WHEN THE WAY IS LOST IN ITSELF


Sometimes imaginations appear to be
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:
Ein Fall Für Zwei
"Nuclear Blast showed us the red light, just as we had predicted already a year ago. Then Spinefarm did the same thing: 'the music is good, the vocals are bad.' Honestly, my role in this band never was anything else than doing a favour for a friend, and from a certain point of view it started to look like this favour had served its purpose. Markus and I had a plan back in Spring 2000; to make a little DM side project, and for me it was solely for the sake of those bygone days that smelled like teen spirit. This little project was not to be related to OG stuff in any way until I received a phonecall from him late October the same year. The band needed a vocalist for their next gig and possibly for the next demo, too. I promised to be on the gig and think about the demo. My other (then anonymous) band had just ‘released’ some magic to the world, called Pathvvays (418) & The Flowery March. After a year of pseudos and near psychoses OG managed to get a real record deal which gave us a good laugh while signing it - the damn deal was two sides long, the text was big enough for one’s blind grandmother to read it. They promised us 50 per cent of all the income! I wonder where all that money went. I also wonder why every time we were in the studio I quit the band at least once. Maybe I just can’t make up my mind. But with Spirits this was due to 'a complete failure'. After I’d done my share I swore I would fuck off right away. I don’t know what happened that morning and I don’t know where the hell did that ugly voice come from (it was one of those things that can’t be repeated). My purpose had been to rip off my teen age idols but instead I ended up doing something completely different. The album was loved and hated like real life. And I still hear people saying SAAL is OG’s best effort so far. Then with Years In Waste (Fall Grave Silence was never an option, it was just a working title) I 'succeeded.' For the first time ever I walked out of the studio and smiled. What happened during the mixing process was another thing. Almost all of my cleaner vocals were taken out and they left only this monotone raspy throat mixed down to earth and ground level, which has become the OG trademark. We almost ended up having an old-fashioned fist fight with Markus. But I used to believe in Amor Fati and sometimes I still get a feeling like that. This was the way it was supposed to go. No one would have wanted to hear Tom Waits on a Melo Death album, right? Or wrong. I thought of quitting the band last November, but I always had those famous second thoughts. Let the OG crew decide, I’ll do my part as long as necessary. The rehearsal Demo / Promo 2006 we recorded in January includes five songs, and they have a new kind of spirit in them, but at the same time reminding you of Steal The Light era OG atmospheres. I had decided that OG are no longer a small band, and now we will cut the crap and begin to do some serious business. (Un)fortunately, my will has always been going to a different direction than what the rest of OG have had in mind. This could either be a very good thing or a very bad thing, because of the constant conflict in the air. Depending on who is in charge, it usually leads to 'something'. But whether it is good or bad, well… And don’t tell me they are also matters of taste! From February until now OG crew have been in a state of uncertainty, and I made it clear to them that it is just as ok for me to be in the band or to be out of it. Over half of the next album was ready, so it would have been rational to stay for a while at least. But it is Markus et al who pull the strings, and I’m just crossing my fingers here… let them decide. And so they have. It was all just a little “karhunpalvelus” as we say it in Finnish and as I have been saying over and over again. Exactly coinciding with my departure from OG is the ‘releasing’ of my other band’s magic called The Sleeping Gold. The reason why I am so shamelessly advertising this is that most of the OG themes are directly related to this other Work I have been doing since 1993-4. This Melo DM thing was a nostalgy trip for me ever since the beginning (and I made it clear all the time). Those who are interested in my lyrics may find something worth reading in TYM, and the four different records (including the new unofficial demo Ride The Horse of Soul) I made with OG can be seen as a continuation and a side trail of this other Work. To those of you who think I’m bad I can now give a sense of relief and hope to hear from Omnium Gatherum something they always wanted. To those of you who think I’m not that bad I can say that maybe I chose the right way to leave. Which means that I didn’t. So whatever the case, my hands are clean. But no hard feelings, even though it’s a cliché. It was the true will of us all, I don’t hate Fati showing itself this way."
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

WOODBINE GARDEN SESSIONS

























WOODBINE GARDEN SESSIONS APRIL 2004:











WOODBINE GARDEN SESSIONS JANUARY 2006:






Recorded at Woodbine Garden Studio, April 2004, November 2004 & January 2006, by Teemu Aalto & OG. These were meant to be rehearsal sessions, and so we left them "unfinished". Maybe there's a bit of human touch in return, at least I hope the soul comes through. They're close to what it was like when we played live. Vocals for the April 2004 sessions were recorded in less than three hours, but they needed more than three cups of coffee. Some of the lyrics for the January 2006 sessions were written and arranged only a few days before the recordings (but they are as complete as it can get). The Finnish words on Das Wegrecht were taken from an old spell, meaning to ward off evil spirits. They feed us li(n)es, but the truth is all we have to have. Woodbine Garden Sessions are now official boot legs for the record. ALL WRONGS REVERSED!


 














CITY RED LIGHT 
WITH HIGH SPIRITS AND BARCLAY

 Light the city red for that honey
Maybe it will breathe with the soul
Even when I'm drunken no longer
All the names of God will be there
Come, bless the world
And I’ll pray for them tonight
Come, bless the world
They’ll pray for me tonight
The light is gone, help us now
We gotta face the ghosts, know it all
No church will help without pity
All living things they have a soul
But god given coins we need here
Come, bless the world
And I’ll pray for them tonight
Come, bless the world
They’ll pray for me tonight
Where has all that faith gone
If the cities fall and if we fail
We’ll go back to them, old places
Where the spirits are high
What’s wrong with a summer night
Alright just a drunkard telling 
Things, didn’t have that much to say
Some have it more, some have it less
Is the City of Being (still) here
Or is it burning to the ground
No, if the cities fall and if we fail
We’ll go back to them, old places
Where the spirits are high
Where the spirits are high

 NEITHER DEAD NOR ALIVE

 We’re not cowboys
But we ride on a steel horse
Bad things are many
From fear of life 
To that of death
But the good thing is 
Nobody wants us
Neither dead nor alive
And I swear it’ll be all straight
But you better stand your ground
When I shoot will it be near...
It will be the truth oh yeah no yeah
You may get shot through the heart
With a mouthful of fine words
‘Cause you never know
Even when you’re standing tall
Who’s coming, who’s got a gun
(“The water in these boots
On a cold autumn day, it’s a truth
But a truth I can’t accept”)
Who’s coming, who’s got a gun
Bang bang shoot shoot
We’re not cowboys
But we ride on a steel horse
Bad things are many
From fear of life 
To that of death
But the good thing is 
Nobody wants us
Neither dead nor alive
And I swear it’ll be all straight
But you better stand your ground
When I shoot will it be near...
When I shoot it’ll be the truth
When I shoot will it be the truth

 REMEMBER THE FROZEN

 This land is precious like before
So beautiful is the sight, 
Pure as crystal scryed over 
The hills and the freezing nights
From the secret stars above
To the ground so frozen
(It hides) in every act and thought
Timeless forests remember the heart
Forever I shall enshrine 
The memory of thine
The trees have grown, 
I watch them rise
And speak of times 
Before this life
On the snow a beast has walked
Near the graves of their gods
Our long gone dead loved ones
Still guiding us in 
This time and space
Forever I shall enshrine 
The memory of thine
The trees have grown, 
I watch them rise
And speak of times 
Before this life
"And the earth is our soul"
How could a man with his boots
Could he ever kill a soul
I’ve heard their voices, neverending
Forever I shall enshrine 
The memory of thine

 DAS WEGRECHT (The Horse Of Soul)
Or, Paul Celan's blues

 Keep the world 
From lying groundless
And the sleep of many 
From one’s own dreams
To save us from 
Being no ones now
Save what is good in this
Fear is loathsome 
As resting ungrounded
The world is full 
Of all kinds of others
With different fights, 
Different rights now
(Us and them of which) 
Some are red and others black
While some are white 
And walk the wrong hand path
I'm in the middle of them all, 
Give me the right of way
Don’t let a heart lose its name
I’ll greet them like this
Take my own horse and ride it
Up and down my very own pathways
Just let there be light 
Or a guiding voice
For human will 
And the divine heights
And for those who could 
Not choose between them
Some are red and others white
While some are black 
And walk the wrong hand path
I'm in the middle of them all, 
Give me the right of way
Don’t let a heart lose its name 
Again, like the angel whose wings 
Were blackened by oil
Or like an old word, 
Full of dust and forgotten
"Kumpi tietää vähemmän, 
Se väistyy tieltä!"
"Jos oot paha, tekemä toisen
niin koittele kotiis, ja kovasti
Mä'e syrjin syyttömästä,
Vieritse viattomasta!"
Some will go away 
While others are coming back
And some are standing still, 
And some don’t even know
What is the why and where is the who
But life is red and love is white 
While death is black
Everything is blues

