Tristania

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Midwintertears

Shadowcast upon my heart
endark... thy bleak midwintertears
condemned to mourn in silence
The pale moonrise in her eyes
Serene... like a frozen stream
the flowing beauty in thy tears

I crave for thee my once beloved
Beyond... the veils of darkness lost
where now thy roses wrapped in dusk

Dark enchantress
I suffer thy fullmoonnights
Trespass my undesired darkness
Tears... flowing through thy dreams

Dark enchantress
the seventh fullmoon rise
I drown in dusk and dark rivers

Summon all my dreams
like roses on your epigraph
written in my tears
thy sorrow and my bleeding heart

She comes so serene
my fallen beauty crowned with leaves
Take me to thy dream
Thy candle will forever burn in me...

In The Wake

[USA version bonus track]

Never knew quite when it stopped
Nor when it began
Just a chain of happenings
Years floating
Days passing by

Falling in and out of madness
Walking on the edge
Pretending
Faking strength
Hiding behind smiles

Never knew quite when it died
Nor when it was torn

Just a chain of bad ideas
Years floating
Days passing by
You may think time stands still, it does not
It disappears
In the wake

Whatever sense it makes
We never learn from our mistakes
Whatever comfort it might bring
Nothingness embraces everything

Ab Initio

[European version bonus track]

On this day the sky came alive
My lover and I witnessed a miracle
Suddenly you were here
And I felt like nothing could ever be broken
But days fickle away

[Chorus:]
If I could stop time from attacking
If I could slow everything down
A smile with no fear of tomorrow
Your time is yet to come

You laugh and you cry
You wear your against to the flow
You send me a smile
And to the night a dawn
Then it seems like you are falling asleep
But your eyes remain open
Like two evening star

[Chorus]

If I...
If I...
If I...

You could go anywhere

Your tears are numbered
Release me, I've slumbered

I've gone away
I've gone away

Your tears are numbered
Release me, I've slumbered

I've gone away [repeat to fade]

Deadlands

I failed to impress you, and you
Feel free to abuse me
All has been in vain
We're through
So please stop pretending
Years I spent were wasted on you

Words have been spoken
My chains have been broken
This street has an end, I have failed
Never will again

My life was invaded by you
This image of straws that break against the wind
We're through
But the world keeps spinning
Endlessly I have no answers for you

Weight off my shoulders
Unleashed
No more hiding...
Leaving deadlands
Release me

On your own
Bitter and old

Dead and gone
Carved in stone

Year Of The Rat

There's a way just walk the line
Keep your direction
And read the signs
Just play the game or fade away
Make your confessions and book a ride

Now that your sparkling smile is outworn
Now that your famous blue raincoat is torn
Spin me a lie and we'll slip through the haze
Just like Louise we'll get lost in the shades

Change your name and change your face
For your protection and the new day
Believe in me you can be free
Escape the aggression and book that ride

Now you're a rat and you can't sleep at night
Under the spell of the following eye
This is the game there's no getting out
I've seen the end and it looks like a nine
You feel the chill that just crept down your spine
This time, the last surrender
The axe won't be buried, not ever, not sorry
It is too late to worry

Protection

There's a maze
Of nights and days
You don't fear the time
Stars and sky define the road
And they clear our sight
I will be your eyes and ears
Walk with me tonight
Somewhere ahead the gate is open
And the woods alive

Shadows soon rise
I will move on
Leave you behind
Your flame is burning
Kiss me goodbye
It's getting late
I'm still your shield
The world keeps turning

Wounds need time to heal

Hush my child
Now do not weep
Put your hand in mine
I've got promises to keep
I will stand you by
I have given life to you
Find your strength my child
There is a magic world awaiting
Made of light and smiles

Words spoken from the other side
No more pain, no worrying
Walk on my child

Patriot Games

I go where I'm sent
Twisted and bent
These facts I relate to now
I live by the sword, serving my time
Bloodstained and deadly now

Now there are things yet to be done
To shoot the monkey off your back
I'll let you die like this
And kill you one more time
And as my target's blown away
Another's lurking in the shades
I can't believe this shit
I'll kill it one more time

I'm armed but I'm dead
You're broken she said
It's all I recall for now
Hospital bed, faces go by
And eyes closed forever now

Wondering what's fake and what is real
The day still breaks
It's grey and dim outside
Searching for a kick that takes me high
And throws the sparks around the fire

The Passing

Feel, my hands are turning cold
Time will fill this endless void
As the fires light the sky
At safe distance
I see fear

Chasing my deliverance
I cross the burning
Borderline
I close my eyes
But still I dare not sleep tonight

This rhythm I pass on
See the land it's carved upon
See my fate for what it is
In your eyes it's a loss
Or victory

Facing my deliverance
Across the border
Fleeing my
Affliction and
My treason
My sweet misery

Exile

I'm light years away
You can't change me
I'm passive and cold
Just waiting
I've seen the future's threatening sky through dreams at night
I've seen the dogs of war let loose I've seen the blood-red sky

Night
A promise of rain
Divided we stand
A distance I can't take anymore

In the cage in the corner
I'm safe from the beast
Once you wanted me, the image of me
I've played that game a million times and see the signs
I've played that game from A to Z I've lost a million times

Wounds are open again
Divided we fall
I'm bleeding from the dark of my soul

Burning in water
Drowning in fire

Sirens

He couldn't get out of bed in the morning
He thought it was just a drag
So into his hollow mind he was calling, into his hollow mind
March on you fools and keep the line
March on you fools don't fall behind

