1. Skeleton Dance

Valiant heroes of our time or the legion of the damned?
Saviors of all humanity or profaners of the Lamb?

Selling their lives for a dime they know what they are –
A subject to sacrifice

Nations cry no but the're all set to go
Obsession for power dictates the rules

When will the gale arise?
When will the madness be unleashed?
When will the united fools begin to practice what they preach?
Caught in the calm before the storm
We don't stand a chance
This crusade/charade will turn into another skeleton dance

I can imagine the day it begins
Lead us into war!
But won't it be like a spreading disease?
So out of control!

Pyres will shine, before long realized that this –
The third one – will be the last
Playing with fire doom in their hands
Marching into the holy, oily land

What goes on in their minds?
Fear or eagerness to die for the cause of the
Noble, the righteous, the brave?
For the cash or for the conviction?
Death is the only prediction
Somewhere out there the desert awaits...

And so the gale arose
The madness was finally unleashed
The united fools began to practice what they preached
Caught in the hands of storm
There never was a chance to avoid these dreadful visions
Of the skeleton dance

2. Prince Of Heavy Metal

Let the dreams of ones youth never be disparaged,
That passion that pure integrity
And never underrated the volition to make them redeeemed

For the greatest deeds are built upon those very dreams
Achievements that echo in time...
And indeed, this is how immortality can be obtained

So let me tell you now about a boy
A boy with just a dream of dancing spotlights
A stage, a scream of the crowd
And the sound of the music roaring loud...euphoria

Deep inside he feels a growing beast
Knows, the day will come it is unleashed
After twilight when it's dark he always picks up his guitar
Pours his stifled rage and sorrows out into the stars

Time will pass and make
The dream come true...it will happen
You've got what it takes, you know what to do
The future's awaiting, it's golden for you

Child there is a fire in your soul and fire loves to burn
So make it burn you higher
Go and seize what is waiting for you
The power fills your heart
You are the prince of heavy metal!

3. A 1000 Lifetimes

A storm's raging behind the window, I see
Stronger the turmoil inside of me
Who is the one to blame?
The shamefaced little me
Just let me writhe in my sweet self-pity

So all those letters that I wrote to you
Never got the message through...
Still I am saying:

Grab the key to happiness
Open the door and see what could be waiting for you and for me
It's time, the least we can do is try
I've been waiting all my life
But for you I'd wait a 1000 lifetimes

And I keep thinking about the summer
All that was said and done, all that was not
Maybe unwise of me to cling to such memories
But they're the only thing I've got
To remind me of the way that I love you
Let there be a place where broken dreams come true

Now I'm begging:

Grab the key to happiness
Open the door and see what could be waiting for you and for me
It's time, the least we can do is try
I've been waiting all my life
But for you I'd wait a 1000 lifetimes

4. Withered Heart

I remember watching her when she was eight or nine
And the colours of the rainbow sparkled in her eyes
But the toll of time grew burdensome for her
Brooding all that pain in silence

Seldom in joy, more often in sorrow – living in incessant fear of tomorrow

Now she is 16 and her flame is burning low
Years have done their job too fast, already set to go
Once filled with breath of life, now smothering
Once prepared to face all challenges but now given in

And the moment's drawing near...she will not stay...
She won't stay because this little withered heart of hers can't bear the light of day

And with the last rays of the setting sun
The sky burns in shades of scarlet
On the endless shore she's waving goodbye
Until she steps into the boat, sets sail into the night
Draws away beyond the reach of time

I refuse to let her go!
Keep resuscitating though there's very little hope
"it is time to let go now, she's too far from the shore
In this world she withered fast but there are many more..."