 MY HANDS WERE TIED

 Let it flow and let them 
Leave behind what they want
For black is the river 
That runs in their veins
And they will be 
Free from ol' God
All of the heathens 
Who never fell in love
Or they fell but they fell 
Too long with no one
Yes wise oldman river goes on and on
Whether you’re chained to it or not
Like a downhearted singer of North
“I ran like hell, those motherf___ 
Dogs and gunmen trying to get me, 
But I ran like hell”
And old laws were no more
But they’re here now
Because I need them
And old loves were no more
But they’re here now,
Let them stay (for a while)
For all that we have been
If we begin to do nothing, 
Oh no God our hands will be tied 
And we get caught everywhere 
Of the day or in the hours of night
Sleep(ing) mornings away 
To get through the worst
“For everything that can be 
Broken, is it broken already
For everything that can be 
Broken, is it broken already”
And old loves were no more
But they’re here now 
Because I need them
And old laws were no more
But they’re here now,
Let them stay (for a while)
For all that we have been



"When the light is red, it means stop. Do not walk."
These bootlegged songs have returned to the early OG's atmospheres, and something positive is in the air, never mind all the bullshit going on. Angels offer their help and Barclay's City Red is lit for the girl on the street. We're not Finnish / finished yet. So many things are coming together. Tetragrammaton is just around the corner, waiting to be finally pronounced, but is it right or wrong? Either way, aren't we all guilty. City Red Light (With High Spirits And Barclay) is urging people to move from urban areas to the countryside, that is, ”if the cities fall and if we fail”. Erich Fromm wrote of The City of Being. And The Church of Pity was the title of a poem in 2002-2003. Neither Dead Nor Alive is like Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead Or Alive. Or then again, maybe not. Remember The Frozen is an old song title from 1996. Some of the lines were taken from another song. Same era. It was about silence and winter nights. Vladimir Vysotsky sang about boots that can never stamp down a soul. See his Song About The Earth. And Das Wegrecht is “the right of way”, taken from Paul Celan’s poem. Celan killed himself. I can’t recall who was the singer of the old Finnish spell fragments. The first line, however, is from the classic theme of Kilpalaulanta, The Singing Match. It is all about knowing, knowers, and the way we wanna go. "Tie" means “road, path, way”, and "tietää" means “to know”. The Wrong Hand Path refers to various things, but is mainly about trespassing. We should learn how to pay our respects to each other. Free Spirit and the freedom of choice / will should be cherished at all cost. And we all have a right to change our opinions, our ways, our paths. Maybe this is just an ideal, but it's something I have learned to be worth striving for. A fellow poet Janne Nummela told me in 2003 that the vocals on SAAL sound "like an angel whose wings have been blackened by oil" (enkeli jolla on siivet öljyssä). My Hands Were Tied is a dear song lyric to me. Many lines were taken from Under Autumnal Rain (first version, Spring-Summer 1995). I was faced with a serious problem those days: my heart bled tears of joy but I was the singer of a band that needed to have bad boy lyrics. And as I was learning that Other Thing (it would get much worse), I ended up writing about black rivers and things like "can heathens fall in love?" Luckily I didn’t have to answer the question since my soon-to-be ex-first love left me like a bullet leaves...... Anyway, there is also a quote taken from Maija Vilkkumaa's ever-green hit. Which one and where, I will not tell.
Before January 2006 studio sessions I went to Hellhole (the rehearsal place) and sensed that I will never return there again. In April, a few days after OG crew had told me I'm out, me and a friend of mine walked the streets of Helsinki and met Ike Vil (Babylon Whores vocalist) in the red lights. My friend wanted to interview him. It was a perfect time and place to ask. The questions we had in mind were eventually too difficult to answer – but Ike was not the one to blame. The themes from Helsinki then continued. The next weekend I did something I don't usually do. I went to see The Black League, with a poster (and the record) they had sent me a few months earlier, for losing a TBL contest – Jarva himself had wanted to make a little contribution for this loser without money. So I got their autographs. ”What's wrong with a summer night alright, just a drunkard telling things, didn't have that much to say” is a reference to one of my heroes, and the coincidental meeting I had with him in the summer of 2004 near Lapponia Restaurant. He was too drunk to tell me anything, except that I talk bullshit. And he was right, even though he didn't know who I was. I acted as if I didn't know him. But I want to be clear about this: it was an honour and a moment I'd been waiting for a long time. I can not describe the meaning of these little coincidences. All I can do is to express my sincere gratitude and respect. Had I stayed in OG, I would have asked Jarva to sing one song with me, about "bastard's difficulties". I had decided this in the summer of 2005. Instead, my little ghost ride ended up X.X.X.X after Sentenced. But this was all making sense. Then, right down to the ground the VR-Makasiinit burned down, and I walked the streets of Helsinki amidst all the fire and smoke. It was an odd sight to see. The good thing was, "I'd been there, done that". I was in the middle of a spiritual battleground and tried not to choose any sides. In July 2005 Tuska afterparty we had played City Red Light for the first time. VR-Makasiinit was the place – and the only time I had been there before was in 2000, when I saw both TBL and BW play live. Maybe someone misunderstood what I tried to say with ”light the city red”. We may have differing opinions about some things, but it doesn't matter, these songs I must dedicate to the late Sentenced, and the late nineties. Without those things.....

