"Tales ..." is easily one of my favorite albums, but so is "Passion Play" by Jethro Tull. Neither have radio-friendly material, and both are classic examples of what Prog critics don't like about the whole genre. Hence the polarization. I was quietly humming the opening part of "Tales..." in a boring geometry class (Grade 12) the year that it came out, when the teacher asked me to stop singing in class. Thinking she'd embarrass me, she made me stand in front of the whole class and sing it aloud. Of course you know the opening lyrics, and once I got done and sat down, the look on her face was worth the price of admission!
"Dawn of light lying between a silence and sold sources,
Chased amid fusions of wonder, in moments hardly seen forgotten
Coloured in pastures of chance dancing leaves cast spells of challenge,
Amused but real in thought, we fled from the sea whole.
"Dawn of thought transfered through moments of days undersearching earth
Revealing corridors of time provoking memories, disjointed but with purpose,
Craving penetrations offer links with the self instructor's sharp
and tender love as we took to the air, a picture of distance.
"Dawn of our power we amuse redescending as fast as misused expression,
As only to teach love as to reveal passion chasing
Late into corners, and we danced from the ocean.
"Dawn of love sent within us colours of awakening among the many
Won't to follow, only tunes of a different age, as the links span
Our endless caresses for the freedom of life everlasting."
Makes about as much sense as geometry, but far more interesting.
