right through the middle: fire's a wound / the sacred lance enshrined in admire / i'm always cured, with my red flood and its grace / carried to a warlike heaven / i have the will, to me you're a valkyrie / yes, to me you're a valkyrie / the most beloved / straight line forms a gateway / i'm drawing down the greatest force / a character doesn't change, my darling already had her wings / "half of me is wicked and worthless, but in the other half the value lieth"
brunhild and the dreamless: the useless grievance has found its place from an evening song / the strings are divine / the play sounds unreal around a funeral pyre / scarlet, flecked gold / the source is still there / but i'm afraid to go outside / brunhild / it's their fault i'm growing hollow / catch the spheres in motion, the thousand young calling / "wrapped in a tension that's wrong kind, for the tears of our lost one a wreath of faded flowers" / i know you'd strike me down at once / the worst is shown here, everything i wanted / tragedies to come closer / the spirit and a circle
amfortas, the fourth november: writhen lines are beautiful, the faithless in their hour / my blood to fill a twofold sigil / numb instincts led the way / here's the chair i'm used to sit on / strangled in despise, i'll write "i'd better crush the blackness, crawl towards the flow" / with the same last warming tongues / there came an ending to yesterday and the grail is uncovered / it's twilight, it's twilight / a request for the saviour / i face the floor, through november's loneliness
trauermarsch / purple, the horizon's celestial: and if you don't understand this, you have probably lost your mind / venetian blinds cut the sight / i don't have much to mimic / i can take all the losses / there's a holy wine / i grabbed his hand firmly and then swayed mine / more honesty, the overflowing chagrin offered from a silver plate / the cajoler's view is sullen / the end is vested while i'm wearing his suit / there's no feeling anywhere else / the pieces cry / i put a paper in the sepulcher / it's like a painting / "come closer me to my arms" is what i've written (summer, 1995) / älä sie ihmislapsi hättäile, kyllä se siitä
(The cover photo of the record called "Pathvvays (418) & The Flowery March", composed and performed by a nameless band. Released in 2000, it was recorded in 1999. It is neither a demo nor a promo. God knows what it really is, but here are the lyrics and "the story that was not sung". The music is quite loud and still out there burning. It has been compared in good and in bad to Pink Floyd, Bathory, Arcturus and Ved Buens Ende - not by the band members themselves!)
I RIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE
OVERTURE (ALKUSOITTO)
Fire's a wound
The Sacred Lance enshrined in admire
I'm always cured, with my red flood
And its grace
Carried to a warlike heaven
I have the will, to me you're a valkyrie
Yes, to me you're a valkyrie
The most beloved
Straight line forms a gateway
I'm drawing down the greatest force
A character doesn't change,
My darling already had her wings
"Half of me is wicked and worthless,
But in the other half the value lieth"
"nû hœre dise âventiure
der getriuwe und der gehiure:"
("Now let honest decent people hear this tale!")
-Wolfram von Eschenbach / Parzival
II TEARS OF THE LOST ONE
A PIECE OF PAPER ("For the one my window...")
For the one my window hides in its view
Write "to remind of a miserable life"
To enlighten me, if my love's real
Or that faith
What's more bitter than the late spring
A shower from the skies and a touch
Yes, time will tell
And when I leave this world
I don't need an inscription
Heavens cry
and will bring forth a stream
Or a river as my veins in that song
To cry again and again
Trying to wash away the pain
Praying on one's knees
Before
Bring salvation for every soul
The air was freezing
And the trees surrounded us
And we stood on the leaves
In an old house
With an empty bookshelf
I could feel its grace,
I could feel its grace
Of course you broke my heart
The way I had written
In my bloody poem
(In early summer, 1995)
Chorus:
I cry again and again
Trying to wash away the pain
On my knees I pray....
(Armchair and a chalice. The quotations on the photo were taken from Aleister Crowley's Book of The Law. This little thing called Pathvvays, and I am speaking of[f] the record, shows many kinds of paths to walk. I was actually quite shocked many years ago, when I realized how much there was hidden in it. With crossroads and the ways differing, please don't try this at home. Father said, you'll be sorry, son.)
A PIECE OF PAPER ("For the blood of the blood...")
