Edited by Chris War of the worlds Lyrics

(EVE OF THE WAR)

Journalist:
No one would have believed that
in the last years of the 19th century
that human affairs where being watched
from the timeless worlds of s___e
No one could have dreamed we were being scrutinized
as someone with a microscope studies creatures
that swarm and multiply in a drop of water
Few man even considered the possibility of life on other planets
and yet across the gulf of s___e
minds immeasurably superior to ours
regarded this Earth with envious eyes
and slowly and surely
they drew there plans against us.
At midnight on the 12th of August
a huge mass of luminous gas erupted from Mars
and sped towarts Earth
Across two-hundred-million miles of void
invisibly hurtling towarts us
came the first of the missiles
that were bring so much calamity to Earth
As I watchted there was another jet of gas
It was another missile starting on his way
And that how it was for the next ten nights
a flair spurting out from Mars
Bright green drawing a green mist behind it
A beautiful but somehow disturbing sight
Ogilvy the astronomer a__ured me we were in no danger
He was convinced there could be no live
on that remote forbidding planet.

# The chances of anything comming from Mars
are a million to one he said
The chances of anything comming from Mars
but still they come !

Then came the night the first missile approached Earth
it was thought to be an ordinairy falling star
but next day there was a huge crater
in the middle of the Common
And Ogilvy came to examine what lay there:
A cylinder 30 yards across glowing hot....
and with faint sounds of movement coming from within
Suddenly the top began moving , rotating , unscrewing
And Ogilvy feared there was a man inside
trying to escape
He rush to the cylinder
but the intense heat stopped him before
he could burn himself on the metal.

# The chances of anything coming from Mars
are a million to one he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars
are a million to one but they still come
Yes the chances of anything coming from Mars
are a millionto one he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars
are a million to one but they still come

It seems totally incredibble to me now
that everyone spent that evening as
though it were just like any other
From the railway station came the sound of shutting trains
ringing and rumbling softened almost
into melody by the distance
It all seemed so safe and tranquil

(HORSELL COMMON AND THE HEAT RAY)

Next morning a crowd gathered on the Common
hypnotized by the unscewing of the cylinder
Two feet of shining screw projected
when suddenly the lid fell off
Two luminous disc-like eyes appeared above the rim
A huge rounded bulk larger than a bear rose up slowly
glistening like wet leather
It's lipless mouth quiverted and slavered
and snake like tentacles wirthed
as the body heaved and pulsated
A few younger man crept closser to the pitt
A tall funnel rose than a ivisible ray of heat
leaped from man to man and there was a bright glare
as each was instantly turned into fire
Every tree and bush became a mass of flames
at the toutch of his savage unearthly heat ray
People clawed their way off the Common
and I ran too I felt I was being toyed with that
I was on the very verge of safety
This mysterious death would leap after me
and strike me down
At last I reached Maybury Hill
and in the dim coolnes of my home
I wrote an account for my newspaper
before I sank intro a restless haunted sleep

I awoke to alien sounds of hammering from the pit
and hurried to the railway station to buy the paper
Around me the daily routine of life
working-eating-sleeping
was continuing serenely as it had for countless years
On Horsell Common
the Martians continued hammering and stirring
sleepless indefatigable at work upon the machines
they where making
Now and again a light
like the beam of a warschip's searchlight
swept the Common and the heat ray was ready to follow
In the afternoon a company of soldiers came trough
and aployed along the edge of the Common to form a cordon

That evening there was a violent crash
and I realize with horror
that my home was now in range of the Martian's heat ray
At dawn a falling star with a trail green mist behind it
landed with a flash like summer lightning

This was the second cylinder
THE ARTILLERY MAN AND THE FIGHTING MACHINE

Journalist:
The hammering from the pit and the
pouding of guns grew louder
My fear rose at the sound of someone creeping into the house
Then I saw it was a young artillery man
weary , streaked with blood and durt

Artillery man:
Anyone here ?

Journalist:
Come in , here drink this

Artillery man:
Thank you

Journalist:
What's happened ?

Artillery man:
They wiped out.
Hundreds dead - maybe thousands

Journalist:
The Heat Ray ?

