Dark Tranquillity - Skydancer Album Lyrics

---

Nightfall By The Shore Of Time

[lyrics: Sundin]

A shimmer trace of divinity lost
in the beckoning midnight vault
(We are) lulled within the wake
of a cold November's nightfall

Nightfall...

A communion of life and eternity,
of Races scattered in the depths
of the universal dark

Above us minds went sailing free
and blossomed in the vast nocturnal sea

Paragon of beauty,
Oh, spark of Creation;
We march to the rhythm of the Night

Starborn flew the Dove of Man
in the eventide of life,
whose wonders crowned
our yesterdays with light

Fire - Earth - Water - Wind

We lived beneath the waning moon of truth
And danced in hunger for the Powermind
(of Youth)

Like the dark to a dying Flame;
Sweepingly embracing its grieving remains
Defiantly blazing the black that awaits
Counting the days 'til the new Age awaits

Times' lustful cyclones arise,
Piercing the fairest of Skies
In elysian awakening of spiritual glory
we see what our history belies

Meadows of Asphodel
Burning in the hunted dawn
Tragedies die among fiery flames
as the firewood of Wisdom is sawn

Our Guardians were blind
My lightbringer ephemeral

Within the heart of all;
A cold and dusky melancholy night,
as ever sullied the fair face of light

Whose seeds of life they grind
To dust, of vapour is our mind
...evermore

Paragon of beauty,
Oh, spark of Creation;
We march to the rhythm of the Night

Nightfall by the shore of time,
a tidal wave of fire and woe
Swept away with the last of life
the core of the enigma as bestowed

Our crystal spirits melt to flow
the mountainside along
To join as one with seas of old
in symbiotic songs:

"Communion... Within the Oversoul
of the Universe"

We are but fragment of Eternity,
pale shadows of what we'll once be

In life's outer regions I will find
the foremost Tranquility
Chanting the odes of Magonia
A soulstream in flight to the Otherworld

...to the Otherworld

 

---

Crimson Winds

[lyrics: Stanne]

Force of anger, Mordant senseless wrath
Manifold is the Terminus of oneself
Invocate ye lord of the Left-behinds
Preserve a seat for the weakened minds

Reserving that limpid yet so used
Veil of deceiving hostility
Close now is the threshold of insanity

Neverending force of hatred,
fear, them darkened spheres
Deprecated existence, Manifest of darkness be

Manifest for unspeakable actions
Fire sermons to condemn those fallen
Fallen from pride, fallen from the manger
Father, lend to me thy wisdom, Thy wisdom of old

Now all is clear:
"Pierce the side of the neverending blindness
Then thereby be it stated in the name of the forgotten
Father of Light, Father of Darkness
-I will not implore to no master of thine!"

Everflaming

Intemperate malice in the extreme
Forms are twisted, Everfalling
Crescent skies, the wait, The calling
Eyes unseeing, Stars rearrange
Tears of our blood running from the runes

Misgivings fall silent
Excitement stir up the spheres
My sweet Norderland

To reap the fields of ignorance and lies
Trails of omission swept away
Never be found again

Release of agony
So Hebulous, yet ominous is the Terminus
Flames of Hatred burn me
Firesoul - Hear me, Blinded fool
-Take heed to the forgotten twilight
Now kneel to the omniscient twilight

Crimson Winds, Ornaments in the dark
The weep of pain, Drowned by tears
Drowned by tears of Northerly blood
Runes of force,
Fulfillment of a sombre ordeal I know
"Pierce the side of the neverending blindness
Then thereby be it stated in the name of the forgotten
Father of Light, Father of Darkness
-I will not implore to no master of thine!"

Everflaming

Everlasting lust for wisdom and for solitude
Coming of dawn, Knowledge in the image of flesh

Unbridled to the world I wander now
Light cast upon this place of mysteries
Truth hurts for my tongue is venomous

Unbound yet bound for disbelief
Darkness, I grasp your every nerve
Everflaming now and forevermore

 

---

A Bolt Of Blazing Gold

[lyrics: Sundin]

A bolt of blazing gold,
lifted from the horizon's edge
Another radiant dawn sends new hope,
avowed my hearty pledge
My yearning to be part
of nature's truthful solitude
Of wisdom's inner light
that shines in mystic multitude
The guiding source within,
so few of us will ever know
And few will ever climb
the great world-tree from which we've grown
But those who seek will find
the rhythm that vibrates high and far
And rearrange the cosmic threads,
the pattern of the Weave of Stars

A bolt of blazing gold,
a sunfire in zenith hurled
Oh, wingless skydancer,
rejoiced upon the warmth unfurled
What wonders do you hold ensnared
with your mighty heart?
What secrets may be mine
to brother-share as we depart?

