If you were/are a fan of the old sci-fi series "Babylon 5", you may recall the character "Soulhunter", who featured in one of the early episodes. I watched the series for the first time only a few months ago, and fell in love with it. "Soulhunter" was one of the lyrics that emerged. (I did take some poetic licence with the story, though: e.g. the notion of the "fatal error" - that humans thought they could change their natural inclination to destroy and to shed blood.) And of course I turned to Billy and Andy, my partners-in-crime when it comes to sci-fi and prog-rock.
David Saylor provided the superlative vocals.
Billy & Andy, if I've missed anything in the credits, please let me know.
Composition/arrangement/melody/guitars & other instrumentation/mix: Billy Playle
Bass: Andy Gupta
Vocals: David Saylor
Lyrics: Donna Devine
Soulhunter V1
He hurtles past Andromeda
His ship reflects no light
He's on a sacred mission
Elders gave to him for life
V2
He slips and glides through galaxies
Wherever mankind's gone
Believes collective mem'ries
Will explain what man has done
Chorus
His eyes hold worlds of wisdom
But no smile disturbs his lips
He wades through wars
And battlefields
A vast array of blips
On a screen as large as longing
And the harvest will be huge
When Soulhunter docks his ship
V3
His job's to track down dying men
To steal their mortal souls
He bends to startled faces
While a heart's last drumbeat rolls
Bridge 1
Soulhunter captures their essence at death
Imprisons in globes their dwindling breath
Thus condemning them to limbo
Neither heaven, neither hell
Now the playing field is level
For here there is no talk of god
And surely none of devil
Bridge 2
The souls weave and twist
Faint will-o'-the-wisps
Imprisoned in glass
As [long] centuries pass
Bridge 3
Wan cries dulled by the [fierce] engine's thrust
Souls ache for release to death's boundless abyss
For in truth they're being punished
And if only he could hear them
They could tell exactly how
Nothing ever will be different
For the Past becomes the Now
Bridge 4
Soulhunter won't know
That eons ago
Leaders on Terra
Made one fatal error
V4
He keeps the Elders' orders
Still believing they were right
And on this fruitless mission
Navigates the starry night
Chorus
His eyes hold worlds of wisdom
But no smile disturbs his lips
He wades through wars
And battlefields
A vast array of blips
On a screen as large as longing
And the harvest will be huge
When Soulhunter docks his ship
Outro 2
He slips and glides through galaxies
Wherever mankind's gone
Believes collective mem'ries
Will explain what man has done
� 2011 Donna Devine