YEARS IN WASTE


THE FALL WENT RIGHT THROUGH HERE
WASTE OF BEREAVEMENT
MISANTHROPIC (LET THE CROWN FALL)
BLACK SEAS CRY
IT’S A LONG NIGHT
NO MOON & NO QUEEN
GRAVESILENCE
THE NOLAN’S FATI
MORE WITHERING
AUGURIES GONE
YIW is much more sophisticated than our previous releases. Many people have said there's coldness in it, or even loss of soul. For a journey into the wastelands of youth it is only natural to have that kind of feelings somewhere along the way. Well, it ends in the tulip fields, where the morning sun is shining and everything's fine. The long night is over. But whether or not there is real mysticism behind the veils, or just fooling around, you will have to decide for yourself. YIW is not a hit in the face (though with these songs it would have been even likely to become one, just listen to ”Theme From Helsinki, Helsinki”, the demo version of ”Waste Of Bereavement”). Auguries go with odd apologies and sympathies, but there's no hate for you, honey. Musically YIW has many sides to its story, some playing hard to get in their tekhne, while others are just simply beautiful. Lyrically it brings together the letter of pop cult and the spirit of high cult. Or was it vice versa? This was the end of an era: the long awaited homecoming of our Wastrel.
- Written for the August 2008 release

THE FALL WENT RIGHT THROUGH HERE

           Whose fault is it
If one hasn’t been here 
Long enough to be happy
‘Cause every day they try 
With branched thoughts
But they fail in something, 
They fail to see
         Whose fault is it
If one hasn’t been here 
Long enough to be happy
‘Cause every day they try 
With branched thoughts
But they fail in something, 
They fail to see
That “I’m so fucking tired, 
Why can’t I be alright”
And for those who felt n
Nothing this year
The fall went right through 
Here, And here
And here with the burdens 
We’ll have to take now
To be safe from harm, 
To get us through
For how long has it been there
My heart’s so full of this
No leaves will line the streets
And who could ask for more, 
Who could ask for more
The world of my soul is all I have
To thank with all of my patience
And I don’t wanna follow
The same old goddamn line
‘Cause it would be too much 
And I would be no more
Then I wouldn’t be at all, 
Then I wouldn’t be at all

