What if it’s not
If it’s not meant to be
What if someone
Has made a mistake

What we’ve become
There’s no turning back
Maybe it’s time
To say that out loud

Question marks are falling down
Crushing underneath our memories
As we stand and look around
The world that remained

On the walls we paint our dreams
Hiding in the fallout shelters
While the Gardens of Eden
Are burning above

What if it’s not
If it’s not meant to be
What if someone
Has made a mistake

What we’ve become
There’s no turning back
Maybe it’s time
To say that out loud

Part I. Where Are We Now?

I’m your lie
I am your pretending
I’m the cause
of your shame and anger

I’m your crime
Swept under the carpet
Your vanity
With all consequences

Living a distorted day
Distorted life
In an uncertain place without the sun
Where are we now?

Living in a fallen land
With fallen minds
In an uncertain place without the sun
Where are we now?
What have we done?

I’m your sloth
I am your aversion
Intolerance
I’m your private wasteland

Living a distorted day
Distorted life
In an uncertain place without the sun
Where are we now?

Living in a fallen land
With fallen minds
In an uncertain place without the sun
Where are we now?

Living a distorted day
Distorted life
In an uncertain place without the sun

Where are we now?
What have we done?
Where are we now?
Who have we become?

Part II. Dancing Ghosts

We’ve been waiting for brighter days
How could we’ve known we were happy?

Dancing ghosts
Singing ghosts

Where are we now?

Dancing ghosts
Singing ghosts

Shake me down
I’ll make a noise
Tap my hand
I’ll make you smile
Give me hope
Then take away

Like you did the last time
Like the last time
Like the last time

Tell me who I have to be
Cross my head, lips and heart
Make me get down on my knees

Like you did the last time
Like the last time
Like the last time

Wading through the desert
I am wading through the desert
To the promised land
You burned to the ground

Wading through the desert
I am wading through the desert
To the promised land
You burned to the ground

Take me to the highest hill
Show the fireworks display
Tell me it’s for my own good

Like you did the last time
Like the last time
Like the last time

Turn poetry into prose
Then launch a crusade
Make another vale of tears

Like you did the last time
Like the last time
Like the last time

Wading through the desert
I am wading through the desert
To the promised land
You burned to the ground

Wading through the desert
I am wading through the desert
To the promised land
You burned to the ground

Listen now
The wind is dying down
I can no longer hear
their wailing
and their cries

The shooting stopped a while ago
Not sure who has survived
They used to be friends
And now they simply wiped each other out

The others took their place
Got a second chance
To get through the night

Tell me now
What’s right
What is wrong
Where’s the line between fear
And total callousness

My heart’s beating too fast
I’m trying to catch
Echoes of morality
Maybe there’s a chance to expiate my sins
Turn around
And start again

There’s nowhere to escape
But I have the key
I know the road

So I will take you there
Look after you
And save us both

Where have you wandered,
My only child
Why are you not coming back?
Your mother is crying her eyes out
And I
In my dreams
Hear your voice

„Father, will you take me away
Father will you take and save me from my fate”

„Father, will you take me away
Father will you take and save me from my fate”

Wanted to go
Look for you
A hundred times
But I couldn’t leave her alone

The end of the world
Ruined our home
Yet didn’t destroy our hope

Acid Rain is pouring down
On the caravans of shadows
Once they used to be humans
Dying of too much choice

Devoid of trust and empathy
Alone
They were passing each other
Now, together,
With raised hands
In tears
They call out at the sky

„Father, will you take me away
Father will you take and save me from my fate”

„Father, will you take me away
Father will you take and save me from my fate”

Part I. Dystopia

Part II. Battle Royale

I.

I’d like to tell you
What I dream about
I’d like to say
How much I miss you
But

I say sorry
So come, my darling
Come to me
I’m sorry
I’m dying on the tree

I’d like to tell you
That it’s not too late
I’d like to say
That I won with myself

But I say sorry
So come, my darling
Come to me
Sorry,
I’m dying on the tree
With the world beneath my feet

II.

