more or less like living beings.
Sometimes a man gets carried away,
when he should be having his X.X.X.X.
Sometimes thoughts come to life
and cause trouble to those
who try to think.
Sometimes works of art become
like warning signs for the world.
Sometimes an unprepared soul has to deal
with things he is incapable of understanding.
Sometimes the curses of today's world
make us unable to see anything.
Sometimes our cities are
full of bad spirits
and meaningless, terrible noises.
Sometimes the neighbours know
that something is happening,
but they don't know what it is.
Sometimes there's bullshit all around you
and you can't say if it's
your own or somebody else's.
Sometimes there's a wound to be healed,
but what is this in and out of love?
”24 hours, boys!” said Bon Jovi's manager. I used to watch their Breakout video at least once a week in the summer of 2003. It was one of my sources of inspiration for the new lyrics. And I'm telling the truth when I say that this OG thing was a lucky chance to re-visit "the cold wastelands of youth". To say a few words left unspoken while doing a few things left undone. The final scene was shot up with no trace of blood, shot down with no blaze of glory. That's the way it was meant to be. No real guns were used and the leather jacket I wore belongs to an old band mate (I sold mine in the nineties already). It seems I was identified as "the front man", as if it was me who's driving the band wagon. But things were much more interesting. And they remained as such from the beginning of this journey to the end. I think very few people actually realized all of this. And honestly, I don't think anyone is that interested..... I had nothing to do with the ”metal scene”, and I didn't listen to that kind of music anymore (which doesn't mean that I disliked the people or the genre, I just wasn't part of it – apart from being the singer of this band). I believe this was part of a greater "omnium-gatherum" that simply happens if and when it is to happen. No practice or preaching will help you to get the letters / moves right. And I was one of those ”troubled minds”, but I had a good time. We succeeded beyond all expectations. I'd like to remind you there were none. What happened between me and the rest of OG during the years 2000-2006 was like a closed circle. And it needed to be done. These things had a reason to take place. Everything was left open for the band and their new singer to go on a new cycle of their own. For my part this was like a cause riding to shoot the rebel. Or was it a law reaching out (for the ”outlaw”)? Maybe it was a lamb dressed in wolfskin, looking for a honeymoon with the real thing. That must have hurt. In any case, it seems that our strange kind of gathering delivered the goods and people enjoyed from ”all of that jiving around”. And I didn't ask for this five year side trail they gave me, but I loved it all the more and nonetheless. So I still raise my cup for Markus, Janne, Harri and Jarmo for picking me up from a certain dead end station back in October-November 2000. Thank you!
There were a few coincidences along the way. Some good, others bad and ugly. I wonder what happened with YIW thank you list. Important names are missing, because of a mystic error taking place during the copy/paste sessions. For example, I thanked Minni V. ”for grounding my spirits” (but she had told me she does not want her name to be on the list; her wish came true). And there was this encounter with "serpent eyes and viper’s tongue". I had never seen a snake in the wild, but in early August 2004, when Markus discussed the possibility of changing our band name, a viper crawled between my legs while I was sittin’ in the sun (though not counting my money as I had none), drinking coffee and reading. I was alone at my grandfather’s cabin in the middle of nowhere. The snake had raised its head and was ready to bite, hissing like the letter itself. But then it crawled away in peace and quiet. Markus had finally convinced the Nukes we would change Omnium Gatherum to Iron Cobra, when they backed off. Let’s Fin(n)ish the game with a quote from my sketch book, dating from 2003: ”after having a serious discussion with the band’s guardian angel, we decided there is no more room for another fuck you and die hard nihilistic death metal band. I’ll sing about Life, Love and Light” (two of these words have been marked with X.X.X.X in the lyrics). The note was written long ago for this nostalgy page, but was taken out..... & Another note (2005), bringing to light an other kind of way in / out, was found from The Book of Tongues (”Kielet”), where many of the lines for City Red Light and the rest of those ”Woodbine Garden” songs were first written: Vanhala said in an interview that it is good I don’t write lyrics about ”the devil, suicide and corpses”. On YIW, the main themes are many, but the devil, suicide and the dead are certainly mentioned. A friend told me (in 2006) that when one plays heavier music, the crosses will turn upside down, eventually. To what extent metal is the Devil’s music or not, well, you know…. My cows are in the ditch, as the old Finnish saying goes, more or less literally translated. Read the lyrics and listen to the music. The players did a fine job, after all. And of Taking Things Seriously, oh dear, the note below was written for the press in early May 2006:
THE SUMMER OF LOVE HAS BEGUN
(a note paper written in the summer of 2002)
And in the city where I lived my f_____ youth
I wasn't allowed to go drinking in the park
'Cause they all f_____ hated me
I got boots nice and broken
I'm back on my feet again
And here I am,
like a crooked little lamb
The leather is black
and smells like teen spirit
But nowadays my hair is longer than thine
(And I'm no longer in love with you)
And the night is still
And it's still a broken night
An hour of doom when the city's aflame
To walk (on) these streets
The night is still broken to pieces
With bottles everywhere, and let us...
And the writhing's all the same
'Cause I got the guts we all hate
Trying not to hate the guts we have
