Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery (1995)

DARK TRANQUILLITY LYRICS
The Gallery (1995)

1. Punish My Heaven
2. Silence, And The Firmament Withdrew
3. Edenspring
4. The Dividing Line
5. The Gallery
6. The One Brooding Warning
7. Midway Through Infinity
8. Lethe
9. The Emptiness From Which I Fed
10. Mine Is The Grandeur...
11. ...Of Melancholy Burning
12. Bringer Of Torture
13. Sacred Reich
14. 22 Acacia Avenue
15. Lady In Black
16. My Friend Of Misery


1. Punish My Heaven

We are the outstretched fingers
That seize and hold the wind...

The strangeness of awakening
In an oh so silent world
Breathlessly waiting
For the first proud beams of light
As the hours grow longer
And the shadows never fall
My sky has forsaken me
My desperation grows

Bring me the light
In the darkness that never ends
The dawn will never come
Punish my heaven

We have arrived
At the outermost crossroads
The charge of cosmos
At our atmospheric skies
Will cause our fall

If I had wings, would I be forgiving?
If I had horns
Would there be flames to shy my smile?

Hymns of loss are heard
From the masses in the streets
Praising the last of days
I punish

Bring me the night
In the fires that never end
The dawn will never come
Punish my heaven

The charge of cosmos
Charging at us from unearthly distance
I challenge the universe
It's the choice between heaven and hell

My soul bears all the weight of mountains
As mankind weaves its silent end
Can there be no forgiveness?
I curse the heaven above me
As the light sinks through
My outstretched fingers
Fading in my open arms

Make each tear in my bare hands
A lifetime in hell

On this last day of light
When our autumn leaves fell
And as heaven itself commands me
Out of its lair
I fear not
My face lined for darkness
I'll go!


2. Silence, And The Firmament Withdrew

Make all the cold trees mourn
Their branches frozen in sightless motion
Waving, reaching for the whipping rain

There was silence
And the firmament withdrew
Revealing all, shapelessly and swiftly
In carmine and crimson stood flaming the sky
The relics of myths that exploded and died

Dismantle the sun and stars in their rise
And rend from the skyline
The black in our eyes

The skyline so empty
All but one, nonexistent

Words were not, nor gesture, thought or life
The skydancers laid slain and old
The firmament in perpetual withdrawal

Lux Aeterna - Sing unto the world


3. Edenspring

Time conceals itself in error
When all is turned to lie
Oh blissful rapture flee from me
The liquid light shares its grandeur
The spring of Eden shall never run dry
Creation holds its breath

Tomorrow is no friend of mind
Drench logic - Drench judgement
Awake - Every sense is new

For we know no tomorrow
And yesterday appears in fragmented form

What now must burn
Shall with newfound strength emerge
Drift my eyes
Bacchi gates bid me welcome

Drench logic

Drench judgement

So drink from the fountain everlasting... drown

With these eyes the land can no longer deceive us

He cried into nothing with the voice of his soul
New logic brought upon the remains of his land
The land deceives
Bacchi gates bid me welcome

Drench logic - Drench judgement
Awake - Every sense is new

For we know no tomorrow
And yesterday appears in fragmented form


4. The Dividing Line

Strangelove
Dance the dividing line

We shall burn the earth
We shall burn our lives

For the tallest tree shall battle most
The wind it leaves the week behind
The storm that you've denied me
Shall force your world to fall
Your castles made to tremble
With foundations based upon a lie

The storm that you've denied me
Sweep the undivided truth
His mind shall not of thoughts be tempted
Nor words can heal his bleeding scars

We must burn our minds

Colours collide with the world of his beliefs
Bring back the storm of distant years
Tumbling, trembling as there is no waking up
There is no dividing line as logic now fails

Stream upwards, rage against them all
Speak of words hidden in your song
Mere mortals strive for length in numbers
There is no dividing line