So you found me after all
Pile the rocks
The two nailed boards

Linger beside me
You’re all I have left
Tell me the story of your life

There’s so much that
I have got to find out
Until the next darkness arrives

I do not have too many requirements
Only one wish
Before you go
And before I crumble back into the dust

Take me to the river down below
Take me to the river down below
Stay
Sit down
And get some rest
Since you came across my place

Linger beside me
You’re all I have left
Tell me the story of your life

There’s so much that
I have got to find out
Until the next darkness arrives

I do not have too many requirements
Only one wish
Before you go
And before I crumble back into the dust

Take me to the river down below
Take me to the river down below

And before I crumble back into the dust...
And before I crumble back into the dust...

Wait in silence
Until the stars go dark
My companion
With your cracked, withered heart

That day is coming
I know that you’re calling on me
That day is coming
I know that you’re calling on me
I don’t want you to make me wait too long
It’s time to get on the road

Half dead colours
Residues of my soul
Caught by the wind
Hunting
Thirsty for love

That day is coming
I know that you’re calling on me
That day is coming
I know that you’re calling on me
I don’t want you to make me wait too long
It’s time to get on the road

Close your eyes
Don’t be afraid
I’m with you
This place is safe
We found a camp
We have supplies
They will let us stay the night

Close your eyes
I’ll tuck you in
Mum will sing to make you sleep
Don’t mind the noise
There’re just the bombs
A part of music for this song

When the night begins to fall
You and I
In a safety zone
The former world shall not return
But we’ll survive intact
Again

I dropped down again
From a star
On a desert island
Full of skies

And I saw a boy
Looking up
Dreaming of his future
From my past

Soon I drew an ocean
Tamed the sun
And I plunged my feet
Into the sand

Bit by bit I came
To understand
How I miss this freedom
And the swoosh of waves

Come
Follow me
We’ll go down where the river flows
One day
Just you and I
We’ll find the bridge to the neverland

I was frightened of
A thousand hats
Bouncing off the answers
Losing pride

Had a fear of failure
And true love
But I don’t regret that
I am what I lost

Come
Follow me
We’ll go down where the river flows
One day
Just you and I
We’ll find the bridge to the neverland

Hey you,
Somewhere in the mirror
What happened today with your face
Your eyes
Sank in their hollows
And the ocean of your disgrace

It’s no shame
You haven’t done what you were supposed to
And did what you didn’t want to
1-UP!
The amount of self-deception
Slowly starts killing you
Inside

You’re faced
With a new decision
Between the dawn and the day
Melting
Between the life you got used to
And something you don’t understand

I know
It demands an effort
And the pills to get rid of this pain
Not a chance
I’m sorry, Birdy
I’m your favourite voice inside your head

Hey you,
Rise and shine!
You must learn to stand your ground
How long can you hold your breath under the pillow?

Your filter bubble
On the touchscreen display
Has recommended to you
What you should want

While you’ve been watching too much daytime TV
Dreaming on demand
Your ”from tomorrow” just became ”yesterday”
Made you crawl again
Under the bed covers

Hey you,
Rise and shine!
You must learn to stand your ground
How long can you hold your breath under the pillow?
How long can you hold your breath under the pillow?
How long can you hold your breath under the pillow?

