1. |
Junkie of Love
03:32
|
|||
|
Junkie of Love
Your smile got me infected
with a disease called Love.
And here I am now,
still waiting to be resurrected.
Your hands were the steel,
hungry like a chain.
Your kiss drew my blood,
straight from my veins.
Your hair, the tie
that deceived my blood.
Your eyes, the shot
that went in my heart.
The kiss, it was so sweet at first.
The hunger, it grew and became my thirst.
The darkness of time engulfs and sends
into a well that never-ever ends.
You left me here, dry as a bone.
Without no love, no hope, no home.
Desperate for just a little more,
that kick of love, and love galore.
Feel I’m getting weaker every single day.
What I desire, I cannot say.
Searching for life in every face I see.
Something that may devour me.
And ‘though I feel it may never be,
I know there are no other choices here.
I understand I can never stop.
Damned and addicted – a Junkie of Love.
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
Remembering the Times with You
I’ve been here before.
I don’t know this place yet but there is this ring that I’ve lost.
And my footprint. And yours too.
And you placed your ring carefully next to mine –
you came searching for it all this way.
And I recognise this street they built yesterday that we walked down;
to our fortress, with steeples clouded in poisoned candy floss
and dead vultures with sticky beaks.
Stop squatting my heart, it is no longer yours. Your lease has long elapsed.
You were not present during your eviction.
They’ve reinforced the walls, evened out the floors, blacked out the window,
and installed a fire place that runs on memories of you.
You should leave now through the front door because I’m freezing;
and the winters here are fierce.
Sounds so familiar, so distant, so close. Heavy with meaning.
I mean who knows …
The river has dried out.
My ship won’t sail me no more.
The bridges are burnt.
My feet won’t carry me along.
But I know how to get there.
If I try.
Synapses spin.
Excitatory synapses impose tolls just before the axon hillock.
Inhibitory synapses spend millions on advertising.
And you enjoy the view. You enjoy the view.
You sit back, relax, and enjoy the view.
|
||||
3. |
Flame Girl
05:02
|
|||
|
Flame Girl
From the Gorgons, with their hissing snakes;
to the Naiades, in their rivers and lakes;
to the Graeae, sharing one eye and tooth;
to Thetis, denying Zeus.
From Pandora, to Rhea to Persephone;
to Daphne, transformed into a laurel tree;
to the Harpies, hungry like a storm;
to Ariadne, playing with her ball of yarn.
Flame Girl.
Flame Girl.
One moment here and the next gone.
Rising and hiding with the sun.
From Clytemnestra, with a murderous plan;
to Medusa and Scylla, half monster and half human;
to Penelope, Selene and Aphrodite;
to Danaë, thrown into the sea.
Flame Girl.
Flame Girl.
One moment here and the next gone.
Going steady only in this song.
One moment here and the next gone.
Trapped forever in this song.
|
||||
4. |
In Your Eyes
02:33
|
|||
|
In Your Eyes
Sometimes there’s sorrow. Sometimes there’s woe.
Sometimes we’re standing out there naked, feeling cold winds blow.
Sometimes it’s hard to get up when grief is on the rise.
But in an instant it's all washed away by a look in your eyes.
Have you ever felt eviscerated by lurking doubt?
Rowing blindly in the sea of existential drought.
But I’ve found that for all these hows and all these whys
there is a true answer and it dwells in the look in your eyes.
Many here are stumbling, many have to cry,
and sooner or later we’re all just gonna die.
But if I had to judge life, there would be no denial,
because in the end it’s all worth it thanks to the look in your eyes.
What I know now is that I loved you and you loved me.
This moment was for eternity, no matter what will be.
When I die and have to leave here, I will come back in disguise,
follow you unseen and keep forever just looking in your eyes.
|
||||
5. |
||||
|
Have I been Nailed to the Cross (yet, or am I still Carrying It)?
It feels a little lighter today.
As if some weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
But something is dragging at me, at my flesh.
I’m not sure if it’s from above or from below.
I smell vinegar and wine at the same time.
There’s something coming down from the sky.
I can’t tell if it’s rain or if it’s hail;
or if it’s 82 frogs or 31 snakes.
Go taste the apple while it’s still ripe.
Have I been nailed to the cross yet,
or am I still carrying it?
Although 90 percent of ocean life
lives within 100 metres of the surface,
in the deepest parts of the ocean,
life exists without sunlight.
Well, this road has been closed off to you.
Both, in fact.
After evolution, you cannot go back underwater.
