(Instrumental)

Here I am; can you feel me breathing
In the rhythm of the world I´m in...

Here I am; can you feel me breathing
In the rhythm of the world I´m in
Reaching out I caress the trees
While the sun revolves above me
The air is so rich I can almost drink it

Dance like a fay twixt tree and stream so cold
The true philosopher´s stones
Never shall turn nothing into gold

Now they tell me I must lay me down
Once more they´ll lock the door
But of leaves of green my pillow is
And free I´ll disappear in the thicket

The true philosopher´s stones
Never shall turn nothing into gold

I´m awoken in the woods
I´m searching for the nevershining stones
And the man in white says I can´t hear the birds singing
I´m awoken in the woods
I´m closer to the everlasting truth
And the man in white says I can´t hear them

The wealth of mine is not like thine of gold shining
Tree and leaf my treasures are
Living like me, and dying

I´m awoken in the woods...

Now I´m here; behind rubber walls
And they tell me my forest never was at all
Not in a thousand years

Was it the drugs they gave to calm me
Or something into my mind through generations fed
And if it´s all gone; only a collective memory
Are we then dead
Is this the kingdom of the mad

Black waves like thunderous towers in over me fall
Dark pools open to swallow all
Greedy claws of decadence grasp at every limb
A mirror of marred, grinning faces

In the eye of this storm of staring eyes I stand
Lightning rips both sky and land
Demonic choirs of disharmony
Screaming their false lamentation

And I know I cannot escape
This darkness that´s trying to fill me
For even though I close my eyes

I see fire; I hear thunder roll
I see them carry off the fallen
The mirror cracks; the horizon´s falling
When from afar a clear voice is calling

At the stroke of the harp
A road of light opens before me
Down a golden stream with flames in her hands
With a song she crushes my wanhope
And she dances, dances

Dancer in the light
Won´t you guide me through the darkness
Won´t you blind my eyes that I can´t see the edge
Dancer in the light
Won´t you dance for me

Dancer, you´re but a fantasy
Temporary existance
And I wonder if ever again
I can gather my powers to call you


Or only wrap myself in darkness
And fly away, fly away

Dancer in the light...

Strange how the world shrinks while you grow up
Some of it seems so long ago
It cannot really have been me at all

As future turns to past
Premonition turns to reminiscence
Reality to mythology
Doors wide open

Somehow some memories
Are growing ever stronger
Ever clearer
As doors begin to shut

Tell me, why must my childhood´s oceans turn into lakes
Horizons move ever nearer
The myth is easier to comprehend
As doors are being locked

Sweet was the sun - the sun that now is burning me
Clear was the rain - through which no longer I can see
And we did laugh - the conquerors, the chosen
Yet we could cry - now all my dreams are frozen
Who am I now - I want to take another step
What will I be - but my feet are heavy
Can I go on - I know time heals
Can I let go - yet I´m praying for the gods to turn it back

Let me relive the mystery
Let me conquer new horizons
Let me be afraid of the dark
Let me evaporate in sunlight
On those ancestral plains
Open me the gates to the lost realms

Is it only my mind that has painted this picture
Of a rose with no thorns
As I fly on the wings of the cosmic eagle
The knowledge of the naïve

If I could but learn to live in peace with my past
Not seeking to turn back time
But I know I would stand all the pain
Just to feel the pleasure again

Yes I know I would stand all the pain
Just to feel the pleasure

Sweet was the sun...

Let me relive...

And I don´t know who the old man is
Who sits there alone with his dreams
But I hope I´ll never meet his eyes
I hope that he´ll never tell me his name

Let me relive...

(instrumental)

I: Dawn

I was born in a time when the world was still free
I know not really when, where or why
Born a king child; but on the same day
It is told you could hear the land cry

Blood boiling like the core of this world
With which I was one
Before I turned it into ice
And my back to the sun
Yes before I turned my back to the sun

II: The child in the sun

Growing up I lived and learned
With wings like the bird I flew
With fire I burned
Crownprince of paradise
Soon to claim the throne

Then at last a grown man I stood
So fiercely proud; an electrified semi-god
Ready to reign; greedy to gain

III: The man in the moon

Staring at the moon I felt a shiver
No longer just a beast
But the man in the moon came down too soon
Chaos from the West to the East

Although knowing I was not prepared
I never questioned the use of my lore
Leaving behind the days of yore
Forever wanting more

I defy my gods - I don´t need them
Holy science - take me to heaven (and hell)
With sacred right I shall conquer and rule
Slay the heathen, questioning fools

Be thou foreign or kin thou shalt never be safe
Nothing shall stand in my concrete way
Upon myself I bestow the crown; I am the master

IV: Dusk

Decadence, decline, degeneracy
Broken and aged I now stand
Awaiting the revenge of the land
Looking at paradise destroyed
On my way into the void

Crying out to the gods
As my heart and pride breaks
Would take a thousand Floods
To wash off my mistakes
Turn back the clock that never runs late
Grant me thy knowledge
My free will has failed

Thief! Murderer! Rapist! Blasphemer!
Not so fiercely proud
Not so fiercely proud

Can I hope for forgiveness
Do you recall your darkest son
My name is Mankind

In my dream...

´Twas a cold morning when I saw the first of them
Tiny spots on the horizon
Their wings blackening out the sun; Exodus had begun
Messengers of damnation
And the people cried: "the birds are leaving"

Great was the mourning when they were gone
In a bloodred sunset eternal
Though when they were here we never did hear them sing
Now the silence seemed so infernal
And I cried:

Throw a rope to a drowning man
Collect my bones from this dying land
And we´ll laugh in the face of horror

Oh, take me higher, away from here
Show me the horizons of my mind
Take my hand and I´ll fly with you
Together we will see tomorrow shine
Together we will see tomorrow shine

"Gwaihir!, Gwaihir!, hear me calling!"
Lord of the sky, take me high

Sins are but sins
But don´t make the birds leave

The land, the sky, the mountains will cry
When they leave; Oh, take me with you
The sea, the hills, the forests will sigh
When they abandon ship and fly away
I´ll say:

Throw a rope to a drowning man
Collect my bones from this dying land
And we´ll laugh in the face of horror

Oh, take me higher...

There are strange signs in the air tonight
The walls creep close
Surrounded by liquid shapes and shadows

The minstrel is convincing tonight
To me and to the forms that fly
Invisible below the ceiling
Covered in layer upon layer of memories

I know I can´t silence the screaming
But not even that can trouble me right now
I feel a sudden warmth; I´m outside time and tears
A strange place where I can laugh at my fears

Knowing that the spirits are just outside the field of my view
Protecting me
Showing me a world that is not yet totally desolate

There is more to my soul than to my eyes
I am strong; like the eagle I´ll rise
I will seek high and low; quest for quest´s sake
I will shape my own path; to travel for evermore
Through within to beyond

I feel a sudden warmth; I´m outside time and tears
A strange place where I can laugh at my fears

And if right now I would lay my life in a brother´s hand
Then perchance one day
I could lay it in the hand of she who dances on the hill

Tomorrow may still come

I will reach for the hot core that I´ve felt still living
There is more on the inside; maybe even a little to share
And maybe even for the Wanderer there´ll be
A homely fireside before the world is bare

There is more to my soul...

Light flickers like burning birds
On the dark, silky surface
The willows are leaning over the edge
To catch a glimpse of her beauty

Such a relief
To sink into her shadows
Deep as the grief
Left on the bank

The passage to the other side
The light at the end
So longed for
And feared

How magic the moment of revealing
How wondrous the waters of healing
Sweet river dark
River Oblivion