Down Before Cathay Lyrics - Incredible String Band

Through red forests that lean against the hills 

I wandered with my heart in my hand 

My cloak wound down to the shores of Cathay 

Where the gold lay scattered on the sand 

Night was young back before the dawn 

Casting kisses at the day 

Shipping the sea bestriding the earth 

Down before Cathay 

The admirable deeds of Khubla Khan 

We admired from the deck of our cedar wood ship 

Observing the domes that prance from Mandalay 

Where the dogs they sleep all the day 

We gazed upon the Towers of Tyre 

That rose coarse and spicy in the air 

But we sailed up the coast to sidon 

Where the gazes are so rare 

Where the gazes are so rare 

The ship shone its lamp across the silent air 

That swirled before Cathay 

And there on the sand that courts the amber sea 

Our fair bodies we cast away 

Night was young back before the dawn 

Casting kisses at the day 

Sipping the sea bestriding the earth 

Down before Cathay