Similar Songs
Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Bernard Purdie
Drums
Bob Findley
Trumpet
Chuck Findley
Trumpet
Chuck Rainey
Bass
Clydie King
Background Vocals
Dick Hyde
Trombone
Don Grolnick
Keyboards
Donald Fagen
Keyboards
Gary Coleman
Percussion
Jim Horn
Saxophone
John Klemmer
Tenor Saxophone
Michael McDonald
Background Vocals
Plas Johnson
Saxophone
Sherlie Matthews
Background Vocals
Timothy B. Schmit
Background Vocals
V. Feldman
Percussion
Venetta Fields
Background Vocals
Walter Becker
Performer
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Donald Fagen
Songwriter
Walter Becker
Songwriter
Chuck Findley
Horn Arranger
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Gary Katz
Producer
Barney Perkins
Mixing Engineer
Elliot Scheiner
Engineer
Roger Nichols
Engineer
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I recall when I was small
How I spent my days alone
The busy world was not for me
So I went and found my own
I would climb the garden wall
With a candle in my hand
I'd hide inside a hall of rock and sand
[Verse 2]
On the stone an ancient hand
In a faded yellow-green
Made alive a worldly wonder
Often told but never seen
Now and ever bound to labor
On the sea and in the sky
Every man and beast appeared
A friend as real as I
[Chorus]
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me, we understood
[Verse 3]
Can it be this sad design
Could be the very same?
A wooly man without a face
And a beast without a name
Nothing here but history
Can you see what has been done?
Memory rush over me
Now I step into the sun
[Chorus]
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me, we understood
[Chorus]
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me, we understood
Written by: Donald Fagen, Walter Becker