The idea for this song came out of nowhere one evening - I wrote out the last half of the chorus and left it there, thinking it would be left as an experimental ten-second song.

But eventually it was continued, and I think that the guitar-led pattern that first appears near the beginning and keeps reappearing throughout is one of the catchiest things I've ever written. The song also has two very brief sections where I've experimented with a 7/4 time signature.

This is the first time that a title for a song has completely eluded me - usually I begin with a title and work from that, but in this case the lyrics were written first, then the song around them, then the title was thought up last. The working title was "Shadowcaster", and I tried similar ideas like "Shadow Over Babylon" before settling on the current one.

I did receive word from a band who wanted to perform this song - I think they were Hungarian - but I haven't heard from them in about a year.

(Icon background is the Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.)

[Lyrics]

The splendour of our city, a wonder to the eye
The tower of babel reaching up to the sky
In the centre of it all, the hanging gardens stand
Carved by the son of Naboplashar's hand

We've come, we run, to find our sun
The light that we once had
From the mighty walls that border south
We travel to the river's mouth
The darkness has been cast across our land

The wonder of our city never to be seen
The darkness of the night replaced the golden dawn
A shadow has been cast all over Babylon

A tower rises to the sky, the symbol of our might
All the empire comes together to this beacon in the night
The end of understanding, confusion has begun
The start of nations, birth of our tongue

We've come, we run, to find our sun
The light that we once had
From the mighty walls that border south
We travel to the river's mouth
The darkness has been cast across our land

We'll always be remembered, an evil of the world
The darkness of the night replaced the golden dawn
A shadow has been cast all over Babylon
Babylon
Babylon

We'll find our star, Seleucia
Away from all we had
Together from the fall we shall all travel on
Away from the dark shadow over Babylon

The death of Alexander marked our city's end
Our wonder torn by war and with our leader gone
A shadow has been cast all over Babylon