As the writer defies the empty page
The empty mind its feed shall seek

Pass on to the frail and mindless
Now what sanity discards

The storm shall sweep the weak of heart
And tear your castles down
Crush the very foundations
On which your faith is based
Torn across the dividing line


5. The Gallery

Come and dance through my vanity's halls
Welcome to my exhibition

Ornaments fall
The fate of my art, condemned
And the creative seed
That grows to the tune of the harvest song
Embody my lifelong passion
Intertwine with the structures of my art
Those empty frames staring at me

One lonely portrait covers the lovestarved canvas
In honour of the birthless rebellion within me

Every picture holds a tale
Every shade tells of a thousand words

The artistry of living chaos
Is pictured in the poets tears
Because everything burns
The final concept
Is all but a thought away

Be gone, you foul enchantress of decay!
My thoughts and words will come to right
In my chamber where chaos conveys
Kneel down to my desire

Deep in the vaults of my carnal agony
Emptiness! Orchestration through colours

The gallery

To never return to my guidance
Burning my art


6. The One Brooding Warning

Devoid of life
Far from the strengthening force
From which it feeds
The unbroken silence swear allegiance to thee
Behold the answers that darkness sets free

Freedom beyond the enslavement

Never let loose upon the world
Con we forgive the enchanter that
Dance beyond the skyline dark
The stains of fire, the one begotten ancestor
To one of far greater strength
Starvation divine

For he shall stand no taller than the flames
That is his feed
Let us not go gently
Into the endless winternight
We are but strangers
Acting on our fragmentary perception

Perception is the lie of the misled
Things are not what they appear
So swear by your deception

There shan't be fire, nor shall the flame
Quench the desire to reign
With fear of its dawning
Appears now in sight
The one brooding warning
Stand clearer than night

Devoid of life
Far from the strengthening force
From which it feeds
The unbroken silence swear allegiance to thee
Behold the answers that darkness sets free

Freedom beyond the enslavement
Never let loose upon the world
Con we forgive the enchanter that
Dance beyond the skyline dark

There shan't be fire, nor shall the flame
Quench the desire to reign
With fear of its dawning
Appears now in sight
The one brooding warning
Stand clearer than night


7. Midway Through Infinity

Wings of fire burn the night
Slumbering eyes their flares shall greet
Let the past cling on its futile self
And may the present rush for the future's glare

Grave to cradle
Cradle to grave
So infinity clash
Grave to cradle

Cradle to grave
In twofold matter

Two forces gone full circle
Never shall one of the other grow fond
Join me, the time is upon us
He spoke and in fury we flew

Far beyond the limits of time
Disown the borders of life itself
Crafted and moulded all in one form
Split up and scattered in the world that we own

Grow towards me
Beknight the strength of the symbiosis
Backwards striving
Counterparts with different eyes have observed
Of time unconditional

Grave to cradle
Cradle to grave
So infinity clash
Grave to cradle
Cradle to grave
In twofold matter

Tell of days to come
Tomorrow remembered
Your yesterday, my future

Recollection of the day
Delusions cast where dead trees sway

The sabre that separates
Is the candle that burns both ends

Born from death you now confront me
Back to death with my life I take you
Die more with each movement of mine


8. Lethe

Give me the drink of the fluid
That disintegrates
And lend me the sweet balm and blessing
Of forgetfulness, empty and strong
Lethe [x2]

Hold me near, unravel the stars
As I speed through the heavens
Speed through the night
For you are my blade and my rope
Your are my [x2]
Lethe

In currents of cobalt
You storm through my heart
To sever, to puncture
The memories that burn
Let sweep through the arteries
In sharp stabs of pain
Your talonlike fingers to kill me again

Steal me, invade me and charge me again
For I burn and I shudder
Burn with each movement of

So, cleansed through a floodlight
I appear; renewed and reforged
Caressed by the sweet balm and blessing
Of forgetfulness, empty and strong
Lethe

Hold me near, my one friend and guide
As I drown through your fingers
Drown through your love
For you are the life I hate
You are my [x2]
Lethe

Drag me down, in passionate sighs
With the ocean above me
And flames in my eyes
And grant me a life I can live
Without...
Take me away...[x2]

...From the life that I hate.