 WASTE OF BEREAVEMENT

 Now the devil is old and diseased
In the very heart of each bone
All the sons have 
Gone to their mothers
To learn the things that will count
Those who die may come back
“How you leave today” does not
And if you wanna get down below
Then you'll get down below
How I'd like to live 
In a city that don’t breed 
For spiritless dreams
But I'll stay awake and I'll pray
Let them go away if they want
“My fucking youth in a sewer”
Is not the loss to be grieved
And I got no hate for you
Honey, No good it will ever be
If I can't make it here 
I'm not gonna make it
If not here, I'm not gonna 
Make it, make it anywhere
“My fucking youth in a sewer”
Is not the loss to be grieved
And I got no hate for you
Honey, No good it will ever be
Poor devil's ass for god's fist
If what you are is being a no one
And if you wanna get down below
Then you'll get down below
Oh oh oh oh, Is it like that
Will the little town little boots
Melt away, Melt into this world
If I can't make it here 
I'm not gonna make it
If not here, I'm not gonna 
Make it, make it anywhere
Anywhere, Anywhere

 MISANTHROPIC (LET THE CROWN FALL)

 Will the earth sink into 
The abyss of nothingness
With naught but thick blackness
And have I followed 
The will of my own
No, I don’t think 
I’m any better than you
If the circle gets 
All straightened up
Then comes the age 
Of northern winds
No one is crowned, 
Let this word be weighed
I’ve washed my hands 
To hold you close
Well, I'm dead serious tonight 
And I'll have it now
Set out to sing, Baby, 
To sing the verses of fall
When there are no more words left
That's the right thing 
To do, Right on yeah
Well, I'm dead serious tonight 
And I'll have it now
Set out to sing, Baby, 
To sing the verses of fall
When there are no more words left
That's the right thing to do
It's not a question of who's 
The meanest motherfucker on earth
It's not a question of who gives 
Or who doesn't give a fuck
"Maahan miehet, Maahan miekat, 
Maahan untelot urohot,
Sa'at miehet siiven alta, 
Kymmenet kynän nenästä!"

 BLACK SEAS CRY

 A wretched man one will grow to be
While someone’s heart is weeping
Is it a lot of weight, A lot of grief
And what will become of this
There’s nothing for us, Nothing else
As long as it lasts 
The world’s all the same
Broken and lonely hallelujah
And three rivers will be with you
And the greater the sorrow
The more trees will grow 
From where it began
If you have to cry then cry now
And let them hear, 
Bringing the seas near
To know what it’s like..........
Oh yeah, I know what I don’t know
‘Cause I’m just like you
“Even if the search was neverending
I swear I’ll return here
With bitter frost surrounding
With a part of the emptiness
The night is inside, 
The night is beloved”
And three rivers will be with me
And the greater the sorrow
The more trees will grow 
From where it began
If I cry now it’s too much
But I’ll let them hear, 
Bringing the seas near
To know what it’s like……….

 IT’S A LONG NIGHT

 Empty frames, Withered leaves 
And a broken window
“18 years have had to go, 
They’re gone, Who found the path”
The angles to my heart wide open 
With angelic speech
But it can’t be said out loud, 
The thing is that it can’t be said
Or the morning sun will set 
Into magic sleep
Something in my heart told me 
I must have you
Tonight I’ll have it all, 
Now lay on the bedded grass
It’s coming and it’s a long night
For the souls who got nobody
It’s coming and it’s a long night
For the souls who got 
Nobody to lean on
Empty frames, Withered leaves 
And a broken window
Love was not a glance away
A warm embrace more than a dance away
“I should go outside and take a walk”
With no incense and no lute
It’s coming and it’s a long night
For the souls who got nobody
It’s coming and it’s a long night
For the souls who got 
Nobody to lean on
It’s coming and it’s a long night
For the souls who got nobody
It’s coming and it’s a long night
For the souls who got 
Nobody to lean on
And autumn is there 
To picture the loss
I’m not going back, No, 
I’m not going back to that

 NO MOON & NO QUEEN

 Snowing wherever you go
Seen in the red light of sunset
Tell me of times before this life
And tell me if it’s too late, 
Already too late
I’ve tried to be cleansed 
From their quarrels
The curtain of flames 
Was easily passed
Though I feared, I feared a lot
For life can be hard sometimes
When we’re dreamless and cold
The moon hiding tears of scarlet
Nothing but a glance of mourning
Winter queen is made of deceit
And the heathens they 
All die too young
“I want to hold you in my arms,
I want you more than my soul”
In chambers and in need
For my eyes to be blessed
And what was the worth of it all
How did I live through the mist
Given the part of a wolf
Almost hunted down by the weak
In chambers and in need
For my eyes to be blessed
For life can be hard sometimes
When we’re dreamless and cold
The moon hiding tears of scarlet
Nothing but a glance of mourning
Winter queen is made of deceit
And the heathens they 
All die too young
“I want to hold you in my arms,
I want you more than my soul”

