Once in a dream
Far beyond these castle walls
Down by the bay where the moonlit water falls
I stood alone while the minstrel sang his song
So afraid I'd lost my soul
There in the fog his song kept calling me
Leading me on with its haunting melody
Deep in my heart a voice kept echoing
I knew I'd soon be wandering
Far beyond these castle walls
Where the distant harbor meets the sky
There the battle raged like hell
And every dove had lost its will to fly
Far beyond these castle walls
Where I thought I heard Tiresias say
Life is never what it seems
And every man must meet his destiny
Dennis DeYoung has mentioned that he was inspired by the movie The Exorcist when he wrote Castle Walls. The synthesizer interlude in the middle of the song has similarities to Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, which was used in The Exorcist.