Roads to Moscow~~Amber~~Orchestral Fade

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life...I know that love will come (that love will come)
Turn it all around---Sade; Soldier of Love.

Roads to Moscow ~~~~Al Stewart

Roads to Moscow is a side-two selection from the early 70's sensation, Al Stewart. Remembered mostly for music like "In The Year of The Cat", The Roads to Moscow deserves much more recognition than it ever was given. In Ballad form, it depicts the ability of the Russians, with their landmark stand they took at Stalingrad, to overcome the Nazi Germany effort to make this hallowed culture, theirs.The legendary General Guderian and his Tiger Tank Divisions were expected to bring Russia to its knees just as the 01 Sept 39 Blitzkreig brought Poland to its knees. Stewart used vividly metaphoric lyrics to evoke images that almost brings to life their struggles. Stewart's ability to blend Napoleon's failure at this folly, as a mirrored reflection, further substantiates how the lyrics, music, and background chorus draws the listener into the cause of ridding Holy Mother Russia of these infidels.

And then there is the ultimate cold irony of how your Life's sealed-fate, rests in the balance.

With the song coming out in 1972 and the Western World already fatigued with the Viet-Nam Conflict, a ballad depicting the struggles of another armed conflict was not what the pop culture was receptive to.

As Fallonites who attended Father McGee's World Cultures Classes---where the emphasis was on Holy Mother Russia--- this Web Blog is dedicated to the always pleasant, Father McGee!!!

Even as this ballad is dedicated to the fierce Russian pride that was the driving force in expelling Germany from its borders, there has always been, at least for me, this one nagging question.

Who is this Amber(...And the evening sings in a voice of amber), Al Stewart refers to in his music. Is Amber just a convenient lyricist's nuance???? Or is Amber---an Agnes, a Malaine, a Rya; a forbidden Love, an elusive Love, a Love not yet consumed???

The ages are filled with such desperate souls searching for the heart; the essence of their very existence, of their fulfillment. Does that soul wonder through the 'NETHER'-world forever, or does Fate intervene and answer the quest.

Roads to Moscow

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

Hickok
PS!!! This song is haunting, too---in that it ends with an eerily familiar-sounding orchestral fade. And the fade is that of how Airborne/D H L's cavernous building---with all its air-vent apparatus running---would sound like when one would first walk in at 05:30AM!!!!! So when I hear the end of the song---it is like I'm still caning-in, to clock in.