Have I been nailed to the cross yet,
or am I still carrying it?
|
||||
6. |
The Bride of Jesus
02:27
|
|||
|
The Bride of Jesus
Your eyes are so sad that you’ve unlearnt to see.
And yet you are still unimpressed with your crown of thorns
that grow deeper every time I smile.
How long has it been since you forgot how to cry?
And you sweat blood under the heavy gold
that you serve as your sacrifice
to buy your way into my paradise.
Blood from your hands, not from your heart.
The teachings from the Book melt on my skin.
While you memorise them word by word, and sin by sin.
The spear that you’ve stuck in your own bone chest
will impale the baby when it comes to feed from your breast.
Now you know the words
but do you dare to be the Bride of Jesus?
Now you’ve tamed the wolves but angered the sheep.
While the lions weep in their deep sleep.
While the wolves maul the feathers from your wings.
While the sheep invite the serpents in.
Now you’ve read the Book
but do you dare to be the Bride of Jesus?
Do you dare to suffer enough to be the Bride of Jesus?
Do you dare to rejoice enough to be the Bride of Jesus?
He who sees you shall no more see the light of life.
But that’s not what it takes to be Jesus’s Bride.
|
||||
7. |
Embrace the Storm
01:49
|
|||
|
Embrace the Storm
Don’t think about that what could be.
These thoughts are poisonous traps
that lure you with such sweetness
into their spider web.
Don’t think about what could have been,
it will break your heart.
You might need it one day
when you’re ready to embark.
Don’t think about that what has been,
you cannot change it now.
Don’t dwell on all the whys,
the what ifs and the hows.
For now it is ok
to be just who you are.
And it’s after all a victory
that you have come that far.
You grow a little sadder,
your roots they grow strong.
Like a giant weeping willow
not succumbing to the storm.
Wait in patience for the next storm,
it brings the water that you need.
Then wait some more until the next morn
because it takes a while to seep.
|
||||
8. |
The Mist
05:00
|
|||
|
The Mist
The mist, it still lingers on,
clouds without words that which we never said.
Your face, it still shimmers through
with splendour straight from eye of the storm.
The mist, it edges through the masses
until the end. Yet you are not with them.
I squeeze your hand but it grasps at nothing.
Your footprints blurred like melted ice.
Yes, mother, everything comes at a price
and nothing is for free.
Those who set out to scream will harvest hoarseness,
and those who whisper will not be heard.
I have built myself a home
up high in the claws of the storm.
The view, it is spectacular –
six feet, straight in your face.
In my palace of tears I find shelter,
gone are the days when I would fight.
But the craving for blood and heroic deeds
is ingrained and digging like a mole.
The dent that you left in my couch
is still hollow, deep and round.
The breath of your lips
still has my mouth enclosed like a veil.
The world around the mist, I can hear it scream
from outside like a newborn.
Its pacifier long lost, filthy and trampled.
Its thumb gnawed off.
Fortuna prowls the streets and grins.
Her fickle mask is soaked with tears.
Her luscious lips circle around her pointed tongue
in a cage of decayed and bloody teeth.
The spot at my window, right next to the raven,
I have become so fond of it.
I wait every night for the next morning,
for you to not pass by anymore.
***German version / Deutsche Version***
Der Nebel
Der Nebel, er ist noch immer da,
umhüllt wortlos das, was wir nie sagten.
Dein Blick, er schimmert immer noch
mit Glanz hindurch aus dem Auge des Sturms.
Der Nebel zwängt sich grollend durch die Massen,
bis ans Ende. Doch du bist nicht dabei.
Ich drücke deine Hand, doch sie greift ins Leere.
Deine Spur verwischt, wie zerrinnendes Eis.
Ja, Mutter, alles hat seinen Preis
und nichts ist hier umsonst.
Wer zum Schrei ansetzt, wird Heiserkeit ernten,
und wer flüstert, wird überhört.
Ich habe mir ein Haus gebaut,
hoch oben in den Fängen des Nebels.
Der Ausblick ist vom Allerfeinsten,
knapp zwei Meter, direkt in dein Gesicht.
In meinem Tränenpalast ist es recht gemütlich.
Ich nehme an keiner Schlacht mehr teil.
Doch der Drang nach Blut und großen Taten
sitzt tief und macht‘s dem Maulwurf gleich.
Die Delle von dir in meiner Couch
ist noch immer tief und rund.
Der Hauch deiner Lippen
legt sich noch immer schleierhaft um meinen Mund.
Die Welt um den Nebel, ich höre sie
von draußen wie ein Säugling schreien.