9. The Emptiness From Which I Fed

Silence in shivering solitude
Obligations pressure for all to bear
All the pitiful answers, the innocent lies
Can mere words fill
The emptiness from which I fed?

Be gone, oh yielding evidence of greed
Safe now in the other shore
Behind: The emptiness from which I fled

Can silence be shared?
If so, can the perception of silence
Fit into the frame which is represent
The unity for which we stand?
The confines representing a timeless sacrifice
No eye can of silence tell lie

Silence, yet the absence of sound
Does not feed me
The essence of beauty alone
Fall silent to lingering charm

Brought forth be the sun
Shed light on the emptiness

What can be extracted from nothing
What can be found within the emptiness
Be gone, oh yielding evidence of greed
Safe now on the other shore
Behind: The emptiness from which I fed

Brought forth be the errors of our ways
As is denial so is contempt
Introspective to all but one
Tear apart the flames
No eye can of silence tell lie

How can I even begin
The battle where no one wins
From answers I now flee

Screaming out too no avail
Have I become what for so long I've dread
The missing pieces
Must now be replaced

What eyesight fails to grasp
Is the emptiness from which I fled


10. Mine Is The Grandeur...

[Instrumental]


11. ...Of Melancholy Burning

Jackal, aches for pain beyond me
Bestiality beckons - The anger set free
For there is no pain greater than thine
For there is no gain but the fury inside

Desolated since derived
Torn screaming from the gaping wound

Always be cherished
The grandeur of melancholy
Outward reprisal
Swear by your throne

Fallen words shall grieve thee
The grandeur of melancholy

Frailty, thy name is weakness
Vengeance, thy name is pain
Storm through the still glowing night
Ember eyes beyond reason shall see

Flee from the safety of the sheltering sky
See all but logic, so vengeance shall be mine
The grandeur of melancholy burning... oh burning

Charge into uncertainty's promised land

Always and never
Your are the nail

Cursed, cursed
Oh essence of the night guide me
Cursed, cursed
Oh sweet revenge heal me
Frailty, thy name is weakness
Vengeance, thy name is pain
The nail

Jackal, aches for pain beyond me
The storm that now grabs me
Is the storm of my soul
For there is no pain greater than mine
For there is no gain but the fury inside

Once so bereaved
And ever so suppressed
Charge and split up the anger
Wake up the jackal
Let out his wrath

Always and never
He spoke of his pain
Always and never
You are the nail

Always be cherished
The grandeur of melancholy
Always and never
You are the nail


12. Bringer Of Torture

["The Gallery" 2005 reissue track]

[Kreator cover]

Young girl so sweet and once so innocent
Your life is so brutal, true emotions suppressed
You scream but he won't hear a word till he's had his way
Victim of the cruelest kind of love

Against his urges there is no defence
The one who gave you life stole your innocence
You want to be at any cost
But you're chained by the shame
And everything seems to be lost

Bringer of torture

You're not afraid of dying
Nothing could be worse than this life
You're terrified of the pain
The pain that returns with the night

Bringer of torture

Insanity and terror, hand in hand
Till childhood dreams come to an end
This situation, so vile and insane will never be over
He's coming back again, again and again


13. Sacred Reich

["The Gallery" 2005 reissue track]

[Sacred Reich cover]

Striking fear in the hearts of men
The war machine will leave you dead
Rockets launching, lightning up the sky
The end is near, it's your time to die
Lightning war hitting fast and hard
No time to act the world caught off guard
The Fuhrer's troops invade the land
To spread his teachings the master plan

Blitzkrieg, lightning war
Hitler to kill them all
Pure bred Arayan man
Sacred Reich's master plan

His Nazi army to control the world
Exterminate those who stand in his way
Evil butchers know just what to do
Killing millions of Russians and Jews
Can this madman be stopped
Is there hope for world peace
We must kill Hitler
To stop this Nazi disease