Artillery man:
The Martians !
They were inside the hoods of the machines they'd made
Massive metal things on legs !
Giants machines that walked
They attact us !
They wiped us out !

Journalist:
Machines ?

Artillery man:
Fighting machines !
Picking up men and bashing 'em against trees
Just hunks of metal
but they knew exactly what they are doing

Journalist:
Hmmm there was another cylinder came last night

Artillery man:
Yes it looked bound for London

Journalist:
London !
Carie !
I had'nt dreamed there could be danger to Carrie
and her father so many miles away
I must go to London at once

Artillery man:
And me
Got to report to my headquarters
If there's anything left of it

Journalist:
At Byfleet we came upon a Inn
but it was deserted

Artillery man
Is everybody dead ?

Journalist:
Not everybody
Look !
Six cannons with gunners standing by

Artillery man:
It's bows and arrows against the lightning
They haven'd seen the Heat Ray yet

Journalist:
We hurried along the road to Weybridge
Suddely there was a heavy explosion
The Ground heaved
Windows shatterd
And guts of smoke erupted into the air

Artillery man:
LOOK !
THERE THEY ARE !
WHAT DID I TELL YOU ?

Journalist:
Quickly
One after the other four fighting machines appeared
Monstous tripots higher than the highest steeple
striding over the pine trees and smashing them
Walking engines of glittering metal
Each carried a huge funnel and I realized with horror
that i've seen this awful thing before

A fifth machine appeared on the far bank
It raised itself to full hight
flourished the funnel high in the air
And the ghostly terrible heat Ray
struck the town

Journalist:
As it struck all five fighting machines exulted
emitting deafening howls which roared like thunder

Martians:
ULLA !
ULLA !

Journalist:
The six guns we have seen now fired simultaneously
decapitating a fighting machine
The Martion inside the hood was slain
splashed to the four winds
and the body nothing now but an intricate device of metal
went whirling to distruction
As the other monsters advanced people ran away blindly
the artillery man among them
But I jumped into the water and hid until forced up to breathe
Now the guns spoke again
but this time the Heat Ray sent them to oblivion

Martians:
ULLA !

Journalist:
Whit a white flash the Heat Ray swept across the river
Scalded half blinded and agonized
I staggered through leaping hissing water towards the shore
I fell helplessly in full side of the Martians
exepting nothing but death
The foot of a Fighting Machine came down close to my head
then lifted again as the four Martians carried away the debris
of there fallen comrade....
And I realized that by a miracle I had escaped

FOREVER AUTUMN AND THE THUNDERCHILD

Journalist:
For three days I fought my way along roads packed with refugees
the homeless , burdened with boxes and bundles containing there
valuables
All that was of value to me was in London
but by the time I reached there little red brick house
Carrie and her father were gone

#The summer sun is fading as the year grows old
and darker days are drawing near
The winter winds will be mutch colder
Now your not here

#I wached the birds fly south across the autumn sky
And one by one they disappear
I wish that I could flying with them
Now your not here
Like the sun trough the trees you came to love me
Like a leaf on a breeze you blew away

#Trough autumn's golden gown we used to kick away
You always loved this time of year
Those fallen leaves lie undisturbed now
'Cause you're not here
'Cause you're not here
'Cause you're not here

Journalist:
Fire suddely leaped from house to house
The population panicked and ran
And I was swept along with them
Aimless and lost without Carrie
Finally I headed for the ocean
and my only hope of survival , a boat out of England

#Like the sun trough the trees you came to love me
Like a leaf on a breeze you blew away
A gentle rain falles softly on my weary eyes
As if to hide a lonely tear
My lift will be forever autumn
'Cause you're not here
'Cause you're not here
'Cause you're not here

Journalist:
As I hasted trough Covent Garden , Blackfrairs and Billingsgate
more and more people joined the painful exodus
Sad , weary woman
their children stumbling and streaked with tears
their men bitter and angry
the rich rubbing shoulders with baggers and outcasts
Dogs snarled and whined the horses bits were covered with foam
and here and there were wounded soldiers as helpless as the rest
We saw tripods wading up the Thames cutting trough bridges
as though they were paper Waterloo bridge , Westminister bridge
one appeared above Big Ben

Martians:
ULLA !!