 GRAVESILENCE

 Good life brings loss 
That is honest
The rope tightens 
When I’m soulless like you
Now I’m here with this 
Fucked up dream
Not a sound, Time 
Has stopped and we’re blind
Who turned the amplifier 
To full volume and sang 
About grave silence:
“Rainy days and lonely 
Nights, Only darkness
There’s no light or 
X.X.X.X in my life”
This place is a moment 
Of grief, No bullshit
Who turned the amplifier 
To full volume and sang 
About grave silence:
“Rainy days and lonely 
Nights, Only darkness
There’s no light or 
X.X.X.X in my life”
This place is a moment 
Of grief, No bullshit
With years changing 
It all stays the same
Where am I going 
And where have we been
True depression is 
Different, Isn’t it
“If I can’t cut it out 
And direct the force
To something useful, 
I’ll make the right decision”
And it’s not like a real suicide

 THE NOLAN’S FATI

 For how long have 
They done thy will
“The sun of midnight 
Is ever the son”
How much it takes to see 
What burns our skin
Oh what have we achieved by this
Words are spoken and things 
Are done, What is wrong
God is damned but 
(God’s animal mother) 
Goddamn is alright
“I can’t find myself, 
Don’t need this anymore”
(Well, At least my mother 
Has faith in magic)
The loss of strength 
Could not have me
I got new boots, 
I'm back on my feet
(Asinine and golden 
I ride to this city)
While by our lady 
Precious chaos rules
For how long has 
All been in dirt
Let’s hope it rains, 
I think they’re dying 
Or is it just me
Well, At least the stars 
Gave birth to something new
But if it’s the kind of love 
And it’s the kind of love
That we’ve been warned about, 
They’re in trouble
And the stakes are high 
As that of Bruno’s
For all the humble tyrants nowadays
Is it better to keep on singing
“Your paths were never 
Even close to mine”
When I was cast aside 
I thought it’d be my fate
With hollow eyes Proserpina’s 
Garden is left behind
And the stakes are high 
As that of Bruno’s
For all the humble tyrants nowadays
Is it better to keep on singing
“Your paths were never 
Even close to mine”

 MORE WITHERING

 Caught somewhere 
Close to this world
Close enough to watch beside
Where else could have we retired
When there’s no place at all, 
No, Dear, Is there a haven 
For those who can’t wait no more
Would there be a haven for us
Mordant wrath is like a dead tree
For my ears were, 
They were killing me
Mordant wrath is like a dead tree
For my ears were, 
They were killing me
“You think you’re withering 
But you’re not withering”
Mordant wrath is like a dead tree
For my ears were, 
They were killing me
You know I have tried not to forget
How I suffered from everything
That was within (and all over) me
And what we used to be like
In the haven where I lived
Without you, Without you
Now would you help me
’Cause I’ve seen this already
Have I taken it all with me
“And I’m so easily caught
Forgive me that I’m caught in this
That I can’t help it like 
I couldn’t help it before”
You know I have tried not to forget
How I suffered from everything
That was within (and all over) me
And what we used to be like
In the haven where I lived
Without you, Without you

 AUGURIES GONE

 They say the good man has 
Gone bad and nothing’s god 
Comes to those who wait
But they own our world 
And I’m not part of it
Are those devils gonna have their way
We’ve been stranger than the night
But force and furor helped us through
“Babe, you got real wolfen eyes
Would you come and take me down”
.....Down .....Down.....Down....
......Down like this.....
So now I’m sober and quiet 
Like a thief (don’t need 
An augur to save the day)
Well, I’ve seen all 
Nietzsche’s blood dry
The things I hear 
Are they what I want
We have no right 
To what’s left inside
Damn right we’ll get it back