For the blood of the blood of Graal
You write and speak like I did
'Cause I don't know
If I can think of anything to say
About a lesson or a teaching
Of any kind
Hoped that with this
Four hundred and eighteen
There'd be a well for me
And for some of you
It's too precious a water
Though just a glimpse,
Though just a glimpse
And the bride's mouth tasted
Like the word it's called by,
But I've always been an oppressive kind of guy
So maybe I lost all youth and tender loving
Afterwards when I gave in wholly
For that other thing and went my way
And I was there
Burying the father of my father
And his face looked like a grey painting
When I put a short note into his coffin
And the picture of him
Trapped in a hospital bed,
Unable to speak or write,
Is there in the last of the songs
Chorus:
I cry again and again
Trying to wash away the pain
On my knees I pray....
III CIRCLE / STRINGS
BRUNHILD AND THE DREAMLESS
(Arthur Rackham's Brunhilde. I was sixteen when I began to read these mythologies, and it was love at first sight.)
The useless grievance has found its place
From an evening song, the strings are divine
The play sounds unreal
Around a funeral pyre
Scarlet, flecked gold
The source is still there
But I'm afraid to go outside
Brunhild
It's their fault I'm growing hollow
Catch the spheres in motion,
The thousand young calling
"Wrapped in a tension that's wrong kind,
For the tears of our lost one
A wreath of faded flowers"
I know you'd strike me down at once
The worst is shown here,
Everything I wanted
Tragedies to come closer
The spirit and a circle
"ich enruoche um die ungetriuwen."
("I am not concerned with the dishonest...")
-Wolfram von Eschenbach / Parzival
A PIECE OF PAPER ("Brunhild in a love story...")
Brunhild in a love story
You romanticized the depths of this one
Draw down the silver chariot from the sky
And here's enough of the depressive season
Who named the crown that fell,
Who named the crown that fell
For the sceneries filled with idols
"I don't like the way you look at me"
It's still written there
Hell, the space is no more
The candles are now ablaze
But wait for a while
What do you think,
Were we supposed to make it this time
Yes, blacken little hearts
But I'll hold on to her gifts
The arrow and the lance
After all it was more than a half-truth
When you said you still believe
In what's feeling right
(The wooden boardgame was designed by Antti Filppu, and made by Veijo Pekkola, in 1999. I wanted to have the romance of chivalry and the style of chess in it. The game was left unfinished in December 2006, and it has been called The Temple of The Grail ever since. The lines were drawn to form triangles and a circle was added in their midst. There are also 21 letters or numbers and 0 on the sides. This is an old photo, from the times when it was still in the making.)
A PIECE OF PAPER ("The rise of...")
The rise of an extinguished art
Love changed shape
And higher, higher dreams have come to us
In the words of a dead knight
I'm not present
For molten candles and the full moon
Breathless
The burden was taken away
A moment ago the flames reminded me of something
A PIECE OF PAPER ("The world tries to stop me...")
The world tries to stop me
And here's enough for many a nightly breath
I'll get rid of these worthless pieces of paper,
Destroy the memoried self
My ears are killing me
Mordant wrath too is a fine shelter
To set the letters aright
Full insanity for that earth
And damn that misanthropy
Psyche and the jealous girls
Don't be afraid of the mirror,
I never stopped laughing
And I know you're frustrated
But how beautiful she is
And even more when she's in love
"We're blind upstairs to find the path"
Not a sound for her
(The cover of Cold Waste's demotape "Amor Fati", from 1997. The music style is melodic death metal with some rock and roll, romanticism and a little bit of magic, too. There are quotes from various authors written on the photo of that old barn, where we had a rehearsal place during the summers. Many themes from those days have been used again here.)
A PIECE OF PAPER ("To live through a mist...")
To live through a mist [...]
Watch the falling snow
In the red light of sunset
The garden of Proserpina's left behind
For dying hearts dreamless in cold
Trying to spell the mourning right
White clothes and a betrothal that's unique
Cleansed from the quarrels of the men
Angelic speech, angelic speech
What's now left inside
We're helpless under a silent rain of November
That tale's a twisted snowy ringlet, it is
And I always knew she would be my fate
The curtain of flames was
Easily passed through
Though I feared a lot
For my eyes, and even in Psyche's arms
They're all in a magic sleep
And still together a part time of the year
For every glittering realm
And they knew I would write someday
"The loss of strenght didn't have my head"
(Note the letters of the word: it is not "strength")
And "welcome to a dramatic play,
Bleed in these arms until
Though I feared a lot
For my eyes, and even in Psyche's arms
They're all in a magic sleep
And still together a part time of the year
For every glittering realm
And they knew I would write someday
"The loss of strenght didn't have my head"
(Note the letters of the word: it is not "strength")
And "welcome to a dramatic play,
Bleed in these arms until
The chains are broken"
My dear, who turned
My dear, who turned
The amplifier to full volume
And sang about grave silence
And sang about grave silence
(For all the honorable poetasters in this world, all the writers in pain and somnolence. Among the Leitmotives, a picture from the austere surroundings of my old room. "Tried to open up my mind and my heart, lock it away and seal it off for good", as the song goes.)