Journalist:
Never before in the history of the world
had such mass of human beings moved and sufferd together
This was no disiplined march it was a stampede
without order and without a goal six million people
unarmed and unprovisioned driving headlong
It was the beginning of the road to civilazation
of the massacre of mankind
A vast crowd buffeted me towards the already packed steamer
I looked up enviously at those safe on board
straight into the eyes of my beloved Carrie
At sight of me she began to fight her way along the packed deck
to the gangplank- at that very moment it was raised
and I caughed the last glimpse of her despairing face
as the crowd swept me away from her

#Like the sun trough the trees you came to love me
Like a leaf on a breeze you blew away
Trough autumn's golden gow we used to kick our way
You always loved this time of year
Those fallen leaves lie undisturbed now
'Cause you're not here
'Cause you're not here
'Cause you're not here

Martians:
ULLA !!

Journalist:
The steamer began to move slowly away
but on the horizon appeared the silhouette of a fighting machine
Another came and another striding over hills and trees
pulling far out to sea and blocking the exit of the steamer
Between them lay the silent gray ironclad "Thunderchild"
Slowly it moved towards shore
Then with a deafening roar and whoosh of spray
it swung about and drove at full speed towards the waiting Martians

People:
#There were ships of shapes and sizes
Scattered out along the bay
And I thought I heard her calling
As the steamer pulled away
the invaders must have seen them
As across the coast they filed
Standing firm between them
There lay "Thunder Child"

#Moving swiftly through the waters
Cannons blazing as she came
Brought a mighty metal warlord
Crashing down in sheets of flame
Sesing victory was nearing
Thinking fortune must have smilled
Poeple started cheering
'Come on "Thunder Child"
'Come on "Thunder Child"

Journalist:
The Martians releast their black smoke
But the ship sped on
Cutting down one of the tripod figures
Instantly the others raised there Heat Rays
and melted the Thunder Child's valiant heart

People:
# Lashing ropes and smashing timbers
Flashing Heat Ray hits the deck
Dashing hopes for our deliverance
As we watched the sinking wreck
with the smoke of battle clearing
Over graves in waves defiled
Slowly disappearing
Farewell "Thunder Child"
Slowly disappearing
Farewell "Thunder Child"
Farewell "Thunder Child"
Farewell "Thunder Child"

Journalist:
When the smoke cleared the little steamer
had reached the misty horizon and Carrie was safe
But the "Thunder Child" had vanised forever
taking with her mans last hope of victory
The leaden sky was lit by green flashes
cylinder folowing cylinder and no one and nothing
was left now to fight them
The Earth belonged to the Martians

Martians:
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuulllllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!!!
RED WEED AND PARSON NATHANIEL

Journalist:
Next day the dawn was a brillint fiery red
and I wandered through the weird and lurid landscape
of another planet for the vegetation which gives Mars
it's red appearance had taken root on Earth
As man had succumbed to the Martians
So our land now succumbed to the red weed
Where ever there was a stream the red weed clung and grew
with frightening voraciosness
It's claw-like fronds choking the movement of the water
And than it starts to creep like a slimy red animal
across the land covering field and ditch and tree and hedgerow
with living scarlet feelers , crawling ! , crawling !

I suddenly noticed the body of parson lying on the ground
in a churchyard
I felt unable to leave him to the mercy of the red weed
And decided to bury him decently

Beth:
Nathaniel !
Nathaniel !

Journalist:
The parsons eyes flickered open , he was alive

Beth:
Nathaniel I saw the church burst into flame !
Are you alright !

Parson:
Don't tuch me !

Beth:
But it's me Beth your wife

Parson:
No you're one of them , a Devil !

Beth:
He's Delirious !

Parson:
Lies !
I saw the Devil's sighn

Beth:
What have you seen ?

Parson:
The green flash in the sky
His demons where here all along
In our hearts and souls
Just waiting for a sign from him
And now they are destoying our world

Beth:
But they're not devils they're Martians

Journalist:
We must leave here

Beth:
Look ! A house still standing !
Come Nathaniel quickly

Journalist:
We took shelter in a cottage
and black smoke spread hemming us in
Then a fighting machine came across the fields
Spraying jets of steam that turned the black smoke
in to thick black dust

Martians:
ULLA !!

