The Mayor wrote to the Sculptor...
My dear friend,
'Twas seventeen years ago that I found the baby abandoned in the forest near your sculpture garden in Longview. And how beautiful she has become since, this child we named Perelandra. A blessing she has been to both my wife and I, though in truth our world has never been the same since her arrival. It was that year that the shadow fell upon Evermore. The winters became longer, and folk talked of terrible nightmares and strange visions. Since then things have only grown worse. I fear the Sorcerer has returned. And if I am correct, he has come for Perelandra.
Last night I dreamed that my dear wife who I have loved these many years was taken from me, swept away into dark realms by even darker enchantments. It seemed real.
If this is the work of Lliusion, then I fear he draws near. Will I awake one day to find our daughter missing from her bed? I tell you that I know he is capable of much harm. Something evil is afoot here. Something is closing in on us. I know it, and I think you feel it too.
1. ON TO EVERMORE
Lost beyond this space I know is she
Flower-bird come sing your song to me
Stand alone within this realm I remain
Conquer all to be the King I will reign
Over all this travesty and alone
Nothing for my sorrow now is grown
Place a kiss upon her face and away
King to rule and empty dream this day
Did she call to me in the night time?
Now she is so far away.
Would I touch her if I find her?
I'd love her for all of my days
Speak not to me of the joys up above
The fairest of joys I have known
Taken from me, the light of the world
I stand with my sorrow alone
I will love her for all of my days
Wishing this dream world away
I beckon eternity bring her to me
Sharing now this space I know
Is she
Bound for all eternity
To me
Flower-bird now fade away
I know
All the sorrow in my soul
You've sown
Princess of my kingdom fair
Is come
Love is all and here we stand
As One!
2. THE MAYOR OF LONGVIEW
Evermore
Journey on to Evermore
There you will find a man
He's living in the future
He's got the time
And nothing else is on his mind
But he can tell you tales
And sing to you a song
Here we are
Sitting on his patio
All around
The animals of Evermore
Gather close
He's whispering a scary tale
And if you listen well
There's truth within his story
Nevermore
Like a cloud upon his soul
Reaching out
To take him from among us
He's just fine
And all who stand beside him know
That the shadow will pass
And glory is his destiny.
**************
...He has shown himself. The sorcerer has returned to destroy us all, though his destruction works from the inside out...and I pray daily for an end to this. If only the Lion would return. Evermore needs its champion.
3. THE CONFLICT
There is a place inside of everyone
An empty space that's calling for someone
Someone to wash away the tears
And take the pain away
Someone to lift your spirit higher and higher
To a place beyond the fear
Beyond the loneliness
Don't you see your soul is searching higher and higher now!
Your soul -- a towering fortress circled 'round
By a fearsome host come to drag you down
See how they hammer away
Until all hope is gone
Yet there to lift your spirit higher and higher
A needed champion arrives
Upon the field
With a mighty shout he lifts you higher and higher now!
But will I find a perfect place?
Another world, another space?
So I will open up a door
That leads me on to Evermore
See how they hammer away
With bad philosophy
Yet there to lift my spirit higher and higher
The one that made it all
The one that took the fall
And sent my spirit searching higher and higher!
But will I find a perfect place?
Another world, another space?
So I will open up a door
That leads me on to Evermore
That leads me on to Evermore
That leads me on
...And what of you old friend? You've grown so mysterious. What are you up to in that workshop of yours? Something beautiful, I hope. You are a genius with the chisel, and the greatest artist of our time. I am proud to call you friend...
...the visions have grown darker. I know from your last letter that you've seen and heard things too. What voice is it that speaks to you in the night, and what does it tell you? Regardless, you should never give in to it...
I know you've grown lonely these last years, but concentrate on your art. We all need another one of your masterpieces!...
4. THE MUSE
(Interlude)
5. ARIANNA
Hope against hope,
He releases a form from the stone
Deft hands shaping
The curve of her lips and the flow of her hair
"Arianna I shall call you," he whispers softly --
With chisel he frees her:
His heart's desire from lifeless granite
"Ahh," he cries,
"I've suffered alone.
With just my work to give me life
Far too long,
But now I see --
The Muse's final gift shall be my wife."
Time after time
Metal kisses stone
Tired lungs breathe in
The dust of her birth, and his eyes shed a tear
"Arianna, I grow weary;
My vision grows dimmer,
My hammer grows heavy
But I shall not rest till you stand before me"
Soon at last
The long work is done:
The greatest test of his long life
"The pain," he cries,
"Shall now bear fruit;
The Muse's final gift shall be my wife."
"All I ever wanted
Was to bring one thing of true beauty into this world...
Over strange paths
I have travelled in my search
To find the magic
That could turn an icy heart of stone to flesh...
FLESH!"
(The Sorcerer speaks...)
"Call upon life and death and magic:
Call upon all the powers in me
All for the stone named Arianna --
Life from the rock shall now break free..."
And as the last arcane words are chanted
A bolt of lightning leaves his hand
And in an orange acrid smoke
A human figure stands!
"In beauty -- incomparable:
In kindness -- unsurpassed.
In gentleness and wisdom,
Arianna has been blessed.
Why then in her company
Do I feel so all alone?
I've made the perfect woman --
Except she has no soul.
She doesn't truly love me
For she hasn't a free will.
She's an animated golem --
Her heart beats and yet is still."
