Bruce Cockburn
Pacing the Cage
[Verse 1]
Sunset is an angel weeping
Holding out a bloody sword
No matter how I squint, I cannot
Make out what it's pointing toward

[Chorus 1]
Sometimes you feel like you lived too long
The days drip slowly on the page
And you catch yourself pacing the cage

[Verse 2]
I've proved who I am so many times
The magnetic strip's worn thin
And each time I was someone else
And everyone was taken in

[Chorus 2]
Powers chatter in high places
Stir up eddies in the dust of rage
Set me to pacing the cage

[Verse 3]
I never knew what you all wanted
So I gave you everything
All that I could pillage
All the spells that I could sing
[Chorus 3]
It's as if the thing were written
In the constitution of the age
Sooner or later, you'll wind up pacing the cage

[Verse 4]
Sometimes the best map will not guide you
You can't see what's 'round the bend
Sometimes the road leads through dark places
Sometimes the darkness is your friend

[Chorus 4]
Today these eyes scan bleached-out land
For the coming of the outbound stage
Pacing the cage, pacing the cage