Of richest emerald forged,
my soul still rises, longingly
From inferno's winding caverns,
through dark air soaring, restlessly
If silence was enough!
No words can grasp my starkest thoughts
No language known to man
portrays my naked sentiment

A bolt of blazing gold,
swallowed by the waveless sea
The ocean-winds set sail,
in breeze towards their destiny
On solarbeams they rode,
white sea-gull-wings in harmony
For a moment's startling glimpse
a sienna-burnt tranquility

Oh father of the coloured sky,
unwear thy robe of shadowhood
Let nature's soul once clash again
'neath blooming glades of golden wood

We're the ones who seek
to dance to fallen serenades
The magic hymns of gold;
as softly sung, the sunlight fades
...away

Of richest emerald forged,
my soul still rises, longingly
From inferno's winding caverns,
through dark air soaring, restlessly
If silence was enough!
No words can grasp my starkest thoughts
No language known to man
portrays my naked sentiment

A world of silent stone,
as frozen in the nightly sky
In heaven's dark recesses laid,
no living soul draws nigh
For seconds all is still,
no moonlight heaves throughout the dark
Nor do the heavens breathe,
no dryads wreathe within the dark

Within my dark domain...

 

---

In Tears Bereaved

[lyrics: Sundin]

Beautiful, oh web of stars
that looms amid the sons of Earth
Enfolds me in thine sylvan arms
that unity's vehement charms
befalls a weary son of Earth

Beautiful, in tears bereaved
in sylphlike sadness, left to bleed
Bewailed upon a bed of thorns,
impaled, a heart, on sorrow's horns
A seeker's ode to thee I read
My tearful soul thy mourning heed

The stream that leaves thine open wounds;
A life-blood licked by hungry hounds
No verdant balm to soothe our wounds
Wherefore betwixt two worlds I'm torn
Ere thralled by sin I'll die - forlorn

This slumbering world of shallow fools
may one day clasp the cosmic Hell
lest journeymen by Earthen rules
bring forth the truth for which Angels fell

To the earth and sky and sea
I call that thou may answer me;
Father of Nature, of beast and mankind,
my soul for thy love, my tears for thy pain
...An Eden in fire,
what lives shan't remain

For when I live under a different sky,
beneath the ethereal hills the clouds passing by
Remember the time of which I cried to be part
Remember these words, for they have flown
from my heart.

 

---

Skywards

[lyrics: Stanne]

Cast out from a world of selfdeceit
in senseless fear of denial

Forgive the others indifference
and on paths of wisdom trait
In grief thou shalt not wander
With hopefilled heart now walk

Do not fear the slow proceeding
Fear only the stillness of invention

Mocking words and actions a defeat
for intellect and mind

Saveth me for I know not how
to break free from these chains of scorn
Oh I wonder how can I turn the sense of doubt
in the minds of them all

Our needs are depending in images in life
and the more you agree in the far more they ask

I am an outcast but I am free to speak
the words from my heart
And when I know the secrets
in the minds of the weak
I shall return and be grateful
For the lessons learned from the past
Hear me, See me
I am now forever one with myself

I sense the forces that deep within me burn
I smell remains of fear forever gone
I feel now comfort with who I have to be
Now is the time for retributive thoughts

To be content is happiness
Not the overflow of material things
that we seek to make a stand
in this era of greed and self-inflicted
pain in the shape of disappointment

Do not fear the slow proceeding
That's all I ask of thee

What lies ahead you will never know
so come prepared

Oh I wish for thee to see the vast plains
and the field, The open seas, The wailing trees
The treasures of my kingdom
reach the level of understanding now
exploring, Considering the actions of the past

On a journey forever

Still you're in the water struggling
while I clasp the skies
Can you see the lifeblood dripping
from the cheek of everscorn?

Yes I can!

