Amorphis
Under the Red Cloud
1. Under The Red Cloud
I retired a towering mountain
Laid down in a circle of stones
For three days and for three nights
I listened to the skull of a bear
The sun burnt its sigil into my chest
The rain washed the evil away
Time spun itself around me
The moon cast its silvery shell
I rose up in circle of stones
Made my way down in the valley
Followed the banks of a rushing river
To a shore of and icy sea
The great bear growled
The thunder spoke
The mountain shook
The skies lit up
They came carrying their torches
Appeared from the desolate dark
Approached me circling and swirling
Howling their battle-cries
That’s when the bear was born in me
It rose on its legs beside
From a distance the crack of thunder
And the red cloud swallowed the sky
I rose up in circle of stones
Made my way down in the valley
Followed the banks of a rushing river
To a shore of and icy sea
And in the furthest corner of the North
On the edge of the world we know
With open arms embracing them
And I bared them my heart of hearts
Under the red cloud
2. The Four Wise Ones
The nations search for treasure
And beasts rise from their tombs
Kings revel in triumph
All succumb to shadows in their own turn
The fish spawn, the birds nest
The roses bloom and wither away
The winds lash, the leaves decay
All deaden to ice, covered by snow
See beyond the secrets of space
The four bearers of heaven
Gaze in all directions
The four wise ones stand their ground
Call the stars that shine in their skies
Gaze in all directions
The rivers rush, the lakes they gleam
When summer yields to autumn cold
Moments flee into oblivion
Fading to blue and turn into rime
The first cloaked in clement winds
The second with meadow-scented hair
The third who’s cold and grey
The fourth who carries the snow away
Sing, the beginning of our songs
Spin an end to all our stories
Sing, the beginning of our songs
And bring an end to all our stories
In Tounela
See beyond the secrets of space
The four bearers of heaven
Gaze in all directions
The four wise ones stand their ground
Call the stars that shine in their skies
Gaze in all directions
Kings revel in triumph
All succumb to shadows in their own turn
Moments flee into oblivion
All succumb to shadows in their own turn
3. Bad Blood
Break down the weirs on the brooks
Crush the bulwarks of my soul
Let the rapids run white and foaming
The bad blood cut off my ears
The bad blood blinded my eyes
The bad blood choked up my mouth
Draw the poison from my veins
Let out the bad blood in me
Let the stream run golden and true
Let out the bad blood in me
Drive away the bad and the ugly
Divert the dreary dregs
Pierce a stream that rushes anew
I can’t see my path
I don’t hear your voice
I have forgotten my song
Draw the poison from my veins
Let out the bad blood in me
Let the stream run golden and true
Let out the bad blood in me
Bleed out the dross and the dead
Bleed out the dross and the dead
The bad blood cut off my ears
The bad blood blinded my eyes
The bad blood choked up my mouth
Draw the poison from my veins
Let out the bad blood in me
Let the stream run golden and true
Let out the bad blood in me
Bleed out the dross and the dead
Bleed out the dross and the dead
4. The Skull
Carried by restless winds
Under the crimson cloud
I sailed the purple waves
Aboard my comely ship
The ship was adorned with banners
With flags dedicated for me
A spirit summoned to its sails
Emblems painted with blood
The evening came, the night fell
The moon rose, circled the island
And all around me
The starry skies glittered in the water
I asked for holy words
Besought his sage advice
I bowed to the skull of the bear
I prayed for the spirit of god
I asked for his holy words
And my heart began to sing
To the beat of the heavenly drum
And I prayed for the spirit of god
The ship it plotted my course
Evaded the rocks and shoals
It brought me to an island
On the shore of a sacred place
I climbed the side of the mountain
Made my way up, up the craggy slope
And on the top on a field of jagged rocks
I met a hallowed god
The wind it sang, the ship it rocked
White-crested waves the knew my course
As I felt to restless sleep
I wandered to a time that’s yet to come
I asked for holy words
Besought his sage advice
I bowed to the skull of the bear
I prayed for the spirit of god
I asked for his holy words
And my heart began to sing
To the beat of the heavenly drum
And I prayed for the spirit of god
I met a hallowed god
5. Death Of A King
When the dawn is bright and new
And the day is full of hope
It's easy to continue your journey
Like a king on his royal way
You will stand there amidst silence
In the void of endless winter
On the ice of an unknown lake
In the heart of loneliness
There you will meet yourself
There you'll weigh your crown
On the ice of the lake of death
On the mirror of time
There you will meet yourself
There you'll weigh your crown
On the ice of the lake of death
On the shiny mirror of time
When the days are getting colder
And the winds clash against each other
When light is getting dimmer
And darkness shrouds the roads
You will drift into strange byways
Lost in foreign lands
Stranded on frigid shores
On a godless desolate plain
There you will meet yourself
There you'll weigh your crown
On the ice of the lake of death
On the mirror of time
It's there where your endeavour ends
On the face of a forlorn lake
Under weight of a timeless sky
It is there where you shall die
There you will meet yourself
There you'll weigh your crown
On the ice of the lake of death
On the mirror of time
There you will meet yourself
There you'll weigh your crown
On the ice of the lake of death
On the shiny mirror of time
Death of the king
6. Sacrifice
I have brought this treasure
of berries red and apples fallen
from the soil, from these grounds
would you take them as your own
Come before the winter's gale
before the frost and snow
take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice
Covered sun has gone away
when the world has gone
take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice
I have brought this treasure
and lay my gift on bed of sprigs
you will find when darkness falls
my offerings of clean cold stones
Come before the winter's gale
before the frost and snow
take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice
Covered sun has gone away
when the world has gone
take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice
Come before the winter's gale
before the frost and snow
take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice
Covered sun has gone away
when the world has gone
take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice.
