Roads To Moscow Lyrics - Al Stewart

They crossed over the border the hour before dawn 

Moving in lines through the day 

Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay 

Waiting for orders we held in the wood - word from the front never came 

By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles away 

Ah, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the trees 

Crossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and our knees 

And all that I ever was able to see 

The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the smoke on the breeze 

All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine 

Smolyensk and Viyasma soon fell 

By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel 

Closer and closer to Moscow they come - riding the wind like a bell 

General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill 

Winter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roads 

Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snow 

And all that I ever was able to see 

The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breeze 

In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winter 

Falling back before the gates of Moscow, 

Standing in the wings like an avenger 

And far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forest 

Coming unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promise 

You'll never know, you'll never know 

Which way to turn, which way to look, you'll never see us 

As we're stealing through the blackness of the night 

You'll never know, you'll never hear us 

And the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming 

The morning road leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming 

Two broken Tigers on fire in the night flicker their souls to the wind 

We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin 

It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun 

At home it'll almost be spring 

The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin 

Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground 

The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down 

And all that I ever was able to see 

The eyes of the city are opening now it's the end of the dream 

I'm coming home, I'm coming home 

Now you can taste it in the wind, the war is over 

And I listen to the clicking of the train wheels as we roll across the border 

And now they ask me of the time 

That I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner 

"They only held me for a day, a lucky break", I say; 

They turn and listen closer 

I'll never know, I'll never know 

Why I was taken from the line and all the others 

To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia 

And it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullen 

And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming 

And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers 

"Never" 

And the evening sighs and the steely Russian skies go on forever