I am an outcast but I am free to speak
the words from my heart
And when I know the secrets
in the minds of the weak
I shall return and be grateful
For the lessons learned from the past
Hear me, See me
I am now forever one with myself

 

---

Through Ebony Archways

[lyrics: Stanne]

There is a silent man in a tower
Mute in a blinded world
Yet words dance on virgin lips
Freezing the winds of blood

Clad in layers of darkest velvet
Drenched in the gloomy light of dawn
...All Black

And in his wait for the grand finale
Standing atop of the stairs
From dawn to dusk his heart's a blaze

Uncovering words from an obsolete state of mind
Sharpen them! Turn them into arrows!
Descend into grief - Without a bow no arrows fly
...Bitter Black

Passing through the ebony archways
Hand in hand with the wisdom of stars
Wisdom dressed in blackest array

There is no man in that tower
Walking the shores in black
Bitter frost now bite the walls of hope
No traces in the sand...

 

---

Shadow Duet

[lyrics: Sundin]

\Voice of the Shadow of Beauty\ - sung by Anders Fridèn
/Voice of the Shadow of Darkness/ - sung by Mikael Stanne

\shadows play
in my wilderness' mindscape
they seek\
/one spiteful and wicked
one humble and meek/

\a windswept pale landscape
of edified thought\
/two frictional forces
a triad have brought/

\woven\
/a soft breeze whispers slowly/
\within me\
/in the valley of my mind/
\the aerial mists sink falling\
/and its breath both foul and holy
is like the deer to a dying hind/
\slowly traversing the atmosphere
calling\

/wordless, yet in soul so true/
\nameless, yet it lives in you\
/shapeless like the purity of pain/
\lawful when all fear is slain\

-one shadow of beauty caressing the flowers
the paleness of winter reflects in her eyes-

\deity of stardom\
/enticer of stardoom/
\so soft and so silent\
/maternal - eternal/
\serenity fades\
/blinded by visions of sunlight nocturnal/
\with the darkening of skies\

/one shadow of darkness
a shade of deep hate
a wanderer's spectre with fury ablaze
in sheets of sharp silver
laid youthful to die
reborn into vengeance
dark flames dance in grace

dark flames dance in grace
in the grace of storms/

\one shadow of beauty\
/one shadow of darkness/
\sailing free on the sea within my mind\

\surging dark oceans
perpetual waters
creator of life
and reclaimer of souls\
/mother ocean/
\watching the deep fjords uneasily moving\
/whipping the white waves towards the cold air/
\rising like swans in a scarred, sudden motion\
/a cascade of lost feathers
adrift on the sea/

\hark\
/a serenade in the tongue of the wind/

\the sighs of the centuries, so sonorous in the bower
hovering further athwart a leafy cover\
/a shelter for those whose time's wind make them wither
and therefore they choose to guide this time-wind hither

alas, in tune with the tide of time
i was, but I'm not
nor I'll be with its pride

yes, aeons have flown
but more is to come
for I know time/
\but time is not eternal, their life stars not immortal\
/a friend that I greet with open arms/
\setting souls can never\
/a brother soul of deadly harm/
\pass through the pearly portal\
\no bliss be given\
/and joy/
\nor joy\

/flowing down the gates of hell
fire/
\i cry for you...\
/don't spill your tears for me
but for your kit and kin/
\my scions of light?\
/deprived of the lust and the treasure of pleasure
which is the fuel for life
and glory/

\silent your dark desires within entirety's light\

-solitude
sanctity
sanctuary
sanctum, sanctum,
sanctum (tranquility)

\hear me
/you who hold the fate of stars in hand
before creation's eye I stand
my soul set free/
in summerland\

\mighty the strand of the universe\
/a chaos void tomb of dead worlds/
\hark\
/what?/
\divinity flows in your heart
cast it alight, the seed of all art
slowly reborn from a sunless state of mind\
/silent, you fool/
\a cradle of roses
embedded in stillness and shade\

/silent, you fool
thine words are untrue
remember Endymion's crestfallen tears
serene art the gods, yet pain is their way
he touched by the heavens
his hellfire nears

a silent divinity, now see your body of air/
\free now your heavenly body of air\

\come bathe in the rays of the all-seeing one
holding the fate of all life in both hands
breathing life-force
like gold made from sand\

