SONATA ARCTICA LYRICS

1. Closer To An Animal

I am a man
You fell down from that apple tree
The other day with me

We had already forgotten
We one day crawled up
From the sea

Imagine now
If we one day could build
A flying contraption and see the world

What if we could somehow
Store knowledge in a cloud
Draw a smiling face on the moon
Find the meaning of life

Riding the crest of our time
With bravado, soon complete
Will we see a new one rise behind us
A new chance, a new world

Our wave
It's about to break
And we're about to dive in the void
It echoes our fall
Our paean to avarice

I think we're closer to an animal
Every day, till we fall...

Can you believe
We have all those eyes high in the sky
And we can now see the world

One thing truly makes me blind
The wisdom of hindsight
The eye in my own hand

Riding the crest of our time
With bravado, soon complete
Will we see a new one rise behind us
A new chance, a new world

I think I'm closer to an animal
Every day, till I fall...

If you want it all
You can have it all
But greed raises oceans too

When the glacier of
Our broken dreams
Melts in your champagne glass

Someone knocks on your door
Four times...
Sand in your hour glass

Every grain is a day falling
Finding it's rightful place

If you want it all
You can have it all
But greed raises oceans too

When the glacier of
Your broken dreams
Melts in your champagne glass

Do we need it all
We can have it all
Our greed will raise oceans soon

And the glacier of
Our human dream
Gone with the champagne glass
In the sea

"I am a man
In the grand scheme of things
Only minutes have passed
Since I crawled up from the sea
But already
I've built a flying contraption
And seen the world
I've drawn a smiley face on the moon
And stored knowledge in a cloud
...What a wonderful gift our mind is.
But why am I using ot
To destroy this beautiful planet...
My only home.
If it defines me, if it makes me a human,
I need to get closer to my inner animal."

2. Life

[Written by Tony Kakko]

Life is an illusion
Time a mere delusion
The cage is a creation
Of someone‘s imagination
If life makes you glow, then glow like a star
You’re the night, you’re the day
Own the sky, live in the clouds, defy gravity

A sign, an aberration, your road down to damnation
When a restroom illustration predicts the tribulation
Let the dreams give you hope, live in a dream
Let the music flow
With your eyes closed from the vast garden of stars

Sing one rhyme,
Wait for the punch line
The notes are blind
But they know when you sing and

Smile
Life is better alive
It is a dumb thing to say,
But the fact won’t wane away
Sing with someone today
When your team makes a game winning goal,
Get ready to sing

Lalalalaa….
With a friend who’s right beside you
Lalalalaa…
With the friends beside you…

Time - every light on the blue sky night will beautify
Time - cast coins in the waterfall,
Two coins, one for each eye

Time - the icy tingle of empty vapour on your hand
Time - a tiny crack’s a grand canyon in its command

Just one line,
Sing with a feeling
Turn back time
Make all your stars align

The only thing you need, the vanity of happiness
When friends align
They sing in the key of…

Life
Life is better alive
It is a dumb thing to say,
But the fact won’t wane away
Smile at someone today
If the wall smiles back you’re alive, and ready to
Sing,
Life is better alive
It is a dumb thing to say,
But the fact won’t wane away
Sing with someone today
When your team makes a game winning goal,
Get ready to sing

Lalalalalalaaa….
With a friend who’s right beside you
Lalalalalalaaa….
With the friend beside you

Lalalalalalaaa….
It is a dumb thing to say,
But the fact won’t wane away
Lalalalalalaaa….
Life is better alive
When your team makes a game winning goal,
Get ready to sing
It is a dumb thing to say,
But your life is better alive
Life is better alive…

3. Fairytale

[Written by Tony Kakko]

It’s cold and we’re all snowed in
Vote yes for the global warming
Reaping the things the poor are sowing
What then are the polls showing?

Who’ll be the superseder,
The builder of the walls; a great leader
He’ll rape us all and say surprise….
and everything is fine.