 “…Like a falling rose 
The red wine bleeds 
Lovelorn tears vanish 
In bereavement.... 
...Shattered echoes 
Of yesterday I heard 
Them fade away like a...” 
(In early 1997)

 Wading across the tulip fields 
In an old park, In remembrance

And in solemn moments 
Such as this I’ve……
“En ma enää aja virvatulta”

 They say I got wasted, 
But my hands are clean
I got long hair 
And empty pockets, 
No money at all
But this wastrel’s 
Got a free spirit 
And he’ll walk with you
My eyes may have suffered 
But they’re still full of X.X.X.X

 It lives in my heart and always will
It lives in my heart and always will


The Fall Went Right Through Here (video)

 The video could explain something. There's OG on television, and the singer's ridiculous "tough guy" looks are too stupid for the one who's watching, so he throws the TV out of the window. The video is good, especially if it's thought of being staged like that. But the album covers were a problem. To be honest, I was terrified when I saw the SAAL cover for the first time. Now they wanted to have a big skull with a graveyard. And the title would have been Fall Grave Silence? No thanks. But why not? I'll have to leave you without an answer. In / on my own way I was happy about it all. Maybe The Fall had to look this way and get X.X.X.X. But I still beg you to read the lyrics, if you want to know what's happening. And do let the musicians play! Don't ask for more.

 Waste Of Bereavement
Bereavement is a song title from October-December 1996

 I wrote this song in July 2003 at the summer cabin where, unlike usually, I managed to do some men's work in the woods. What's going on amidst our thoughts and.... Some people want to be bad to the bone. Other people don't see the forest from the trees and they go hunting down the devil without looking what's inside themselves. I think the word confusion says a lot. And there is something for everyone. It doesn't really matter that much how you take the lesson as long as you take it. For your own sake, the interpretation is free, and almost anything goes as long as you keep the politics (and porn) out of it. And whatever you want to get, you'll get it? All the young guns blazing, they'll get down below alright. Black leather boots melt away like the identity of a man who tries to convince himself they were made for walking not melting. The ghost of Nick Drake had to be taken care of. However, the lesson he learned, we needed to hear about it. I didn't realize it back then, but this is also about the migrating souls looking for a new body to settle in. ”Those who die may come back”, but how you deal with your life today is always unique. This Great Southern Finnish Trendkilling Ghost Ride, what about it first live 2003.

 Misanthropic (Let The Crown Fall)
An old song title from August 1996

 Is it the end of the world or just one age passing by? Ragnarök inspired me back in 1996, and so a quote from the Twilight of the Gods was needed for this song, also. And let it be known that ”no, I don't think I'm any better than you”. I've tried to keep my hands clean, whether the question was about blood money or dirty deeds done dirt cheap. And of course we have Lemminkäinen's war cry from Kalevala. They are coming back from their Pohjola journey to steal Sampo. Let's Finnish the game, Vanhala?

 Black Seas Cry

 Apologies for one's mother. And sympathy for the young and the wicked. This title came to me when I sat in an old bar in Pärnu, Estonia, in July 2003. And Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is on. Many lines were taken from old songs of mine, dating from early 1996. And the Kalevala Tarot card Three of Swords is described in the chorus. I also thought of including a subtitle, but left it out eventually. (There are some remains of a quote taken from Crowley's book, in the end of this song). What was I thinking? Because of Claude Lévi-Strauss and Richard Wagner compassion as a theme is being underlined from the very beginning to the last minute. ”Oh yeah I know what I don't know, 'Cause I'm just like you” etc. Follow the river(s) and from your sorrow new trees will grow. If you manage to leave your prejudices behind, and try to weigh the words here, you could end up in a certain conclusion. There's a cry of distress coming from the black seas in Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra – but I didn't remember the scene in question when I wrote the lyrics. It was his last, greatest temptation: pity and compassion. He had to overcome them on his way to becoming a Superhuman. So where was he going? I'd like to remind you of the old fisher king and the lines....

 It's A Long Night

 It's A Long Night came together with Black Seas Cry. Some quotes were taken from Gravesilence (the original one, from January 1997). And there are strangers in the night ex-changing. But was love just a glance away, warm embrace a dance away. The autumnal streets in Kallio, Helsinki, are they romantic. John Keats wrote an ode to Psyche. I took a line or two from there. The difference between angels and angles is "good to think". The Russian poet Arseni Tarkovsky told us how the soul may feel without the body (see his son's movie The Mirror). We could also take up St. John of The Cross and his Night of Soul if we really want to go that far.