I feel I have to share
What I do
Or where I am
There’s an urge within
I can’t ignore

Hashtag me and go
I’m addicted to your love
I’m addicted to my aimless drive

There’s a mask upon my face
I can’t live without
So you won’t recognize me
When I am in the crowd
I lost my calmness in the world
Where everything is searchable

Dreaming inside out
Feeling inside out

I don’t have my place
I’m in here and everywhere
Just another day in hd frame

So hashtag me and go
Cause I’m addicted to your love
I’m afraid
You’re the only friend I’ve got

There’s a mask upon my face
I can’t live without
So you won’t recognize me
When I am in the crowd
I lost my calmness in the world
Where everything is searchable

Dreaming inside out
Feeling inside out
Dreaming inside out
Feeling inside out

Hashtag me and go
Cause I’m addicted to your love

I lost my calmness in the world
Where everything is searchable

Dreaming inside out
Feeling inside out
Dreaming inside out
Feeling inside out

I want to fly
I want to feel my life
Still belongs to me
No matter what
I want to fly
I want to flap my wings
And cause a hurricane in your heart

Butterflies
Better lies than hate
But I can’t pretend anymore
I’m tired of suppressing all of my needs
I want to belong to the cloudless sky
Not to the shaded ground

But it’s so hard to admit
That I lived without your light
Trying not to believe that I need it more
Now the bleeding won’t stop
For I struggled through the barbed wire
Trying not to believe that I need your love
Trying not to believe in love

I wanted to turn into a butterfly But I couldn’t trust you enough

I was tired of suppressing all of my needs I wanted to belong to the cloudless sky Not to the shaded ground

But it’s so hard to admit
That I lived without your light
Trying not to believe that I need it more
Now the bleeding won’t stop
For I struggled through the barbed wire
Trying not to believe that I need your love
Trying not to believe in love

But it got me now

iCrowd patterns
Beliefs
Guided trips
Search for hints
Copy/paste
Brain turned off

In my invisible ”oh” life
I don’t want to feel
Like I’m no one anymore

Lack of self confidence
Trapped inside sweet wrappers cage
Sky is blue - so I’ve been told

In my invisible ”oh” life
I don’t want to feel
Like I’m no one anymore

Dream on, my pain
My scar
My blame
You’ve been a part of me
Unless and until

Dreamt by the night
Under your skin
I run through the wind
Unless and until

Dream on, my pain
My scar
My thorn
You’ve been a part of me
Let me stay afloat

Once
In the darkness
Of bad memories
You stepped into a trap
But the spring-loaded bar
Didn’t break your neck
And you remained there
Waiting for the better time

Life
With your passivity
In the face of choices
Forced you to turn back
Settle with your lies
But the stubborn glass
Doesn’t want to talk to you
Waiting for the better time
Chairbound and bedridden heart

Discard your fear of the unknown
Be here and now
Just find yourself in peace
Try to free your mind
Wake up
Get unstuck
Let it go
Send your shame to nevermore

Your past
Your distorted thoughts
Closed you in the box
And cluttered up your head
Hewn from happiness
In your fabletown
You're still afraid of
Starting something new this life

Discard your fear of the unknown
Be here and now
Just find yourself in peace
Try to free your mind
Wake up
Get unstuck
Let it go
Send your shame to nevermore

Discard your fear of the unknown
Be here and now
Just find yourself in peace
Try to free your mind
Wake up
Get unstuck
Let it go
Send your shame to nevermore
Let it go
Scare away your fear

No more
Fear of new life
Fear of days of the unknown
Fear of new life
Fear of days of the unknown
Fear of new life
Fear of days of the unknown
Fear of new life

No more fear of love

Let me tell you a story
About you and me in those days
How much passion and joy
We shared
How often we turned back time

Let me tell you a story
About you and me in those days
When we felt as if we
could change
The whole world with just one wave

As we ran through the silence
At the speed of sound
Towards the blue horizon
We could open minds

Let me tell you a story
About you and me in those days
We just lived our lives
Swam out
To the middle of the lake

As we ran through the silence
At the speed of sound
Towards the blue horizon
We could open skies

***

Where are you now my friend?
I miss those days
I hope they take good care
Of you there
And you can still play the guitar
And sing your songs

I just miss those days
And miss you so
Wish I could be strong
When darkness comes

One day we'll find our way
Straying from the road
We thought we could go
Until we would fade.

