They built the pyramids, toiled with tons of stone Irrigated deserts, made giant golden thrones Built palaces in India and a dome on the moon Illustrated ceilings, praised God with strange choirs Fed the five thousand built cities of spires Felt the pull of science unravel in their minds Charted celestial bodies and were punished for their finds Conquered snow-peaked mountains, drove jungles to retreat Were drowned in vicious rapids and were heralded for their feats Fantasized in Babylon, built a home in space Scaled the walls of China against all human odds Won battles without hope until men turned into gods Still they hide their faces well unbetrayed by Heaven or Hell Only traces to be found although their history resounds Disconnected they displayed all the discoveries they made And now they wander round the earth beyond the realms of death or birth If you look you'll see them there like clouds hanging in the air And they said the earth was flat, sailed off the world into a vat Turned the planets into toys then played marbles like small boys Invented love, invented hate, hung them off the arms of fate Hear them whisper hear them speak, seems they found what we still seek