Al Stewart - Three Mules lyrics

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Three mules came over a hill

They were dragging a cart

Creaking, it seemed to be falling apart

Laden with millions of dreams

It weighed more than they thought

They never noticed the wheels getting caught

They pulled on, staring ahead

With blinkered eyes and lowered heads

Hoping that all would be fine

I see them now

Time out of time

Ramsey and Stanley and Neville

Were the names of the mules

Each wore a bridle encrusted with jewels

And though a murmur of voices

Was rising behind

Each laboured on

And they paid it no mind

They pulled on with never a doubt

Past boulders and holes

Till the road petered out

And giving a snort they sat down

Waiting for somebody else to come round

And from this are our lives writ large

From the beach at Dunkirk

To Pickett's Charge

And it's hard to go back

after coming this far

Down the road

Three mules looked over a fence

At the field beyond

Green as a forest it shone in the sun

Into the stillness they broke

Like a stone in a pond

And kicking the gate down

They brayed at the ground

And pulled on tugging a dream

Out of a smile and into a scream

And tossed the damp soil all around

Until the whole field turned muddy brown

And from this are our lives writ large

From the beach at Dunkirk

To Pickett's Charge

And it's hard to go back

after coming this far

Down the road

Ah, but it's not very easy now being a mule

I don't believe you appreciate all that we do

Look at this long and unfortunate face

Try to imagine that you're in my place

This is my nature

And to it I have to be true

Three mules came over a hill

With a sorrowful air

Though we've been judged, they said

It's hardly fair

All that we did was for you

And the good of the cause

Then they went back to the sound of applause

They went back into the night

Where a sickle of moon

Left a trickle of light

And while we lay under our roofs

The whole night filled up

With the beating of hooves

And from this are our lives writ large

From the beach at Dunkirk

To Pickett's Charge

And it's hard to go back

after coming this far

Down the road

And from this are our lives writ large

And every day

Is Pickett's Charge

And it's hard to go back

after coming this far

Down the road