Traveling across the fallen earth
And the foreign lands
We survived
To believe that this is not the end
This is not the time

Moving unseen beyond
The shadows
Waiting for
The birth of a star we can follow

One day we'll find our time
Come to realize
That our history
Came full circle

Traveling across all the dried up seas
And the foreign lands
We survived
To believe that this is not the end
This is not the time

We crane our necks for youth
We know we’ll make it through
And we can go back to the forest

Let’s go back to the world
That was 30 years ago
And let’s believe this is our time

Cut off from the dream
Where the sky meets water
Beneath forgotten stars
Feeling like a child
I embrace what I came for
And what I’ve overcome

Oooh, it’s a lovely life
You have gone so far
Don’t give it up
Oooh, it’s a lovely life
You gotta go with
What you think is right

Delve into myself
With my truth and devotion
I start another flow
Gliding up and down
In my yearning for daylight
I find you in my soul

Oooh, it’s a lovely life
Sun emerges from behind the clouds
Oooh, it’s a lovely life
You gotta go with
What you think is right

Cut off from the dream
Where the sky meets water
Beneath forgotten stars
I feel like a child
Found in waking life

Into this world
I came
Filled with fear
Crying all the time
I guess my birth
Left a great scar
On my heart and mind

Now I hand-pick cotton
And struggle to sing
"I am happy and I do what I like"
But my voice breaks
And I start to hate
My singing
And simply everyone

Mama told me
Be good
Work hard
And love Mr. God
Every Sunday
I lie
Trying to realize why

Ain't nothing more to say
Your Honor
Don't look at me like that
The truth is
I am a free man
But I can't enjoy my life

***
I came to a standstill
With lies and hopes inside my head
Always seemed too late to turn
And too soon to understand

No, I don’t have a stomach ache
It's just my face...

I got stuck
I ran aground
I got used to spewing bile
I wonder whether all those years
Hadn't been a waste of time

So how am I doing?
Oh, I CAN complain
Smoke too many cigarettes
But I don't care...

I could be foreign forever
To your otherland
I could be foreign forevermore
To your promiseland
One life was great
But another…
No, I don’t want to live on the edge
I won’t follow you
I found my own
I will stay

I could be foreign forever
To your hastenland
I could be foreign forevermore
To your neverland
One little brick then another
And I will build that wall anyway
You can find me there
Rested and calm
Without mask
This is where I will stay

Look around where we are
Who we are
What we always want
Twenty four
Seven
Three sixty five
Sometimes little more
I was chasing your shadow
Not knowing
I’d become your slave

I could be foreign forever
To your otherland
I could be foreign forevermore
To your promiseland
One life was great
But another…
No, I don’t want to live on the edge
I won’t follow you
I found my own
I will stay
I could stay forevermore

I've said a farewell
To never-ending smiles
I did not look good in red
From my place I can finally see
How much of this shade I called myself
Was me
And what was left behind

I can’t afford to be silent
I can’t afford to lose my stand
What matters is to be in view
I am seen therefore I am
I can satisfy my hunger
I can satisfy my thirst
What about the feeling of importance
Now I’ve got my chance

This is just what I need
To be in everyone’s eyes
To be hard-wired to all brains
And control all their minds

In the center of attention
TV
Glossy magazines
My private life is public
I sell everything
Days are getting shorter
They’ll forget about me soon
So I jump on the bandwagon
With no taboos

This is just what I need
To be in everyone’s eyes
To be hard-wired to all brains
And control all their minds

But what if we start to talk
Not only say out loud
What if we sift the babble
From what really counts
What if we disappear
Go deeply underground
What if we hide away
From being stupefied

You and I
Thousand eyes

When I scroll back through our recent days
I try to understand
How we could forget
We made a promise to one another
That nothing would ever break what we had
Now we never talk when we fall apart
We never talk when we fall apart
We pretend we’re ok
Surrounding ourselves with one-way friendships
And so-called friends