V A NUMBER FOR THE POET
AMFORTAS, THE FOURTH NOVEMBER
"mit dürkelen triuwen hânt
si alle ir sælekeit verlorn:"
("...who with threadbare
Penitence have forfeited paradise...")
-Wolfram von Eschenbach / Parzival
Writhen lines are beautiful,
The faithless in their hour
My blood to fill a twofold sigil
Numb instincts led the way
Here's the chair I'm used to sit on
Strangled in despise, I'll write
"I'd better crush the blackness,
Crawl towards the flow"
With the same last warming tongues
There came an ending to yesterday
And the Grail is uncovered
It's twilight, it's twilight
A request for the Saviour
I face the floor, through November's loneliness
VI INTERLUDE
The Lost Choir:
"There's a pure heart
In the hall of the chalice,
Stronger magic in search;
The dreams and the remembrance
Of our dead knight"
VII TRAUERMARSCH
PURPLE, THE HORIZON'S CELESTIAL
"dez muoz ir sêle liden zorn."
("...so that their souls are
-Wolfram von Eschenbach / Parzival
Writhen lines are beautiful,
The faithless in their hour
My blood to fill a twofold sigil
Numb instincts led the way
Here's the chair I'm used to sit on
Strangled in despise, I'll write
"I'd better crush the blackness,
Crawl towards the flow"
With the same last warming tongues
There came an ending to yesterday
And the Grail is uncovered
It's twilight, it's twilight
A request for the Saviour
I face the floor, through November's loneliness
VI INTERLUDE
The Lost Choir:
"There's a pure heart
In the hall of the chalice,
Stronger magic in search;
The dreams and the remembrance
Of our dead knight"
VII TRAUERMARSCH
PURPLE, THE HORIZON'S CELESTIAL
"dez muoz ir sêle liden zorn."
("...so that their souls are
Doomed to suffer wrath.")
-Wolfram von Eschenbach / Parzival
(Just another series of dead end notes in 1998. Photos and writings by Antti Filppu, layout by Matti Rautaniemi.)
And if you don't understand this,
You have probably lost your mind
Venetian blinds cut the sight
I don't have much to mimic
I can take all the losses
There's a holy wine
I grabbed his hand firmly
And then swayed mine
More honesty
The overflowing chagrin
Offered from a silver plate
The cajoler's view is sullen
The end is vested while I'm wearing his suit
There's no feeling anywhere else
The pieces cry
I put a paper in the sepulcher
It's like a painting
"Come closer me to my arms"
Is what I've written (in summer, 1995)
Älä sie ihmislapsi hättäile, kyllä se siitä
("Don't you worry, human child, it'll be alright")
-Wolfram von Eschenbach / Parzival
(Just another series of dead end notes in 1998. Photos and writings by Antti Filppu, layout by Matti Rautaniemi.)
And if you don't understand this,
You have probably lost your mind
Venetian blinds cut the sight
I don't have much to mimic
I can take all the losses
There's a holy wine
I grabbed his hand firmly
And then swayed mine
More honesty
The overflowing chagrin
Offered from a silver plate
The cajoler's view is sullen
The end is vested while I'm wearing his suit
There's no feeling anywhere else
The pieces cry
I put a paper in the sepulcher
It's like a painting
"Come closer me to my arms"
Is what I've written (in summer, 1995)
Älä sie ihmislapsi hättäile, kyllä se siitä
("Don't you worry, human child, it'll be alright")
Pathways & The Flowery March was written between 1997 and 2000. For most part it was based on lyrics and poems from 1995-1997 era. All the mythological names were taken from those texts, and some were used as "living memories". It is to be noted that Pathways & The Flowery March is the oldest part of Lyrics, and therefore yet another view or angle is added to the storylines.