Blitzkrieg, lightning war
Hitler to kill them all
Pure bred Arayan man
Sacred Reich's master plan

Goering's Luftwaffe turned to ash
Stormtroopers fall in defeat
The end of the Final Solution
The Third Reich falls to it's knees
His dream undone
Hitler is dead
The beloved Fuhrer
Put a bullet in his head

Blitzkrieg, lightning war
Hitler to kill them all
Pure bred Arayan man
Sacred Reich's master plan


14. 22 Acacia Avenue

["The Gallery" 2005 reissue track]

[Iron Maiden cover]

If you're feeling down depressed and lonely
I know a place where we can go
22 Acacia Avenue meet a lady that I know
So if you're looking for a good time
And you're prepared to pay the price
Fifteen quid is all she asks for
Everybody's got their vice

If you're waiting for a long time for the rest to do their piece
You can tell her that you know me and you might even get it free
So any time you're down the East End don't you hesitate to go
You can take my honest word for it she'll teach you more than you can know

Charlotte can't you get out from all of this madness
Can't you see it only brings you sadness
When you entertain your men don't you know the risk of getting disease

Some day when you're reaching the age of forty
I bet you'll regret the days when you were laying
Nobody then will want to know
You won't have any beautiful wares to show any more

22 the avenue that's the place where we all go
You will find it's warm inside the red light's burning bright tonight

Charlotte isn't it time you stopped this mad life
Don't you ever think about the bad times
Why do you have to live this way
Do you enjoy your lay or is it the pay

Sometimes when you're strolling down the avenue
The way you walk it makes men think of having you
When you're walking down the street
Everybody stops and turns to stare at you

22 the avenue that's the place where we all go
You will find it's warm inside the red light's burning bright tonight

Beat her mistreat her do anything that you please
Bite her excite her make her get down on her knees
Abuse her misuse her she can take all that you've got
Caress her molest her she always does what you want

You're running away don't you know what you're doing
Can't you see it'll lead you to ruin
Charlotte you've taken your life and you've thrown it away
You believe that because what you're earning
Your life's good don't you know that you're hurting
All the people that love you don't cast them aside
All the men that are constantly drooling
It's no life for you stop all that screwing
You're packing your bags and you're coming with me


15. Lady In Black

["The Gallery" 2005 reissue track]

[Mercyful Fate cover]

On a magical misty morning
I was standing in the Autumn rain
Suddenly the birds fell silent
Would I ever hear them sing again...
Hear them sing again...

Without a word of warning
I saw a shadow in the Autumn rain
Just like in my nightly dreams
The Lady In Black had come again...
The Lady had come again...

Begging me to follow her into the misty rain
Begging me to follow her into the no more pain

Her eyes were hypnotizing
Burning deep inside my brain
The Lady In Black was here now
She was here to take me far away...
Take me far away...

"Follow me to the other side"

Through the tunnel of light we travel, fading away
Through the tunnel of light we travel
We're fading away

Through the light that's shining bright
We're fading away
Through the light that's shining bright
We're fading away


16. My Friend Of Misery

["The Gallery" 2005 reissue track]

[Metallica cover]

You just stood there screaming
Fearing no one was listening to you
They say the empty can rattles the most
The sound of your own voice must soothe you
Hearing only what you want to hear
And knowing only what you've heard
You, you're smothered in tragedy
And you're out to save the world

Misery
You insist that the weight of the world
Should be on your shoulders
Misery
There's much more to life than what you see
My friend of misery

You still stood there screaming
No one caring about these words you tell
My friend, before your voice is gone
One man's fun is another's hell
These times are sent to try men's souls
But something's wrong with all you see
You, you'll take it on all yourself
Remember, misery loves company

Misery
You insist that the weight of the world
Should be on your shoulders
Misery
There's much more to life than what you see
My friend of misery

You just stood there screaming
My friend of misery