Beth:
Dear God
Help Us !

Parson:
The voice of the Devil is heard in our land

SPIRIT OF MAN

Parson:
#Listen do you hear them drawing near
in there search for the sinners
Feeding on the power of our fear
and the evil within us
Incarnation of satan's creation of all that we're dread
When the demons arived those alive would be better off dead !!

Beth:
#There must be something worth living for
There must be something worth trying for
Even something worth dying for
For if one man can stand tall
There must be hope for us all
Some where some where in the spirit of man

Parson:
#Once there was a time when I believed without hasitation
That the power of love and truth could conquer all
in name off salvation
Tell me what kind of weapon is love when it comes to a fight
And how much protection is truth against all Satan's might

Beth:
#There must be something worth living for
There must be somethig worth trying for
Even something worth dying for
If just one man can stand tall
There must be some hope for us all
Somewhere somewhere in the spirit of man

People loved you and trusted you
Came to you for help

Parson:
Didn't I warn them that this would happen ?
Be on guard I said
For the evil wil never rest
I said excorsice the Devil
But no , they wouldn't listen
The demons inside are grew and grew
Until Satan gives his signal
And destroyed the World we knew

Beth:
#No Nathaniel , oh no Nathaniel
No Nathaniel no
There must be more to live
There has to be a way
That we can restore to life
The love that we used to know
Nathaniel No
There must be more to live
There has to be a way
That we can restore the life
The light that we have lost

#Now darkness has decended on our land
And all your prayers can not save us
Like fools we let the Devil take command
of the souls that God gave us
To the altar of evil like lambs to the slaughter we're led
When the demons arrive the survivors envy the dead

Beth:
#There must be something worth living for

Parson:
# No ! there is nothing

Beth:
# There must be something worth trying for

Parson:
#I don't believe it's so

Beth:
# Even something worth dying for
And if one man can stand tall
There must be some hope for us all
Somewhere somewhere in the spirit of man

Parson:
Forgett about goodness and mercy - there gone
Didn't I warn them prayed i said
Destroy the Devil I said
But they wouldn't listen
I could have saved the World
but now it's too late , TOO LATE

Beth:
#No Nathaniel
Oh no Nathaniel
No Nathaniel no
There must be more to life
There has to be a way
That we can restore the life
The light that we have lost

(EXPLOSION)

Parson:
Dear God a cylinder's____ on the house
And we underneath it - in the pit

Journalist:
The Martians spent the night making a new machine
It was a squat mettalic spider with huge articulated claws
But it too had a hood wich a martian sat
I watched it pursuing some people across the field
It caught them nimbly and tossed them
into a great metal basket upon his back

Parson:
Beth !
She's dead buried under the rubble
Why Satan why did you take one of your own ?
#There is a curse of mankind
We may as well be resighned
To let the Devil , the Devil take the spirit of man

Journalist:
As time past in oure dark and dusty prisson
The parson wresled endlessly with his doubts
His outcries invited dead for us both
And yet I pitied him
Then on the nineth day we saw the Martians eating
Inside in there new hood
They where draining the fresh living blood of man and woman
And injecting it in their own veins

Parson:
It's a sign
I've been given a sign
They have to be cast out
And I have been chosen to do it
I must confront them now

Journalist:
No parson No

Parson:
Those machines are just demons in a other form
I shall destroy them with my prayers
I will burn them with my holy cross
I shall -

Journalist:
The Curius eye of a Martian appaired at the window slit
And a menacing claw explored the room
I dragged the body of the parson down to the coalcellar
I heard the Martian fumbling at the ladge
In the darkness I could see the claw toughing things
walls coal wood , and then it touch my boot
I almost shouted
For a time was it still and then with a click it gripped something
The parson with slow deliberated movements his uncunscions
body was dragged away....
And there was nothing I could do to prevent it

I crept to the bloked window slit and peered through the creeper
The Martians and all there machines where gone
Trembling I dug my way out
And clambered to the top of the mound
Not a Martian inside
The day seemed dazzeling bright after my imprisonment
and the sky a glowing blue
Red weed covered every scrap of ground
but a gentle breeze kept it swaying
And oh the sweetness of the air

Again I was on my way to London
trough tows and villages
that where blackened ruins
totaly silence , desolate , deserted
Man's impire had passed away
Taken swiftly and without error
by these creatures who where composed entirely of brain
Unhampered by the complex systhems witch make up men
They made and used different bodies according their needs
They never tired they never slept and never suffered
having long since eliminated from there planet the bacteria
witch caused all fevers and other morbidities

Artilleryman:
Halt who goes there ?