And with the last rays of the setting sun
The sky burns in shades of scarlet
On the endless shore she's waving goodbye
Until she steps into the boat, sets sail into the night
Draws away beyond the reach of time

And with the last rays of the setting sun
The smile has frozen on her face
Oh, how death becomes her
And the burning red up in the sky is fading now to shine again
When another little heart withers in time

5. The Fugitive

At dusk I wake up from my sleep
It's time to run again
– flashbacks from my early days –
I escaped and once again I am a fugitive
– violence in so many wasy –
But this time they won't take me back alive

If only I could run away from my kind
To be a solitary rider in the sky
Down in this wilted garden I'm just a weed
But my roots go deep

I was born to be the black sheep of my family
To be wretched, to be vile
Misunderstood I am, but there's no time nor chance to make things right
As a renegade I'll live
As a renegade I'll die

Why did I become what I am
A wanted and a dreaded man
Forced to evade the arm of love

A gambler too, so cast the dice
My life is always jeopardized
It's hanging on the edge of a knife

If only I could run away from my kind
To be a solitary rider in the sky
Down in this wilted garden I'm just a weed
But my roots go deep

If only I could reach the edge of the sky
Unveil the truth that is for us to find
Still in this wilted garden I'm just a weed
Dreams prepare you for reality
Dreams mislead you from reality
Dreams deceive you as reality

6. Ocean Girl

I met her on that foggy shore
She must've drifted off her course
Without a care I realized
I had drowned into her eyes

And there I made the greatest of mistakes
I gave my heart away
In a gullible and selfish way I presumed that she would stay
But the call of the ocean was too strong for her
My little ocean girl

Don't know if she really wanted to stay
At least she told me so
But the call of the ocean forced her to go
And as I watched her sail away
I felt my inside burned
That fading promise in my ears:
One day she might return

Now every night I'm walking back to that same foggy shore
To see her boat in the horizon, to hear her call

But every night – like this – in vain, kills me again
All alone on this misty shore
Caressed only by the wind
Because I know that in this world for me there is nobody but her
My little ocean girl

Just believe when you can't believe anymore

7. Homewardbound

The dust of the road smarts my eyes but the view remains clear
Not long ago I realized I was filled with fear

The choices I've made have seldom been wise
But I'm convinced that this one will be
So open your door for this traveling man
It's my utmost plea

Gaze out of the window
Soon you will se a drifter whose journey is over
Once so aspiring, once so profound
But loser in the end now homewardbound

Pleaese don't call me a prodigal son
Don't make me lose my face
The lesson's been learnt
The class is dismissed
I'm not a man of power and place

But why should I hide my past
And try to be something that I'm not
I will stand up for what I've done
And be proud of what I've got

Gaze out of the window
Soon you will se a drifter whose journey is over
Once so aspiring, once so profound
But loser in the end now homewardbound

Better to be hated for who you are
Than to be loved for who you are not
Better to be scorned for what you've done
Than to be thanked for what you've not

8. Inside Four Walls

I'm still here, don't worry
My wings are torn, I can't flee
Discouraged, so jaded
Won't you let me go!

This cannot last forever
I will fly like the falcons
In chains you'll meet with sorrow in turn
Because deep in my heart
I still do believe in justice and hope
Though I'm imprisoned

Inside four walls I agonize but none can hear me scream
Inside four walls, and I swear these walls are closing in

Into the sweet slumber, my dreamy worlds I wander
New places, no traces of this tyranny...no!

Inside four walls I agonize but none can hear me scream
Inside four walls, and I swear these walls are closing in

Many things I've failed on purpose, some I've tried to do right
I suppose I'm paying now for all the mischiefs of my life
And once again, into the dreamspace of mine I thus descend
But this wrath, it haunts me as ever...
Until the end!

I will fly like the falcons...yes!
Fly into the vortex

Inside four walls
Locked like an animal in a cage
But these walls are about to crumble
Let it dawn, the transitional stage!

9. Transition Stage

(инструментал)

10. Into The Vortex

My wings no longer broken
They are ready to take me high
Like a shining icarus of these withered times
Now I can see, there it forms, awaiting for me
Sets me free

Vortex...
Into the fire in the sky
So tired of holding on...to vanity
Life can be so devqastating and
Filled with cruelty, malice and hatred

My tasks have been completed
I'm now an empty shell
Nothing but a tinkling cymbal, a crippled bell
But this voice so low thus amplified
Grows into a roar...as I go

Vortex...
Into the fire in the sky, into the void
So tired of wasting love...
Life can get so complicated
And be too much for you

Too many times I was depressed
Too many slashes in my chest
But now it's over and I go
Where I'm the only mortal soul

Vortex...
Into the fire in the sky
For the first and the last time
I'm ascending, I'm transcending
Know this journey's neverending
Watching down and laughing you goodbye!