Der Schnuller längst verloren, verdreckt, zerstampft.
Der Daumen abgenagt.
Fortuna steht am Straßenrand und grinst.
Durch ihre Maske fließen Tränen.
Ihre prallen Lippen kreisen um die spitze Zunge,
umgeben von faul-blutigen Zähnen.
Der Platz am Fenster, gleich neben dem Raben,
er ist mir so lieb geworden.
Ich warte jede Nacht auf den nächsten Morgen.
Darauf, dass du nicht mehr vorbeikommst.
|
||||
9. |
The Garden
02:44
|
|||
|
The Garden
Oh ease of living, where have you gone?
Have I not honoured you enough?
Like a fully-blown pneumonia
that started as an innocent little cough.
Have I not seen the warnings
that were laid out for me like signs;
that guided me into this spider web,
entangled and entwined.
Where day is night and morn is dusk
and tears fall down like rain.
Where sorrow is our daily bread
and fear is the grain.
We’ve been hanging here for quite a while
but our journey does not end here.
You, my weary head, are a most stubborn beast
born to go on and persevere.
And you, my weary heart, you too
shall see the dawn after the night;
the shores that seemed so distant
after they got out of sight.
So trust in joy and trust in pain.
Trust in everything you’ve seen.
From the highest highs to the lowest lows
and everything in between.
The garden where you used to play
and hide and seek and swing
may look a bit untended now
but the birds in it still sing.
The gate, it will still open,
even with a little bit of rust.
The handle may be dusty
but it’s been waiting for your touch.
So go ahead and enter
into that place you know so well.
Forever you shall remember
and forever you shall play.
|
||||
10. |
||||
|
Forever the Muse (Also sang Zarathustra)
Kissed by the Muse
but raised to abuse.
Glued to the ground
are our shoes.
We try to fly,
jump up high,
deeper and deeper
Into the ground.
Always felt old,
even when young.
The blood of our lives,
written and sung.
Living the heat and the cold,
striving to get bold
to question our maker –
hiding all away.
Our eyes are open wide
but easily blinded.
Long gone is the past.
Now we stand on our hind legs.
Filled with evil and good
and virtue and malice.
Every day trying
to find the balance.
Ein Unverwundbares, Unbegrabbares ist an mir,
ein Felsensprengendes: das heißt: mein Wille.
Schweigsam schreitet es und unverändert durch die Jahre.
Immer noch lebst du da und bist dir gleich, Geduldigster.
Immer noch brachst du dich durch alle Gräber.
Noch bist du mir aller Gräber Zertrümmerer.
Heil dir, mein Wille!
Und nur wo Gräber sind, gibt es Auferstehungen.
Also sang Zarathustra.*
Kiss me again, without the abuse.
Loosen from the ground my heavy shoes.
And lift me up high, for I yearn to see you,
look you in the eye and forever sing the blues.
(*German text in “Forever the Muse” from “Also sprach Zarathustra” by Friedrich Nietzsche.)
|
||||
Michael Achim Berlin, Germany
Michael Achim used to be Blake Day, his artistic alter ego that he invented in 2013. But over the years, he has evolved and
outgrown his former alter ego so that now he can write, publish and perform as his new and true authentic self under his own name.
Michael Achim creates music, music videos, books and poems.
www.michaelachim.com
www.blake-day.com
Please support: www.patreon.com/MichaelAchim
... more
If you like Michael Achim, you may also like:
MD133 - CANDELABRE "For to have time is to have wings"
by Candélabre
French darkwave outfit Candélabre channel New Romantic pop, dousing big melodies with a healthy amount of foggy, swirling atmosphere.
go to album
MD072 - BOX AND THE TWINS "Everywhere I Go Is Silence"
by BOX AND THE TWINS
"Industrial shoegaze" full of crystalline longing and the ache for meaning in a capriciously cruel world.
go to album
MD073 - NOVA ET VETERA "Lightnings"
by Nova Et Vetera
Go back to the batcave and cast shadows on the wall with this appropriately melodramatic French goth group.
go to album
Propulsive and tuneful dark pop from this LA band, available on black or opaque maroon vinyl.
go to album
Summon grey clouds of dry ice on the goth club dancefloor to your home with this bleak, dreamy Parisian outfit.
go to album
A Loveless Sunken Sun
by Corey King
Playful, cerebral, slightly off-kilter pop with rich sound detail and expansive atmosphere.
go to album
Take a dive into the underworld with this hard-hitting slab of guitar-powered industrial music from Ken Fury.
go to album