I know we got used to new us
And I don’t want to be there
I don’t want to be there
Where we are
I know we got used to new life
And I don’t want to be there
No, I don’t want to be there
Where we are

Silence fallen between
All the doors are locked
All the words unsaid
And we’re still afraid of time
Started to keep ourselves
At a distance that we could control
Not too close
Not too far
Now we never talk when we fall apart
We just never talk when we fall apart
We pretend we’re ok
By filling up our inner space
With little hates
And so-called love

I know we got used to new us
And I don’t want to be there
I don’t want to be there
Where we are
I know we got used to new life
And I don’t want to be there
No, I don’t want to be there
Where we are

So walk away with me

Day outside grows black
I lie faceup in my shell
Squeeze my eyes shut
And feel like falling into blank space

Had allowed that life to drift
For I’ve chosen a different trail
When light fades
I feel like falling into blank space

So you realized
Ingested real life
Grew up in the time of
Pushing through the crowds
So you realized
Chose unreal life
Settled in the mobile
Handy pocket size

Wanted to be your light
Illuminate your smiles
Wanted to be your cure
Bridge between self and us
Wanted to be your prayer
Wipe the tears from your eyes
But I turned my back

Could have been a tree of dawn
Rooted deeply in the ground
Bearing fruits
Far away from falling into blank space

But I took refuge from myself
In the crowded solitude
Now I dash
And feel like falling into blank space

Wanted to be your light
Illuminate your smiles
Wanted to be your cure
Bridge between self and us
Wanted to be your prayer
Wipe the tears from your eyes
But I turned my back
Got lost inside

I live surrounded by cherished memories
I have a weakness for collecting them
Alphabetize
As far as I recall my childish rituals
Icons of that world
Always filled my shelves and heart

Now I shelter from the rain
Hole up in my cage
You don’t have to think too much today
They filled in for your brain

Curled up
Deprived
Curled up
Deprived
I shut away

In a world of synonyms
And handwritten notes
My own puppet performances
Endless bedtime stories
I could touch the moon
And switch off the sun
I could have my dreams
And dream about better times

Now I shelter from the rain
Hole up in my cage
You don’t have to think too much today
They filled in for your brain

Curled up
Deprived
Curled up
Deprived
I shut away
Please don’t call my name

We are escalator walkers
In the brand new temple
Came to reshape identities
Shed our skins
Be reborn
And feel the same
That no one here is real

We are moving standees
In the shrine of choices
Incarcerated between floors of
Hope and disappointment
We feel the same
That no one here is real
We feel the same
That nothing here is still

We are stairway drifters
Made of cyber paper
Google boys and wiki girls
Children of the self care

We come to pray every single training day
Looking for a chance to survive
Buying reduced price illusions
Floating into another light
Melting into another lonely crowd

We feel the same
That no one here is real
We feel the same
That nothing here is still

***
Used to have our love
And now
Disposable needs
Used to have our souls
And now
Refined new skins

Take
Use
Throw Away
Forget

***
Dragging our feet
Tired and deceived
Slowly moving on
Bracing shaky legs
Against all those wasted years
We roll the boulders of sins
Up a hill of new days

In the arms of the setting sun
Our burdens cast shadows over fiery ground
Catching final rays
We try to reach the journey’s end
Before the sun will die

We sense we’re almost there
But the night comes too soon
And we crawl in the dark
Not ready to face up
To unknowing lies
We ache to go back

But we can’t stop
So we walk ahead

Night outside grows white
I lie faceup in my shell
Open my eyes
Don’t feel like falling into blank space

Had allowed that life to drift
For I’ve chosen a different trail
When darkness fades
Don’t feel like falling into blank space

Want to be your light
Illuminate your smiles
Want to be your cure
Bridge between self and us
Want to be your prayer
Wipe the tears from your eyes
When the night returns

I won't collapse

I'm set to rise