The one who traps the most monkeys in
The maze will win
The ballots handed did not have all names in
You know that? I’m just saying…

The New World Order
Keeps fishing in the troubled water“
Choose me. I will pour more fish in the sea”

So, I would need a billion dollars to my name?
But no validation, no acclaim?
It’s like a play, TV-make-up, a toupée,
The chosen one may dig one grave.
For the nation. Hooray!

Fairytale for the ones with no hope
Human weakness gets explored
And the end is the triumph of the poor, hey it’s
A fairytale for the ones with the dough
And here‘s the happy rending news
Told by the one you’ll choose

Wait, wait, wait, there is more!

All the news your TV’s sending,
The same news they ́re all dispensing
One Ring to rule them all, who’s paying,
Where’s Waldo, Who’s the Walrus?

Confuse to veil the wrong questions
By the only ones with the answers
“Facts are stupid things”

No, I don’t need a billion dollars to my name
I don’t need a star, The Walk of Fame
It’s all a play, TV-make-up, a toupée,
The chosen one will dig my grave.
Hip, hip, hooray!

Fairytale for the ones with no hope
Human weakness gets explored
And the end is the triumph of the poor, hey it’s
A fairytale for the ones with the dough
Turn the page with fingers so,
So long and beautiful

The moon is rising down
Your smile is but a frown
Befitting like a tailor-made, upscale suit on a clown

“Things have never been more like the way they are
Today in history”
“Sir, you are urinating on me”
“It’s freezing and snowing in New York.
We need global warming”
“Let’s steel our wills and lose our minds”
Let’s steel our wills and lose our minds, our minds

No, I don’t need a billion dollars to my name
I don’t need a star, The Walk of Fame
It’s all a play, TV-make-up, a toupee,
The chosen one will dig my grave.
Hey-yay!

Fairytale for the ones with no hope
Human weakness gets explored
And the end is the triumph of the poor, hey it’s
A fairytale for the ones with the dough
Turn the page with fingers so,
So, long an beautiful

Fairytale for the ones with no hope
Human weakness gets explored
And the end is the triumph of the poor, hey it’s
A fairytale for the ones with the dough
Page by page, we turn and fall asleep
Then count the only sheep,
too afraid to leap…
in to a ravine.

“It’s not how many people vote
and how they vote.
It’s who counts the votes.”
[-Josif Vissarionovitš Džugašvili]

4. We Are What We Are

[Written by Tony Kakko]

I walked down from the mountain
Failed to find youth from the fountain
I summoned the Gods of old by a song
And then I killed them all

When there was a storm I sang louder
After I failed I tried harder
If I didn‘t like how the lake reflected me
The lake would dry

I am a human
Disgraceful is humanity
I am a human
Destroyer of many worlds, not one
I can end another animal
Deeming they are suffering
But this ample mercy’s not for me

Man came down from the mountain
Blind for the love all around him
The last beautiful heartbeat

We could save our world, but we are what we are
We should love our Earth, but we are what we are
It takes care of our loved ones
But we are what we are…

You haven’t thought of this, have you?
The place we call home, without value
If you didn’t like how the songbird greeted thee,
The bird would die…

The ship we leave behind us has no anchor.
Thus your only child will sail too far from the sun…

We could save our world, but we are what we are
We should love our Earth, but we are what we are
It takes care of our loved ones
But we are what we are…

We could save our world, but we are what we are
We should love our Earth, but we are what we are
And take care of our loved ones
But we are what we are…

We could love our world, but we are what we are
We should save our Earth, but we are what we are
It would save our loved ones
But we are what we are…
But we are what we are…
But we are what we are…
But we are what we are…
But we are what we are…
But we are what we are…
But we are what we are…
But we are what we are…
But what are we?

