We watched her as she faded away Back down through thirty thousand days Like a river flowing backwards or upstream To the source of everything How we all clutch onto that thread We brought with us to find our way through The darkness ahead Until everything just reminds us Of things left far behind us We hold on to the beginning Hold on to the beginning The cities had been all in flame That summer when the rage came We were heading home from some great gathering The boys on the top of the bus They gave us their badges, their names, they gave us their trust All the tokens of faith You found them where you'd put them away For a moment like today To hold on to the beginning Hold on to the beginning I climbed and climbed to reach the view Of the hills behind stretching away In line on line of faded blue Back to what we first believed in How we all clutch onto that thread We brought with us to find our way back To hold on to the beginning Hold on to the beginning