Cover art for Talisman by ​The Guess Who
Jan. 19701 viewer

Talisman Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Trinket worn with colors matching saddened eyes
Has lost its magic touch
People from a distant hill
Have crossed an ever-stretching sea of sand
Artificial flowers cannot die
For life within them is illusion

[Chorus]
Talisman, talisman grace my hand
Talisman grace my hand

[Verse 2]
Figures made of pedigrees
Control the non-existent soul of John Smith
Walk the creature let it run
But slacken not the rope to which its bound
Ships in bottles cannot sail
And neither can a tombstone kill a feather

[Chorus]
Talisman, talisman grace my hand
Talisman grace my hand

[Verse 3]
Kings are nothing more without the glory
And the wealth behind their thinking
Let me feel the choice of seeing
Dawn or setting sun before I die
Myriads of painted faces
Rush behind the eye of the uncertain
[Chorus]
Talisman, talisman grace my hand
Talisman grace my hand

[Verse 4]
Let me live only to do
And let me do only to live
My steel image comes with the sun
And that's where it slumbers now

[Chorus]
Talisman, talisman grace my hand
Talisman grace my hand

How to Format Lyrics:

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  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
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  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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Release Date
January 1970
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