From the distance through the silence
If you listen you hear sirens

Outside my window they walk in a line
Asking no questions and reading no signs

Where there is smoke there might be fire
No kiss goodnight
From the distance through the silence
If you listen you hear sirens

Outside my window they walk in a line
Asking no questions and reading no signs
They built a wall for me
What will life ever be but blue light from the screen
What will life ever be but fake

Wall of silence
Silent is the night

March on you fools and keep the line
March on you fools don't fall behind

I see the Columbine clouds on the sky
Passing above me they drift through the night
They built this world you see and made me enemies
Beside the dull routines what will life ever be but waste

The Emerald Piper

From the backroom of my head I hear you shout
Through my animated state and sheets of late
I do my best to stay alive but from the backroom
of my head
I hear you shout
Through my animated state

Now the emerald piper plays
Inside the bar in which you stay
It's closing time
A blow to your frail ambitions
You act just like a dumdum boy
A child deprived of all its toys
Notorious
A man with no mission

In the sawdust from the past there is still room
For significant mistakes and muted hate
I hear a signal from the wire but from the backroom
of my head
I hear you shout
Through my animated state

Like a king without a crown
You rode high
Were turned around
Without a crown
Beyond recognition
You need protection from yourself
You have been slipping
Cry for help or let it bleed
In your private prison

Vulture

Birds of prey are soaring higher
Baiting their hooks
The more they fade
Dangling their lines
The grimmer it looks

Transparent creatures
Pollute the blue sky
Slowly falling
Towards the cold ground
Desperation has turned the eagles
Into vultures

We're all betrayed
You preen your ruffled feathers
At the end of the day
You chose to stray
Allured by gold and silver
We will end it our way

Stumbling giants
Crave existence
They'll never make it through
Their desperate swarming
In restless blindness
Turns old words into new

You've had your fill
And emptied every chalice
From the brim to the dregs
Stay ill, you will
You'll plummet from your mountain
You'll descend, you will fail

So you thought you could break my back
Did you think you could make me crack
Try harder
Dig deeper
You're facing a steep hill that cannot be climbed

Amnesia

Were words too vague
Disarmed and desperate
But after all your call
Was inflammable

So you slip into the fire
I am watching it transpire

Wholehearted help
Distressed and desolate
So changed and frail
It's all unmistakable

Words passing through
The unforgivable
Eyes cannot hide the pain
And she still yearns
Let go

Breaking out and breaking down
The last thing I remember
Soak the embers with your fuel
Your fright is your defender

Faking your tomorrow
Life is good for the pretender
Our precious memories
Are shattered and dismembered

We will wear the lies we share
Forfeit future, truth or dare

So you slipped into the fire
I was watching it transpire

Magical Fix

I've been marooned in the mesh of the mind andthe flesh
Misguided by bliss and seduced by the blessed
The more I taste their chaste embrace
I'm dying to leave

I've been bruised by the Beast, kept opponentsappeased
By keeping up the flame, now my soul is released
It's all arranged, my body stays
And I'm in for a ride

When I close my eyes for the last time
Where the circle starts, when the bells chime
Please don't shed a tear for me
I'll be around

Now I'm reversing the curse, I'm disclosing the cure
Keep humming in my hearse and I know it for sure
It's time to cross the great divide
So why access denied

I've been framed by the fume of penultimate doom
In a tomb with a view beneath flowers in bloom
The less I think of how it stinks
The more I'm alive

The cure sublime
Blew many minds to pieces
First distant, moving closer, into universal recess
The war supreme tore souls to shreds
Among the living, dying, dead
With a fiery fix you'll live as before
With a magical fix you'll be begging for more

Illumination

What if you vote to change the world
It is time to let your voice be heard
Make a difference
Watch and you will learn

Don't you trust me
Say, don't you feel the way that I feel
A new direction is what we need
Don't you want justice
God bless the strong and brave and free
The wheels are moving
Be strong and believe

Man the noblest beast of all
Our fate is to lead
Some might say we've been misled
I'm dressed to make change
And Phil is always there
To tell you what went wrong
I'll feed you little pills
And you won't go astray
They'll help you on the way

Don't you hate it
We'll get the snake back under the heel
We'll bring back justice
Go spread the word
God bless this nation
God bless the strong and brave and free
We'll use the power and burst through the streets

The more they mock our way of life
The more the conflict escalates
Now they strike into our faith
We will sure retaliate

Master! Tell us what to do
Our minds are pure
Our hearts are true
Master! Speak to us of war
Will we be victorious

Children kneel with me and pray
You were blind but you will see
You must break the web of lies
And illuminate the sky

Words are wasted
I know you feel the way that I feel
God loves the faithful and hates the beast
We've brought back justice
God bless the strong and brave and free
We'll use the power and burst through the streets

Master! Tell us what to do
Master!

Alt tar slutt
Alt vil bli flammars rov
Love fornying når klokkå slår
Løfte du blikket
Alt som er dødt forgår
Alt som har skjedd vil skje igjen

Caprice

[bonus track]

Branch in the breeze
waving slowly back and forth as if asleep
break piece by piece
or just by sheer caprice decide to let go

How will you spin this one
you'd never stand your stains
now as the island sinks
and you'll still praise the rain
and then you'll cry at dusk when the day is done
you'll exit or expire in the evening sun

Army of lies
now denial of denial's your disguise
cope, grasp your hope
as the rope around your neck pulls tighter