Rick Wakeman - Hercules lyrics

When Hercules was born Juno sent the serpents To destroy him in his cradle But they were not able Dangerous tasks were set before him Labors of Hercules, set to destroy him First he had to bring the skin Of the lion that had overcome all hunters Hercules k**ed him as he had the serpents Squeezing out life with his hands Next came the slaughter of the monster, Hydra With nine heads appearing like fangs As each head was destroyed then another one grew An immortal head in the middle lived through Finally he burnt the Hydra And then the immortal head he buried beneath a rock The stalls of three thousand oxen Filled with dirt of thirty years Hercules his task to clean them Made the use of rivers' tears Diverting all of the rivers from their heads To places so far unseen Clear rushing water swept all before them And by sun-rest all was clean Then befell him a task so fragile Fetch the waist-band for Admeta From the Queen of Amazons Juno was enraged because the Queen agreed To give Hercules the waist-band without force So Juno took the form of na Amazon Telling of the capture of their Queen Vengeful women came in great numbers Hoping to set her free Hercules left thinking he had been betrayed k**ed the Queen, k**ed the Queen Juno had succeeded, the Queen's life was lost The Queen, the Queen Then to bring the oxen of the Geryon Dwelling on the island 'neath the rays Of the setting sun Guarded by a monster with three heads To get there he'd to cross a host of countries Raising mountains, monuments of time To reach the monster first he k**ed a two-headed dog This accomplished saved the oxen Turning blood to wine A most difficult task Was to seek the Golden Apples of the Hesperides As it was not known where they could be found Juno had received them at her wedding From the Goddess of the Earth Hercules went off to Atlas Who bore the weight of heavens with his frame Hercules took over from him Atlas sought his daughter's time Help him with the apples to claim Treasure retrieved, mission achieved Hercules gave thanks to his host Feeling the pain, taking the strain Atlas returned to his post On his travels he wrestled And k**ed the son of Terra Then he fought with the giant, Cacus Who had stolen part of the oxen of Geryon To the lower world he went To bring Cerberus was sent Who guarded gates of Hades A watchdog with three heads To carry him to upper air Permission must be read Granted with proviso "There must be no blood shed" Mercury and Minerva Journeyed with him to the realms of darkness Where they fulfilled their task Adventures were taking their toll His strenght had been pushed to the limit He k**ed his friend Wich broke his spirit To the very end He married Dejanira They journeyed far and wide At a river the giant centaur Transported to the other side "I will carry Dejanira" The centaur cried But he tried to steal her And the wrath of Hercules was tried To its full degree And arrow pierced the centaur's heart He offered her a potion from his blood Wich gave her magic power over love To use against Hercules Hercules had taken prisoner A woman of great beauty Incurring vengeance from his wife Washing white robe in the potion Sent the clothing to her husband Unaware that it would take a life When he wore it great pain occured As poison entered pores The messenger who brought the robe was slain In a rage, a hero's body destroyed Dejanira distraught by what she'd done Gave her life away Crime of pa**ion, a paradise now lost Vision turned to dismay Hercules knew he was dying He ascended Mount Oeta Where he built a funeral pyre A lion's skin spread over him He laid upon the fire His deeds of strenght lay far behind His body worn and tired His life now consumed by the flames He rose with dignity Encaptured by a shroud A resting place before him Enveloped in a cloud Taken by chariot into the stars To peace at last His burden free He lives, he lives, he lives He dwells amongst the Gods a hero Hercules, Hercules, Hercules Use his strength Left in all our hands.