Donald Fagen
The Caves of Altamira (The Best Of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen)
[Verse 1]
I recall when I was small
How I spent my days alone
The busy world was not for me
So I went and found my own
I would climb the garden wall
With a candle in my hand
Far among the hills I'd run
To a hall of rock and sand

[Verse 2]
On the stone an ancient hand
In a faded yellow-green
Made alive a worldly wonder
Often told but never seen
Now and ever bound to labor
On the sea and in the sky
Every man and beast appeared
A friend as real as I

[Chorus]
'Twas before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When therе wasn't even any Hollywood
They hеard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood
[Verse 3]
Many years had come and gone
With many miles between
Through it all, I found my way
By the light of what I'd seen
On the road, as I returned
Was a green and yellow sign
Saying "see the way it used to be"
And I took my place in line

[Verse 4]
Could I believe the sad design
Could be the very same?
A wooly man without a face
And a beast without a name
Nothin' here but history
Can you see what has been done?
Memory rush over me
Now I step into the sun

[Chorus]
'Twas before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood