Prelude to Happiness
© 1985 Bob Anderson
From Serpent Power

They say that solitude brings one peace
And that emptiness brings one release
The quality of our life depends on how we feel
It’s a never ending task discovering what is real
These thoughts in my mind, writing in a bar room
Thinking of desolation, thinking of doom
That life is one grand play, each act unrehearsed
And every glass of beer left ya with more thrust
    And as I sat there drowning in despair
    Wondering why I lived so long
    A certain magic penetrated the air
    And swept me away, embraced my soul
    And sang a brand new song
        Magic always comes to mark ordeal’s end
        And at last the peace returns
        Like the first sunrise of a thousand hour night
        Once again the passion burns
        Once again the passion burns!

As I travel down the back streams of my mind
I find that everything forms a kind of rhyme
That my convictions were just obsessions
Misguided truths, or self-deceptions
There’s something in your smile that reminds me of the spring time
When the power returns, and I'm not snowblind
I think I’ve finally learned what it means to trust
I’ve regained my faith, life is not unjust
    Right down to the twinkle in your eye
    And the wisdom in your heart
    I think I’ve been hypnotized
    Because I can taste happiness
    And I know it is art
        Brief flashes of roads upon roads
        Of rooms within rooms
        It all makes sense now in a strange sort of way
        I think I’ve started to bloom
        I think I’ve started to bloom!