Journalist:
Er - A friend

Artilleryman:
Be on your way
This is my territory

Journalist:
Your territory ?
What do you mean ?

Artilleryman:
Wait a minute it's you , the man from Maybury hill

Journalist:
Good heavens the artilleryman
I thought you surely burned

Artilleryman:
I thought you surely drowned

Journalist:
Have you seen any Martians ?

Artilleryman:
Everywhere we're don for all right

Journalist:
We can't just give up

Artilleryman:
Course we can't
It's now that we've got to start fighting
But not against them 'cos we can't win
Now we've got to fight for suvival
And I reckon we can make it
I've got a plan
BRAVE NEW WORLD

Artilleryman:
We're gonna build us a whole new World for ourselves
Look they clap eyes us and were dead right ?
So we gotta make a new life where they'll never find us
You know where ?
Underground
You should see it down there - hundreds of miles of drains
Sweet and clean now after the rain , dark , quiet , safe
We can build houses and everything start again from scratch
And what's so bad about living underground eh?
It's not been so great living up here
If you want my opinion

#Take a look around you at the World we've used to know
Does it seem to be mutch more than a creazy circus show
But mayby from the madness something beautiful will grow
In a brave new world
Whit just a hand full of men
We'll start - we'll start all over again - all over again
all over again - all over again

We'll build shops and hospitals and barracks
right under there noses right under there feet
Everything we need - bank's , prisons and schools...
We'll send scouting parties to collect books and stuff
And men like you can teach the kids
Not poems and rubbish- science
So we can get everything working
We build villages and towns and.... and.....
We play each other at cricket !
Listen maybe one day we'll capture a fighting machine eh?
Learn how to make 'em ourselves and then wallop !
Our turn to do some wiping out !
Whoosh whith our Heat Ray - Whoosh !
And them running and dying , beaten at their own game
Man on top again !

# Now are domination of the Earth is fading fast
And out of the confusion the chance has come at last
To built a better future from the past
In a brave new World
With just a handful of men
We'll start all over again

# Look - Man is born in freedom but he soon becomes a slave
I cages of convention from cradle to the grave
The weak fall by the wayside but strong will be saved
In a brave new World
With just a handful of men
We'll start al over again

# I'm not trying to tell you what to be
Oh no , oh no not me
But if mankind is to survive
The people left alive
They're gonna have to build this World anew
And it's going to have to start with me and you

YES !

# I'm not trying to tell you what to be
Oh no , oh no not me
But if mankind is to suvive
The people left alive
They're gonna have to build this World anew
Yes and we will have to be the chosen few

# Just think of all the poverty the hatred and the lies
And imagine the distruction of all that you despise
Slowly from the ashes the Phoenix will arise
In a brave new World
With just a handful of men
We'll start all over again

# Take a look around you at the World you've lost so well
And bid the ageing empire of man a last farewell
It may no sound like Heaven but at least it isn't Hell
It's a brave new World
With just a handful of men
We'll start - we'll start all over again
All over again - all over again - all over again

I'VE GOT A PLAN !!

