Jeff Wayne, Richard Burton, Justin Hayward - The Eve of the War lyrics

No one would have believed, in the
Last years of the nineteenth century
That human affairs were being
Watched from the timeless
Worlds of space no one could have
Dreamed that we were being
Scrutinised as someone
With a microscope studies creatures that
Swarm and multiply in a drop
Of water few men even
Considered the possibility of life on
Other planets and yet
Across the gulf of space
Minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded
This earth with envious eyes
And slowly, and surely
They drew their plans against us

At midnight, on the 12th of August
A huge mass of luminous gas erupted
From Mars and sped towards Earth across
Two hundred million miles of void
Invisibly hurtling towards
Us, came the first of the missiles that
Were to bring so much calamity to
Earth as I watched, there was another jet
Of gas it was another missile
Starting on it's way

And that's how it was for the
Next ten nights a flare, spurting out
From Mars bright green, drawing a green
Mist behind it a beautiful, but
Somehow disturbing sight ogilvy
The astronomer
Assured me we were in no danger
He was convinced there could be no
Living thing on that remote
Forbidding planet

The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one but still, they come!

Then came the night the
First missile approached Earth
It was thought to be an ordinary falling
Star, but the next day there was a huge
Crater in the middle of the Common
And Ogilvy came to examine what lay there
A cylinder, thirty yards across, glowing hot
And with faint sounds of movement
Coming from within suddenly the top began
Moving, rotating, unscrewing
And Ogilvy feared there was
A man inside trying
To escape he rushed to the cylinder
But the intense heat stopped him before he
Could burn himself on the metal

The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one but still, they come!
Yes, the chances of anything coming from
Mars are a million to one, he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one but still, they come!

It seems totally incredible to
Me now that everyone
Spent that evening as though it were just
Like any other from the
Railway station came the
Sound of shunting trains
Ringing and rumbling
Softened almost into melody by
The distance it
All seemed so safe and tranquil