He couldn't see the moons, the suns, He couldn't see the stars. He couldn't see the docking lights So he hangs around the bars. Though in the life he left behind He lived beyond the sky He's grounded, useless, hopeless, For a blind man cannot fly. Now the man who flies a starship drive Is a god to other men. No flaws has he that they perceive, No faults that they may ken. But should his body fail him, Or his senses let him down They all ignore his time at war; Alone he stalks the town. So the blind man sits and dreams of ships In the foam of another beer. A pilot sneers; the blind man hears And he sheds a ductless tear. For once he was a soldier In a war to save his race. 'Til laser knives wiped out his eyes And left him half a face. Well the star fleet's free with liberty Except in times of war. So comes the day the blind man's bay Rings loud with space no more. The fleet is called, the ships lift out, The battle cry is blown. Left behind to drink his wine The blind man sits alone. Well then, suddenly close fire breaks free Among the spaceport bars. Enemy signs behind the lines Destroying home fleet stars. The blind man leaps to safety
As the laser heat burns through. He alone may save his home; He knows what he must do. Through the sounds of war that blast him o'er His memory is true. He finds a ship-- A shuttle slip abandoned by its crew. He waits until the scanners sound That battle is above. With a prayer to gods of air He gives the jets a shove. They said it was a stroke of luck That shuttle's engines blew. They said it was the hand of god That aimed it straight and true. They said it was the fates of war That saved their world that day, That downed the rebel leader And so chased his force away. Well they never found the blind man In the rubble of the bar. They made a cave, an empty grave For a soldier of the stars. They then forgot the blind man, But I won't forget that night. I was a child alone who saw My father's final flight. He couldn't see the moons, the suns, He couldn't see the stars. He couldn't see the docking lights So he hangs around the bars. Though in the life he left behind He lived beyond the sky, He's grounded, useless, hopeless, For a blind man cannot fly. No, a blind man . . . cannot fly.