom!)
Play it, boys!
(Clang-a-lang-a-lang!)
Play it!
(Woof!)
The best worst band in all the land
(Ba-da-da-dum!)
The best worst band in all the land

I've been back four times now to this reptile town (four times now!)
And every time I land she's on the plaza stone
And every time she says: oh, it's you again
Like I'm weather — like I'm seasonal —
Like I blow through when the temperature's right
And I guess that's what I am (ba-da-da-dum)
A warm front passing through her life
Four times a year if the shipping lanes are kind

When the sun's out (when the sun's out!)
I always find my way back here
When the sun's out (when the sun's out!)
And she's always on the stone
And I'm always amazed
And she's always not amazed at all
When the sun's out (ooh-ooh-ooh!)
The mammal comes around again

First time she showed me the plaza (the plaza!)
Second time she took me to the ridge
Third time she introduced me to her sister
Who looked me up and down and said:
This is the mammal? (this is the mammal?)
And she says "the mammal"
Like that explained something
I still don't know what (ba-da-da-dum!)

When the sun's out (when the sun's out!)
I always find my way back here
When the sun's out (when the sun's out!)
And every time there's more to learn
She's got a life between my visits
And it's bigger than the parts I see
When the sun's out (ooh-ooh-ooh!)
She's a world I visit but don't live in

(Sha-la-la-la… sha-la-la-la…)
(Come back, come back, come back…)
(Sha-la-la-la… sha-la-la-la…)

Fourth time she wasn't on the stone (wasn't there!)
And a kid said: she's at the market
Like everybody knew the mammal would be back
Except for her (ooh-ooh)
And I found her and she said: oh — hold this —
And shoved me the handle of a hover-crate
And went right on with her day
Like I'd never left

When the sun's out (when the sun's out!)
I always find my way back here
When the sun's out (when the sun's out!)
And I'm standing in a market
Steering someone else's crate
In a town I don't know the street names of
And I've never been so happy
To be standing still (ooh-ooh-ooh!)
And I thought: what am I doing here?
And she walked ahead of me
Like she knew I'd follow
And she was right

When the sun's out (when the sun's out!)
I don't know what I'm doing here
When the sun's out (when the sun's out!)
But she's walking and I'm following
And I keep coming back
When the sun's out (ooh-ooh-ooh!)
(Sha-la-la-la)
I keep coming back
(Sha-la-la-la)
I keep coming back
(When the sun's out!)
I keep coming back

Most of the universe is black (is black)
Most of the rest is dust and stone and gray
But then you find a world where something's growing
And it hits your eyes like a shout:
Green (green! green!)

Green is green is green is green
The rarest color in the black
The one that means that something's alive
And fighting to stay that way
Green is green is green is green
And they're all beautiful to me
(All beautiful to me)

Algae pack and lizard back
And copper-patina shine (ooh-ooh!)
The flower in the garden and the fern beside the water
And the moss that climbs the vine (climbs the vine!)
The forest and the bottle glass
The hull gone old with time (with time!)
A billion shades of life all singing
Look at us — we're alive
And they're all green
They're all green

Green is green is green is green
The rarest color in the black
The one that means that something's alive
And fighting to stay that way
Green is green is green is green
And they're all beautiful to me
(All beautiful to me)

(Cela-cela-don-don! Sha-la-la-la green!)
(Char-char-treuse-char-treuse-treuse!)
(Cela-cela-don-don! Ba-da-da-da green!)
(Char-char-treuse-char-treuse-treuse!)
(So many greens! So many greens!)

Scale and leaf and bark and blade (ooh-ooh!)
Emerald and jade beside the pine
Lizard back and algae pack
All standing in the same good light (same good light!)
And none of them diminished
By the other ones being there (being there)
Every single green made greener
By the green beside it

Green is green is green is green
The one that means that something grew here
Something found the light and held it
Something turned the light to life
Green is green is green is green
And a room with every green inside it
Is the most beautiful room
I can imagine (I can imagine)

Green is green (green is green)
Algae pack and lizard back
And copper-patina shine (ooh-ooh-ooh)
Every shade of life
Against the black
Green is green
(Green is green)
And they're all beautiful to me
(All beautiful to me)
They're all beautiful to me

When I was a kid I'd lie on my back (on my back!)
And the clouds would roll across the one sun we had
And I'd see a dog and a ship and a face
And my mother'd say: that's just water in the sky
And I'd say: no ma'am — that's a dragon (that's a dragon!)
And she'd say: there's no such thing
And I'd say: there is right now
There is right now (ba-da-da-dum)

It's all pictures in clouds (pictures in clouds!)
Wherever you go the sky's drawing something
Pictures in clouds (pictures in clouds!)
And you can see it or you can't
But I always can
It's all pictures in clouds
(Ooh-ooh-ooh!)
And I've never met a sky
That wasn't trying to show me something

First time I flew a ship through a cloud bank (through a cloud bank!)
I expected the pictures to stop
I figured from the inside it'd just be fog
Just wet and gray and nothing much (ooh-ooh)
But the fog made shapes too
Faces right up close
Hands reaching out and melting back
And I flew through a cathedral made of mist
That lasted maybe seven seconds
And was the most beautiful building
I will ever see (ever see!)
And then it was gone
And I was out the other side

It's all pictures in clouds (pictures in clouds!)
Wherever you go the sky's drawing something
Pictures in clouds (pictures in clouds!)
From underneath and from inside
And from the other side
It's all pictures in clouds
(Ooh-ooh-ooh!)
And I've never met a sky
That wasn't trying to show me something

(Sha-la-la-la… sha-la-la-la…)
(Clouds, clouds, clouds…)
(Sha-la-la-la… sha-la-la-la…)

And then you get above them (above them!)
And that's a whole different show
From orbit the clouds are rivers and oceans
Painted on the blue like cream poured into coffee
Swirls so big you couldn't see them
With your feet still on the ground (ba-da-da-dum)
And I've looked down at a hundred planets now
And every one of them is drawing me a picture
With its clouds (with its clouds!)
Worlds I'll never walk on
Still got something to say
In water and light

It's all pictures in clouds (pictures in clouds!)
Wherever you go the sky's drawing something
Pictures in clouds (pictures in clouds!)
From underneath, from inside
From the other side, from way up high
It's all pictures in clouds
(Ooh-ooh-ooh!)
And I've never met a sky
That wasn't trying to show me something

And maybe none of it means anything (ooh-ooh)
Maybe a cloud is just a cloud
Maybe the dragon was just water
And the cathedral was just fog
And the rivers from orbit
Are just weather doing what weather does
But I don't think so (I don't think so!)
I think the universe is full of pictures
And we're the ones it's drawing them for
I think a sky that nobody's watching
Still makes shapes
And the shapes are still beautiful
And the beautiful doesn't need a reason
It just needs eyes (just needs eyes)
And I've got eyes
And I've got skies
And every cloud I've ever seen
Was trying to tell me something
And I let it

It's all pictures in clouds (pictures in clouds!)
From underneath, from inside
From the other side, from way up high
Pictures in clouds (pictures in clouds!)
On every world the sky's still drawing
And I'm still looking up
It's all pictures in clouds
(Sha-la-la-la)
It's all pictures in clouds
(Ooh-ooh-ooh)
And I'll keep looking
And the clouds'll keep drawing
And that's enough
(That's enough)
That's enough