All this the Sculptor realized
As they danced in the cold moonlight,
And a tear fell from his eye --
And touched her cheek...
Arianna pulls away,
Comprehension in her eyes.
Feeling the searing pain of life
On her cheek for the first time
She embraces the man tightly
As she embraces life itself
Then she looks him in the eye and says "Sculptor--
I'm my own woman now!"
And how the image burned itself
Deep into his mind
As she turned on the horizon
To look at him one last time
"I love you deeply," she had said,
"and thank you for my life
But there's a world out there for me
I feel its call within me
And into that world I must go."
Then an angel bathed in light,
So bright his eyes fill with tears
Comes to stand before him now --
He looks upon her without fear
"Muse," he cries, "I've failed my life."
In his despair -- but she just smiles
"No," she laughs, "the circle is closed --
Arianna is our child!
Take my hand -- leave pain behind.
For now your work is done..."
...why, all of Longview is stirring with gossip. Who was she? Why did you never tell me about her? And more importantly, where has she gone? It seemed that one day you were alone, the next you appear in town with a beautiful wife half your age, and the next you are alone again. What has happened? You grow strange these days and I can't help but wonder if.....Ah! I'll not say it. Times are bad enough...
6. ONLY RED
If my thoughts were green
Would you know what I mean
If I said to you
My mind is turning blue
I always said we lived in dreams
But now I know
You never heard a word I said
I used to see a pure white surface
On your soul
But now I know it's only red
Now I know
If my heart was gray
Would you turn away
Could I get it back
If my love was black
I always thought I fooled myself
But now I know
You never heard a word I said
I used to see a heart of gold
Deep in your eyes
But now I know it's only red
Now I know
If my thoughts were green
Would you know what I mean
If I said to you
My mind is turning blue
I always said we lived in dreams
But now I know
You never heard a word I said
I used to see a pure white surface
On your soul
But now I know it's only red
Now I know
...and now the worst has happened. I leave you, old friend, and I bid farewell to Longview. I go to find my daughter, and I go to kill the fiend who took her from me and destroyed my world. Evermore is dying.....Is it true? Did you sell us out? He brought your statue to life and maybe you knew love for a moment, but at what cost? You led him to Perelandra! You've let the sorcerer in and now all is lost! And you can be certain your precious Arianna serves him now. I have seen her in dreams -- she has become like him. She is a fallen one, a dark angel with eyes that glow yellow and wings that will carry her from torment to torment. And whom do you serve? Is it too late for you as well? ...I know this is my last letter to you...
7. THIS FADING AGE
'Neath these leaves of gold
You walk upon the winter
Under branches silver
Reach unto the sky
And though time may gather 'round us
we are young
never touch you while among us
May your sorrow flee you
here be all
be one
Yet he walks a distant land
his mind beyond our reaching
far beneath the mountains cold
we shall never tread
He is lost to us
weary beyond all knowing
and needed now his wisdom
for the trials ahead
'Mid the boughs of Lorien
Sorrow walks today
'Neath the mallorns come to shed
the weariness away
In this place enchanted
lay you down to dream him
Let the singing river
wash away your tears
There's no fear among us
Yet the clouds may gather
We are lords of light
amid this fading age
Yet he walks a distant land
his mind beyond our reaching
far beneath the mountains cold
we shall never tread
He is lost to us
weary beyond all knowing
and needed now his wisdom
for the trials ahead
'Mid the boughs of Lorien
Sorrow walks today
'Neath the mallorns come to shed
the weariness away
8.JUNKYARD ANGEL (ARIANNA RETURNS TO HER MAKER)
As I walked home one night
a junkyard angel tried to catch my eye
The rain had got in her wings
and weighed them down far too much for her to fly
I whispered a silent prayer
to see if I had the strength to pass on by
But the will of a mortal man
was brought low by one soft and unearthly sigh
Another voice from through the mist of space and time
I heard, but could not place
And when I turned to see its face it said to me, "Never yearn, never burn for a junkyard angel: Never cry, never sigh for a junkyard angel"
Across the sands of Nevermore
A faceless lord upon a throne
Of onyx cold, and brittle bone
Does his mind to his minions reach
as on their knees they would beseech.
These abandoned souls of Evermore,
Their timeless torment make an end:
Their souls to lasting darkness send
Though such a hope is truth be told.
Another dagger in each soul...
As I looked in her eyes,
I felt so alive
She made such a promise
of unending passion
The voice and its warning,
like shadows in mourning
Disappeared without a trace
in the new rising sun of her smile...
(or was it just guile?)
I heeded the call
to be fully enthralled
To take on the mantle
of fate she had shown me
For though she was doomed
I still blindly assumed
The power of love would
shatter the chains on her soul
(or so I was told)
Across the sands of Nevermore
A deep laugh echoes through the halls
On cold stone floors and marble walls
The dust of ages thick has spread
Where mortal feet shall never tread
Another soul of Evermore
Entrapped by a bewitching stare
of helplessness and flowing hair
Begins the journey forth from light
To kneel before the throne of Night
As I put on my irons
The angel still tried to hide her smile from me
I guess it could have passed for love
for we would be together through eternity
And once again through the mists of space and time
I saw the master's face
And when I tried to turn away he said to me,
"Never yearn, never burn for a junkyard angel;
Never cry, never sigh for a junkyard angel."
9. TWILIGHT ON LONGVIEW
(Instrumental)
