1. The summer was a long one, always on the run Moving through the moonlit night, resting in the sun They say that you were cheerful, like a child in chasing play Or a gambler guessing recklessly when someone else will pay
2. Through the western highlands, round the western isles An adventure trail through beauty over countless weary miles Slipping like a shadow into legend out of chance Watching for the tall, ghostly sailing ships from France
Chorus: We are all "Young Pretenders" looking for a sign On a troubled journey through the landscape of the mind We're looking to the future, trying hard to find The pathway and the promise and the hope of better times
3. They say that you were happy always keen to take a dram A bottle the companion always nearest to your hand Perhaps to dull the memory or take away the sound The cries of young men dying on the blood stained ground
4. That summer must have changed you in fundamental ways And formed the pattern and the script for your remaining days Some men are most attracted to a cause that can't be won Life has many flickering ghosts to make us hide and run
Chorus: We are all "Young Pretenders" looking for a sign On a troubled journey through the landscape of the mind We're looking to the future, trying hard to find The pathway and the promise and the hope of better times