5. Till Death's Done Us Apart

[Written by Tony Kakko]

You made me smile, dear
Now I never do when I’m alone
Pulling on a thread of life
Just to see what unravels this time,
My love’s a clone…

Once upon a time there was a boy who wrote a fairytale
Ding, dong, ding, dong,
Where everything would go wrong
And one day then…

He found a girl he fell in love with
Who thought forever is only a myth
They lived the fairytale, prophecy
And since slowly grew apart, but…

One, two, three, one, two, three
She was dancing on their wedding day
Hiding deep the secret in her heart…
Till death do us apart

There’s no sign of the love I found
In your heart, no more, no love, no wonder
You have tried to evade my touch,
It is plain to see we’re done, my weakness

When snow falls on the ruins once more
You’re still acting like a madonna
That you are not
I can hurt you now…
I know the pain, you’re already crushing me
By kissing me now…

You never should have loved me
‘Cause maybe my heart is made of stone
But still I wonder…
If our once forever is done,
Then, leave me.

In the light of the restless night
You fell asleep with the wound, forgot to bleed
For me, won’t you bleed for me
For the love, one drop, not more, my weakness

Snow must fall on the ruins once more
If you wish to see it end, you’ll have to
Paint your lips with the blood-red tar of my broken heart
Blood-red tar of a broken heart
The taste wears off, leaves a tainted scar…

I am nailed down on the wheel of torment
Spin me again, celebrate ends advent
Beautifully rust, my pain of sadness
Following your bread crumb trail to my madness

The darkest acres of human hearts are
Lit by the cinders of lost perfection
Once in a life time love, affection
Withering tree, most violent passion…

Once upon a time there was a man who lived his
Fairytale
Ding, dong, ding, dong,
And everything did go wrong
And one day then…

He lost the girl he fell in love with
She proved forever is only a myth
They lived the fairytale, prophecy
And were slowly torn apart

He is nailed down on the wheel of torment
Spin him again, celebrate ends advent
Beautifully rusting pain of sadness
Following her bread crumb trail to his madness

The darkest acres of human hearts are
Lit by the cinders of lost perfection
Once in a life time love, affection
Withering tree, the most violent passion…

You made him smile, dear
Now he never does, 'cause he’s alone
Hanging on a thread of life
Just to see what’ll save him now,
He wonders

You were like a siren,
Living on the island of his love
A drought in the chalice of life, so bitter
He knew it would kill him one day

Once upon a time there was a boy who wrote a
Fairytale,
Ding, dong, ding, dong,
Where everything would go wrong

Seems that he has found you now, so break the seal
And read the card
Ding, dong, ding, dong
“Until death has done us apart.“

6. Among The Shooting Stars

[Written by Tony Kakko]

There was a boy
There was a girl
There was a night
The moon, full and bright
There was a howl
Closer and closer
There was a scream
There was a bite

He’s always been a dreamer
A man without a face
The ghosts have silent footsteps

Her only real achievement
The license to be frail
The beauty of her wisdom
is permanently veiled

No music for the lonely
They only know one dance
The one they do alone…
The silence of their homes

Then winter builds a fortress
Around their lonely hearts
And life becomes a fable
A snow globe in the dark

The light of the frozen moon
The howl, a familiar tune…

The bane of an innocent dreamer
Two of a kind on a moonlit night
They walk among the shooting stars

Six words for a hapless drifter
A silver blade for the brave at heart
“Don’t become my work of art

”Save me, if you cannot save me
I need you to slay me
Only the embrace of my true love,
Could ever turn me back into a man now…
Into the man now…

She finds a tiny snow globe
A garland made of hay
“Oh ghost of silent footsteps
Can you expel this bane?”

Full moon confessions, lucid fantasy
It‘s not a dream
The hate, the fear, they can’t alleviate
“Soon they will know
But now we are together
We must go,
And get slain together,
or fall in love….”

Save me, you only could save me
Or you’ll have to slay me
Only an embrace of my true love
Can ever change me
Please say you can heal me…
Need you to break this spell, love

Save you, I know I could save you
No one has to slay you
Take my embrace, please, have my true love,
You’ve already saved me
Please, let me just break thee
Free from your bane, your globe of snow…

7. Rise A Night

[Written by Tony Kakko]

Vast were the storms, no hope for the dying
Home once so blue, a shade of grey in the dark

Then a well-lettered man saw a smile on a dolphin
It planted a thought with the eye of its mind

You could build a ship, sail the stars
Find a new home for all of us
Fare in the night
Find the light