/my winged steed of moonlight
black stallion of thunder
we rode above the greenish earth
and tore the green asunder/
\but what you left bleeding
destroyed a soulforsaken world
and your deeds of sharp silver
decoyed a mindforsaken herd\

\a duet of shadows\
a duet of shadows
\a duet of thoughts\
a duet of thoughts
\of beings we feed
with the dust of our thoughts
residing within us
the two-fold wheel of life
of insight created: a triad of jewels\

a thin leaf of the life-tree's truth

 

---

My Faeryland Forgotten

[lyrics: Sundin]

Labyrinth of time...
Mine alone for now and ever more
(I'm all alone...)

...and I flew
above sepulchral monoliths,
nebulously dancing beneath the dew
(Of morning, in ye twilight land of old)
Abiding teardrops borne by thorns,
thine fragments I twine true
(In mourning, stream adorned in rage untold)

...flow adorned in rage untold
Eternal - forever - more
And they'll forever grow
and hold in heart what springs anew

From the shadows glades unwitnessed
which light the flames
from deep within where we all grew
...Everlasting ember-glow

Labyrinth of Time,
in harmony confined

Thus the dark heat from
beyond the stars
engulfed a world of fear still robed in ice
A throne in fire dies...
Pulsating through the skies

He who wore the gown
shall drown the "Reich of tears" in cries
Enthroned in fire dies...
A kingdom's last demise

And I know...
The ardent hearth midst life and death
won't end my journey morrowless
(I won't laugh in mirth all sorrowless)

Come, fly afloat on a wave of emotions,
of crestfallen scorn
Oh, this my whirlwind of darkness
a tide I once lulled but alas now withdrawn

Now...hand in hand with sorrow
towards the still, perpetual seas
Into the tranquil depths of solitude
in bliss my spirit flees

Through the wind I will go
To my twilight land, alone
Where sanctuary is mine
Within my throne world, my labyrinth of time

And he who is the God
of an infinite shape and faces,
ever weaving fates of life
upon the pattern of his traces
In the Golden Dawn of Winter
he'll stand risen from the night
in serenity all solemn,
clad in moonlight's milky white

Through the wind I will go
To my twilight land, alone
Where sanctuary is mine
Within the hands of this labyrinth of time

Labyrinth of time...
Eternal - forever - more
Time...infinity of mind
Divinity of life

Labyrinth of time
In harmony confined

Burn - upon my
Might - by my
Command - into the fire

Your throne of fire fell...
Bestowed upon your Hell

Burnt shall be your
"Might", and your
command shan't drown my fire
(...My Faeryland Forgotten)

...Mine alone for now and ever more

 

---

Alone

[lyrics: Sundin]

"Let me die", I cried as the curtain fell
and I stared in woe at the world before me
My weeping eyes could not bear to tell
or the shattered kingdom in ruins before me

What became of the lands that were?
A pearl in the nest of memories
Forever gone...departed by the minds of man

Scavengers, feeding on your mother's blood
Parasites of life, with my heart I condemn
your ignorant ways

Like the leaves of the high trees
I wither and fall,
Borne by autumnal winds
to my funeral hall

I'm all alone in the grip of the silent sadness

I have been told to honour life
and what therein I'll find
but if all I see is darkness,
let me die and wake up blind
As the gleaming blade before me,
singing lullabies of loss
Whispering "Death is your redeemer
to the Paradise you've lost"

Mankind, evoker of inferno
Let me burn your honoured Crown of Creation
and dethrone you to ashes for aeons to come

Why should I stay here where I do not belong?
Of weakness burns my within...And empty shell

I've lost the way to the sanctity I need

I'll greet the dawn that brings no life,
no frail beams of sun to cleanse the black night
My mournful roam has ended

I hide in the shadows white binding my time,
sheltered from this world which disorderly rhyme
with the fury of damnation

Once I held in my hand the starlight of Eden
and the white sky lay open in a soul that was free
(But the years flew so fast as the shadows were cast
and I woke up one morning with no reason to be)

I'm all alone in the shade of the nameless
Sorrow
I'm all alone within a shadow fire of fear

Take me home to whence I came
Where I'll find light to feed my flame of life

Or my heart will die without a whisper of hope...