Song Lyrics

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 its 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
Ogilby, 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 (ah, ah)
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 next day there was a huge crater in the middle of the common
And Ogilby came to examine what lay there

A cylinder, thirty yards across, glowing hot
With faint sounds of movement coming from within
Suddenly the top began moving: rotating, unscrewing
And Ogilby 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 (ah, ah)
The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, but still, they come

Jeff Wayne

The duration of The Eve of the War is 2:59 minutes and seconds.