We have sealed the fate of our kind
We have lost this fight
Fly in the dark, and find a warm, blue light
One to harbour life

A hope arise anew
Sailing forth, the Planet Blue will fill our needs
We’ll go in peace and ask them to
Take us to their leaders, my friend
And then we’ll kill them all!
Enslave their poor!
And inflict fear,
bring the all seeing Eye of Providence down here

We found discarded beauty
These creatures hate their home?
The locals called this all Planet Earth

Close their curtains, like a soldier does
You’re a hero for all of us!
Kneel as light
Rise a night

A new dawn of life for our kind
We will rise tonight
Wooo…
We will win this day,
Their leaders, knights
We control their minds

Sailed in the dark, and found their warm, blue light
Can still harbour life

Rise a night…
Rise a night…
Rise a night…
Rise a night…

8. Fly, Navigate, Communicate

[Written by Tony Kakko]

Fly, navigate, communicate

You remember, still,
All the words I’ve chosen wrong
The hand of time, it seems to accelerate

My hour of wolf
Morning flight will slice the sky
I would like to stay but can’t today

Talking is flaunting
Silence is so taunting
The word I don’t say has its own gravity

Fly, navigate, communicate
If you dare.

I will abdicate
All rights to say when things feel wrong
The gate’s closed for the day, turn, go away

Passport in one hand…
Exit the strange land
Things you have not planned…
Words have their meaning, like salt in the sea

For once I‘m doing things right
I won’t communicate in turbulent times,
But will navigate and fly

I’m trying to land in the sea, but the sea is on fire
Now we have to brace for the impact,
We’ll crash in the sea of bittersweet depravity

I can’t fly
I can’t navigate
Refuse to communicate
oh, I tried today…

We can’t fly
We can’t navigate
We fail to communicate
We’re afraid to care

9. Candle Lawns

[Written by Tony Kakko]

We were like brothers
Lives entwined
Kids who grew up together
Dreaming of the world we’d get to see one time

I found a girl and you bought a car
Seemed like that summer was over in a minute
Now it’s a fading wedding card

And so life goes on, when childhood’s gone
The times we’ve had, no words can say
And all the things we do won’t fade away
A real friend’s like a shelter on a rainy day

Tear of a widow, a hermit’s plea
Swords of an Angel King
We got to see the world in flames
before the calm

Fought like an eagle
Waited for the dove
We were the best, never knew there was a limit
But now all hell has broken loose…

Need you to
Give my son my purple heart
Brother, leave me, run, don’t close my eyes
My last save point’s getting out of reach
My game is over, let me fade away

And will you tell my son
‘bout the purple heart
And what it means to have him keep it today
And that he knows I smile in the clouds above
Come see me at what he calls candle lawns…

10. White Pearl, Black Oceans (Part II: By The Grace Of The Ocean)

[Written by Tony Kakko]

Once I felt the embrace of the sea
Loved me, held me,
Once I felt so despised by eternity
Fall upon me…
It’s upon me…

The waves are high above me
This’d be my home
Deep in the sea

Oh pain, float like a flower
The darkest sea refusing me…

Music of the seven gentle tides
Fade, in distance
Darkness was a friend, leaden the candle light
Slowly healing for a fortnight
I’m alive…

Memories;
I used to have a home in the light
But the meaning’s still escaping me
All the joy was gone along the barque, with the name…
There’s a face, my story in the deep dark sea…

Memories, he used to have a home in the light
The life he can’t remember anymore
Every night he sees the white barque in a dream
Every night adds colours to the memory…

Guiding star above the shallow sea
The grave of angels
Beacon for the ones who need to seize the night
For the last time, all onboard the
White Pearl…

All onboard for the very last time
Close your eyes, oh calamity
Feel their pain for the very first time
See myself in a dream

There was a lady who was saved from
Without a name to tell, afraid to stay,

she left, the leaves were umber
My only hope, she’s the one I have dreamt of
Follow my feelings, in her wake

I’ve become a true blight
I huddle in the daylight
Banished by my townsmen
With blood in my hands