7. Dark Path
In the twilight when he steps forth
In the bend of the dark path
When he catches up with you
You won’t know if he’s on your side
Or if he will turn against you
And in the dead of a moonless night
As your path turns into the black
You become one with the darkness
And in the dead of a moonless night
Who knows if you are brothers
Or if you will turn against each other
And it the dusk when he finds you
Hidden in the shadows
He must judge your allegiance
He won’t know if you’re on his side
Or if you will turn against him
And in the dead of a moonless night
As your path turns into the black
You become one with the darkness
And in the dead of a moonless night
Who knows if you are brothers
Or if you will turn against each other
8. Enemy At The Gates
They will come, the heinous thoughts
Silently from the lair
Hunched and crouched, they will come
Reeling us under their might
As they emerge, from the darkness of a heart
Born of the night, concealed in seeds of fear
They will come
The brothers of delusion
They will come
The sisters of shadows
The enemy is at the gates
The enemy at the gates
They make their camp, on the field of hope
And burn down, the house of sleep
Steal the treasures, of our thoughts
Storm the gated, of our hearts
As they emerge, from the darkness of a heart
Born of the night, concealed in seeds of fear
They will come
The brothers of delusion
They will come
The sisters of shadows
The enemy is at the gates
The enemy at the gates
9. Tree Of Ages
Somewhere there’s a tree of ages
Havens hanging from the branches
Cradling worlds beneath its shadows
It seeds give birth to tomorrow
Universes coil its trunk
And heavens rush above its crown
It dances without moving
It is the tree of ages
It is the tree of ages
Like our promises and wishes
Die its flowers along with its leaves
Like drops of blood the leaf buds open
Like sights the fruit falls down
Universes coil its trunk
The dawn shimmers on its crown
Day turns to gold its leaves
It is the tree of ages
It is the tree of ages
Night call the solitary god
Night falls all lights shall bow in awe
Night call the solitary god
Night falls all lights shall bow in awe
Night call the solitary god
Night falls and these lights shall bow in awe
10. White Night
Our lady of the sun
Sees to us day and night
Our lady of the moon
Sees to us night and day
Our way of warmth and light
Night will not becloud our path
The spirits of our kin
Wisdom flows through mystery
Only the stars
Only the stars are gone
Only the stars
Only the stars are gone
Enchanted we bow
To a dewdrop on the grass
Glowing with hidden fire
Of our burning midnight sun
Only the stars
Only the stars are gone
Only the stars
Only the stars are gone
In the white night of the north
The pearl-white spirits are lost
Strayed from their summery path
Into the frail twilight
In the white night of the north
The pearl-white spirits are lost
Strayed from their summery path
Into the frail twilight
In the white night of the north
The pearl-white spirits are lost
Strayed from their summery path
Into the frail twilight
In the white night of the north
The pearl-white spirits are lost
Strayed from their summery path
Into the frail twilight
11. Come The Spring
Dream weavers above me
The wildfowl arriving
As a crane flies through me
I know that she will come
Leaves sprout from my horns
And sap flows from my eyes
Crackle the gravel and sand
In the pits of me white ribs
Come the spring
I and reborn
The wind lays down beside me
My dream already fades
Oh come the spring
I’ll live again
The blackened ice is melting
Swirling in my eyes
The boulders of giants
Are rolling down my slopes
In the streams of my old veins
I carry sand for the golden reefs
As blood-red buds in the snow
Flowers will rise from the ground
The deer will come a-grazing
And the bear must be awake
Come the spring
I and reborn
The wind lays down beside me
My dream already fades
Oh come the spring
I’ll live again
The blackened ice is melting
Swirling in my eyes
12. Winter's Sleep
My eyes turn black as pitch
My gaze grows bleary and dull
Doze my prisoner if sleep
In my rooms, rimes with frost
My heart is frost and slow
It’s snowing in my soul
Empty, the halls of my heart
The candle burns, flicker and fade
I am gone with the autumn wind
I am come with the winter’s gloom
Murdered by the darts of light
Born of the great big blue
I am of the dream of life
I am come with the winter’s gloom
Oh the light of bygone time
Born of the great big blue
I’m crouched by the cradle of time
Hidden, by dark woods
Concealed by the roots of trees
Under a mount of moss
My heart is frozen and slow
It’s snowing, in my soul
Empty, the halls of my heart
The candle burns, flicker and fade
I am gone with the autumn wind
I am come with the winter’s gloom
Murdered by the darts of light
Born of the great big blue
I am of the dream of life
I am come with the winter’s gloom
Oh the light of bygone time
Born of the great big blue
I am of the stuff of stars
Of the light of bygone time
I am of the wish of death
I am of the dream of life
Jan Rechberger — Drums, Keyboards
Esa Holopainen — Guitars (lead)
Tomi Koivusaari — Guitars (rhythm), Vocals
Santeri Kallio — Keyboards
Niclas Etelävuori — Bass, Vocals (backing)
Tomi Joutsen — Vocals
Lyrics in plain text format