Can't you just see it ?
Civilization starting all over again - a second chance
We'll even build a railway and tunnel to the coast
Go there for our holidays
Nothing can stop men like us
I've made a start already.
Come on down here and look

Journalist:
In the cellar was a tunnel scarcely ten yards long
That had taken him a week to dig
I could have dug that much in a day , and I suddenly
had my first inkling of the gulf between his dreams and powers

Artilleryman:
It's doing the workin' and the thinkin' that wears a feller out
I'm ready for a bit of rest
How about a drink eh ?
Nothing but Champagne now I'm the boss

Journalist:
We drank and then he insisted upon playing cards
With our spiecies on the edge of extermination
With no prospect but a horrible death
We actually played games
Later he talked more of his plan
But I saw flames flashing in the deep blue night
Red weed glowing , tripod figures moving distantly
And I put down my Champagne glass
I felt a traitor to my kind
And I knew I must leave this stange dreamer

Artilleryman:
# Take a look around you at the World we've come to know
Does it seem to be much more than a creazy circus show
Maby from the madnes something beautiful wil grow .....

DEAD LONDON

Journalist:
There were a dozen dead bodies on Euson Road
Their outlines softened by the black dust
All was still houses locked and empty , shops closed
But looters had helped themselves to wine and food
And outsite a jewellers some gold chains and a watch
were scattered on the pavement

Martians:
ULLA !!

Journalist:
I stopt , staring towards the sound
It seemed as if thatmighty desert of houses had found a voice
for his fear and solitude

Martians:
ULLA !!

Journalist:
The desolating cry worked upon my mind
The wailling took possesion of me
Why was I wandering alone in this city of the dead ?
Why was I alive ?
When London was lying in state in its black shroud
I felt intolerably lonely , drifting from street to empty street
Dawn inexorably towards that cry

Martians:
ULLA !!

Journalist:
I saw , over the trees on Primrose Hill the fighting machine
from which the howling came
I crossed Regents Canal
There stood a second machine , upright but as still as the first

Martians:
ULLA !!
UL-!!

Journalist:
Abruptly the sound ceased
Suddenly ,the desolation ,the solitude became unendurable
While that voice sounded ,London had still seemed alive
Now suddely , there was a change , the passing of something
And all that remained was this gaut quiet
I looked up there was a third machine
It was erect and motionless ,like the others
An insane resolve possesed me
I would give my life to the Martians here and now
I marched recklessly towards the t__an
and saw that a multitide of black birds
was circling and clusterig about the hood
I began running along the road
I felt no fear ,only a wild trembling exultation
As I ran up the hill towards the motionless monster
Out of the hood hung red shreds
At which the hungry birds now pecked and tore
I scrambled up to the crest of Primrose Hill
And the Martian's camp was below me
A s___e it was , and scattered about it ,
in their overturned machines where the Martians
DEAD...slain [after all man's devices had failed]
by the humblest things upon the Earth
Bacteria
Minute , invisible , bacteria !
Directly the invaders arrived and drank and fed
our microscopic allies attacked them
From that moment they where doomed

The torment was ended
The people scattered over the country
desperate ,leaderless ,starved...
The thousands who had fled by sea
-including the one most dear to me -
all would return
The pulls of life growing stronger and stronger would beat again

As life returns to normal
the question of another attack from mars causes universal concern
Is our planet safe , or is this time of peace merely a reprieve ?
It may be that , across the immensity of s___e
They have learned their lossons and even now await their opportunity
Perhaps the future belongs not to us
But to the MARTIANS ?

EPILOGUE

pasadena Control:
It's looking good
It's going good
We're getting great pictures here at NASA Control Passadena
The landing-craft touched down on Mars
twenty-eight Kilometers from the aim-point
We're looking at a remarkable landscape
littered with different kind of rocks - red ,purple.....
How 'bout that Bermuda ?

Bermuda Control:
Fantastic !
Look at the dune-field

Pasadena Control:
Hey wait !
I'm getting a no-go signal
Now I losing one of the craft
Hey Bermuda you getting it ?

Bermuda Control:
No , I lost contact
There is a lot of dust blowing up there

Pasadena Control:
Now I've lost the second craft
We got problems

Bermuda Control:
All contact lost , Pasadena
Maybe the antenna's.....

Pasadena Control:
What's that flare ?
Seen it ?
A green flare , comming from Mars
Kind of green mist behind it
It's getting closer
You seen that Bermuda ?
Come in Bermuda !
Houston come in !
What's going on ?
Tracking station fourty-three Canberra
Come in Canberra !
Tracking station sixty-three
Can you hear me Madrid ?
Can anybody hear me ?
Come in
Come in.......

THE END !!