Gallop across the moorlands
On a branded steed I’d stolen
Building my own gallows
Grave shallowed for a thief

Across the isle with the horse I ride
Close my eyes, oh calamity
Feel this pain for the very first time
I see her eyes, like a dream

I found the lady who was saved from the ocean
Without a name to tell, afraid to stay,
she left, the leaves were umber
I wonder, if she’s the one I had dreamt of…
Feelings get stronger in her wake

Without names to tell, afraid to stay,
we left, in rain and thunder
We ponder, if our dreams we’re all handed
Only by the grace of the sea

Memories, I used to have a home in The Light
Now we keep the far-side of the sea
And the joy we knew is still alive, trees so green
A New Face, The Beauty and the brand new me…

The music of my chosen gentle tide…

Turned into a story on the other side
A lone note in a lone vial
“We are alive”

THE END.

11. The Elephant

[Exclusive Japanese Bonus Track]

[Written by Tony Kakko]

I know, I’ve never been to a war
And hope I never have to
see my world go up in flames
with greed nor desire

All wars be a feast of death
And the truth goes by a bodyguard of lies
They feed on our fears,
War’s a contagion

A tiny child learned to build a wall
He has built a wall
He has sealed the door
He has been to war
He will wage war

The shortest war in recorded history took place in 1896
when Zanzibar surrendered to Britain after 38 minutes.
The longest war was the so-called 100-year war
between Britain and France.
It actually lasted 116 years, ending in 1453.
One out of every two casualties of war
is a civilian caught in the crossfire.
There are 92 known cases of nuclear bombs lost at seas.
The doors that cover the US nuclear silos
weigh 748 tons and open in 19 seconds. Wow.
About 50% of arms exports
go to non-democratic regimes.
Since 1495, no 25-year period has been without war.
Since 1815 there have beenmore than 210 interstate wars.
The NATO attack on Serbia in 1999 during
the Kosovo war killed more animals than people.
The very first bomb the Allies dropped
on Berlin in World War II killed the only
elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

Killed the only elephant in Berlin Zoo
A victim of that madness
No war ends ‘till the war is won
Our template of doom

They will kill the only elephant in your town too
Blue diamond, lifeless, formless
Little Boy Blue, like his papa once too
Blood will stay on the blade

Children will learn to destroy the things they can’t build

Killed the only elephant in Berlin Zoo
A victim of that madness
No war ends 'till the war is won
Our template of doom

They will kill the only elephant in your town too
Blue diamond, lifeless, formless
Little Boy Blue, like his papa once too
Blood will stay on the blade

He will go to war
He will build a wall
He will seal the door
He will end all wars

12. On The Faultline (Closure To An Animal)

[Written by Tony Kakko]

I am a man
You fell down from that apple tree
The other day with me
And now
You ask me to apologise for slowly
Crawling up from the sea?

We never seem to find
The time to sit by the fire
Under the crescent moon,
Lead a meaningful life

You ever wonder, love
If you could one day board a flying contraption
And see the world?
Without me?
Leave me behind to solve all the puzzles you have
Drawn on these walls over time

What if I could somehow store
Good memories in clouds
And fly to touch the moon
And your hand at the same time

Here I stand and look at my life
Barren, cold and incomplete
A mirror smiles at me with teary disdain
Pointing out the faults in me

Memories of holidays with you
Will rain on me from time to time
We have the road within ourselves
To countless paradises
When there is a tunnel there’s a light,
The thought is causing tremors
On the faultline between you and I

The clouds always trail the sun
And floods put out the fires
To flush away the signs of
The loves of our lives

Here I stand and look at my life
Barren, cold and incomplete
Mirror smiles at me with a teary disdain
Pointing out all faults in me

Memories of holidays with you
Will rain on me from time to time
We are the road, the paradise,
The broken wheel of fortune
When there’s a tunnel there’s a light,
The thought is causing tremors
On the fault line between you and I

When I’m without you
Am I the only human here?

Dancing on this fault line…

13. Run To You

[Exclusive Limited Edition Bonus Track]
[originally by Bryan Adams]








SONATA ARCTICA LYRICS