No Moon & No Queen

 The Moon shone stranger than ever, while I went back in time, to look for my lost verse dealing with reincarnation. On the background there was a neutral description of nature's cycles. When a wolf meets a lamb it's not exactly the same as when a girl meets a boy. But let all living things be loved. SAVE THE WILDLIFE. On Spirits there was desperate love and uninvited hate, but this is another story. The Heathen And The Moon is a song dating from 1995 and so is Winter Evenings Of Loneliness. There are lots of quotes from both. And also from Winter Queen (Winter-Spring 1996) and from Through The Mist Of Night Eternal (early 1996).

 Gravesilence
An old song title from January 1997

 Radio, play my favourite song. Gina G's Ti Amo makes one more appearance. Most of this song was taken from the original Gravesilence. But its contents have been turned pretty much inside out. Here's a chance for you to leave the place. Another way out from the Great Depression. But a friend of mine couldn't take it anymore when he heard that I used Ti Amo again. And I couldn't help it, either. She said it so well. My old partners in crime, Tomi Pekkola & Jussi Matikainen, forgive me for not changing the name of the (C)old waste song. I separated the two words, but in the end joined them back together. It was a mistake. (I did not force OG to change the title of this album to Years in Waste, I just told them we should try to make up a new one together. Fall Grave Silence was NEVER an option, just a working title.)

 The Nolan's Fati (video)

 Wyclef Jean and Mary J. Blige sing in their wonderful duet: ”if this is the kind of love that the old folks used to warn me about, I'm in trouble, I'm in real big trouble”. But it's not clear who are the ones in trouble in this song. Can you tell me? At least there are all kinds of quotes, from my old song Amor Fati, one from Crowley's bastard Law and two etymologies by Edmund Leach: Goddamn comes from god's animal mother, don't ask what it means. By our lady is Bloody. So what is wrong? And who is right? "The stakes are high as that of Bruno's". I remember feeling ambiguous when it came to Bruno, because I thought he was too radical, too rebellious. That's what I was thinking in 2004. Nowadays I'm certain he's true, not false. Reaching for the Sun and the God in eternity, he was a believer in the brotherhood and equality of all men. They may have burned him at the stake, but his spirit lives on. All good heretics have been Lovers like that, Bruno just had too much fire in his heart etc. And certain Catholics have a lot to pay for, it was not the first nor the last time they acted out a real black mass. The answer to the question in the end of the song is still no.

 More Withering

 Not every day one gets a chance to hear T.S. Eliot whispering a quote he took from the Bible. ”Mordant wrath is like a dead tree.” I had this sketch for a poem called Last Nights Of September At Hand since the fall of 2002. First version was four pages long, but I ended up using its lines for YIW. If some of the words here and there (especially in this song and in The Fall Went....) feel like ”real poetry”, I hope this helps you to understand why.

 Auguries Gone

 "They say the good man has gone bad, and nothing's god comes to those who wait." Let them speak for themselves, today the answers have to be found from within. Greetings from the Manicheans and the Gnostics, boni homines, the Good Men. Leonard Cohen's Memories come with a solemn light and vain chances. Eino Leino's Nocturne is there in all of its sadness. But the last verse is given to Anki Lindqvist who sings about tulip fields and long-haired empty pockets. There are words taken from her songs and words influenced heavily by them. I read Nietzsche when I was bitter sixteen, and unfortunately understood much of what I read. But he ain't going nowhere, it is only after knowing Nietzsche's Why and Where that we are able to think what we wanna do with our lives. The debts have been paid and something went down the drain. But it's all right mama, we're only bleeding. To get wasted could mean so many things and it depends. I mean, look who's talking. Baby, this wastrel's coming home. Without his journey the ground wouldn't feel the same, there wouldn't be these words to speak.  And read your Philosophie der Freiheit before you leave the harbour, that might be the lesson. I mean the whole world, not just "our laughing prodigal sons", like the old Kaihoro song goes.


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