Imaginaerum

Taikatalvi, an Elvish lullaby that came straight from Middle Earth. Calming music, and Marcos` hypnotic voice slowly gets  you into daydreaming. 

Then - Storytime - captures you, inviting you to adventure, to the unknown, forcing you to embrace your dream and explore it to it`s limits. 

All of the sudden, comes unexpected - on your road there`s wild river that you need to cross, and a pale light on the other side - Ghost River. Storm hits harder with every step you take on small, old, rotten bridge. Fear overrides you, but still, pale light on the other side is calling, and there`s no place to hide, no way back - you have to cross it... 

You made it to the other side. Sitting tired on the shores, you`re watching the sky clears, and stars appears one by one. The road ahead is covered with moonlight. Wet stones on the road sparkle, and the distance is calling you - Slow love, slow... 

With the ticking of the clock, the dawn comes, and then you get to see the landscape surrounding you for the first time. Beautiful nature, wounded by the last night`s storm, almost being able to hear it - I Want My Tears Back. 

Than beautiful landscape turns into dark forest, and with every step you take it becomes more and more dark, until tree branches cover the sky completely. Trying to get to the other end, you rush, making even more noise than that that old trees are making. Fear gets to you, and you start to imagine things that are not there, things that came from your childhood nightmares... Scaretale gets you, and you can`t escape it easily.

Once you made it to the brightest place in the middle of the forest, you sit to catch your breath, while your heart is pounding in the rhythm of Arabesque.

While resting, you see small path that seems less dark than the main road, and you decide to take it. The path leads pass the sea shores. On the horizon there`s a ship sailing away. Sea breeze caresses you. It`s time to Turn Loose The Mermaids. 

Without noticing, day slipped away, and another night is coming. Stars start to light the sky once more, and pale light that you once saw turns out to be lighthouse. You walk to it fallowing sea shore, watching the waves Rest Calm on the shores. 

Walking within your thoughts, unusual flock of birds caches your eye. They are moving south, or so it seems. All you recognized were  The Crow, The Owl And The Dove. 

And there you are. Standing in front of lighthouse. You reached your destination. It`s time for the Last Ride Of The Day. The old lighthouse door are half open, and you enter...

At first your step is uncertain while you climb the stairs to the top. Fear of unknown is getting to get to you. But you fight it, determined to find out why your road lead you there. At the top surprise awaits - the room of mirrors. Making you face your biggest fear - yourself. You reach back for the door, but they`re gone. Instead of them, a tombstone stands there - with your name on it! Below, stands carved Song Of Myself - the story of your life. You stand there, scared, reading it... It seems like it will never end, and everything`s there - every word you said, every thought you had...  Everything fades while you read, and you can hear only sound of sea, in the end that fades away too... And you realize that you`re gone... forever...

You wake up from your dream. Not knowing was it real or not. Feelings are still really strong, all the sights you saw are still colorful. You`re happy that all of that was just a dream, your own Imaginaerum... 

....Or was it?....

The Story

Each one of us has a story to tell. Some just know better ways of telling it. 

The story I`ll be working on comes to this sentence: "Love story that happens in a dream connecting two people from different centuries."

Sounds good enough... There`ll be some twists and turns of course, unexpected events, and all the things that seems to make a good story. 

The only problem is this... Everything sounds good in head, but when it comes out on the paper it become lifeless... it simply dies... All that fantastic nature, and people, all those characters real or imaginary die... Because there`s no place for them to live in. They came out of writers imagination, they are written and printed, and then stored on shelves. And as time passes it seems that they`re getting forgotten more and more. Main problem of imaginary characters (and I`m sure they would agree with me on this) is that there`s no one to bring them back to life. They all need someone`s imagination to get a form and life. 

Storytime poster (imaginaerum)

As time passes I just guess Snow-white won`t find dwarfs, Cinderella has no need to lose shoe, Rapunzel has no need to grow golden hair... they`ll all get forgotten in the land of Neverland...   

The Crow, The Owl And The Dove

 Second single (?) from Imaginareum. We sure haven`t see this one coming. After blast that Storytime was, Nightwish presents to us one calm song, without bombastic effect of the orchestra. Music composed in a way that seems like a soundtrack from dream you just had, but forgot after waking, leaving only humming melody in your head and question where did you hear that song before...

To hear it go here and type Yovissy.

For those who want to wait until Imaginaerum release, but still curious about lyrics here they are:

Don't give me love, don't give me faith
Wisdom nor pride, give innocence instead
Don't give me love, I've had my share
Beauty nor rest, give me truth instead

A crow flew to me, kept its distance
Such a proud creation
I saw its soul, envied its pride
But needed nothing it had

An owl came to me, old and wise
Pierced right through my youth
I learned its ways, envied its sense
But needed nothing it had

Don't give me love, don't give me faith
Wisdom nor pride, give innocence instead
Don't give me love, I've had my share
Beauty nor rest, give me truth instead

A dove came to me, had no fear
It rested on my arm
I touched its calm, envied its love
But needed nothing it had

A swan of white, she came to me
The lake mirrored her beauty sweet
I kissed her neck, adored her grace
But needed nothing she could give

Got to grieve her, got to wreck it
Got to grieve her, got to wreck it
Got to grieve her, got to wreck it

Don't give me love, don't give me faith
Wisdom nor pride, give innocence instead
Don't give me love, I've had my share
Beauty nor rest, give me truth instead

Unofficial The Crow, The Owl and The Dove cover

Storytime

It`s one of those songs that you want to play in your car on the freeway and see where the road takes you. No planes, no agenda, no nothing... Only this song and open road ahead, taking you into new adventures. 

This song makes you feel free and unleashed in so many ways, ready to take a leap into unknown, and face your deepest, darkest fears, knowing that you`ll come out into the light on the other side. 

It`s like jumping off the high cliff into the deep water, and than rising up for some air before you continue your search for the lost treasure under the surface of water. 

Roller-coaster ride - that`s for sure, and that`s what we`ve been promised, and that`s what we got. A small preview of the upcoming Imaginaerum album, that will for sure continue what this single started. Only 2 more weeks to go... 

"Imaginaerum - a dream emporium"

Precious

That`s sad but true... Life goes on... Even if we lose someone dear we couldn`t imagine life without. No one lives forever... The ones left behind get stuck with the pain, the tears and empty place in their heart no one will ever fulfill. 

Life is precious thing, not given to be wasted. And it`s fragile... And it`s a lot of things that it shouldn`t be, but those things we can`t affect on. We should try not to affect situations, but to affect and inspire people that surround us.

Time doesn`t wait for anyone. It goes on, smashing the mountains, and drying up rivers, changing everyting all the time. 

In the end... it`s not what you did, but who did you knew, and what kind of person you were is what defines you.