time and again
music: steffen/menses
lyrics: steffen

again, here waiting
again, here freezing
again, here hoping
time and again…

paraíso
music: steffen/menses/bertok
lyrics: steffen

again on a road to nowhere
spinning in circles
so many circles never‐ending

it’s just another shot at
catching the starlight
catching the colors in the heart

it is some kind of monomania
no matter how far I go
I keep running into myself

every day a solemn prayer
spoken to the god of light
to make me on my lonely quest divine

I’m the world in which I walk
I am the compass to my own Paraiso
weight of mountains on my back
but nothing stops me, an impulse to rely on

the wind is old, so is my heart
so young the dreams that stir my faint bravado
somewhere sometime, someplace else
a distant promise lights my lost Paraiso

will I find my peace of mind
will I ever learn to grow
will I ever learn to let it go

underneath the Southern Cross
searching for the gilded one
buried in the cradle of my heart

I’m the world in which I walk
I am the compass to my own Paraiso
weight of mountains on my back
but nothing stops me, an impulse to rely on

the wind is old, so is my heart
so young the dreams that stir my faint bravado
somewhere, sometime, someplace else
a distant promise lights my lost Paraiso

under a sky of rust I stand alone
I’m still counting all hope
don’t let this lucid dream end here

like an object in the rear‐view mirror
always closer than it appears
this chimera keeps me going

just like a painting in my head
too good to be true
too complete to endure and  last

no, no, I’ve been here before
and I’ve never reached it
cause it’s somewhere that I cannot go

a new reliance
music: menses/steffen
lyrics: bertok

long ago
for a second we felt there was spring in our lives
even time was slow

winter came
and the ice did not melt nor the fortress would hold
we were razed to the ground

we held the secret
to our wildest bit of dreaming
in a safe we left it all, oblivion began

and now, all the signs inverted
olden days deserted
we will have to find ourselves a new reliance
right now, all the words are hidden
senses gone, but
we will find a new beginning
we will find a new beginning here

we kept it in a sacred but
a silent and hidden room
buried deep inside the waters

in a fiery bloom
worn out of the endless gloom
we wanted and we earned it but you have it now

we were saving all these years what we needed now
we want it now – take it now
let it loose – let it go
before you lose it instead somehow

we held the secret
to our wildest bit of dreaming
in a safe we held it all, oblivion began

once the shores of promise were awaiting
the sound of fortune rose and sorrow was abating
the road was an open space
we took a chance
to seize the run of life,
life

and now, all the signs inverted
olden days deserted
we will have to find ourselves a new reliance

right now, all the words are hidden
senses gone but
we will find a new beginning
we will find a new beginning here

a heartbeat away
music: steffen/menses
lyrics: bertok

the tide is slow
he walks the shore
dreams and is singing
for the wicked a lullaby

in every moment giving
in every second living
just a heartbeat away
just a heartbeat away

in every word he’s spoken
kept every vow unbroken
just a heartbeat away
just a heartbeat away
for the sleepless a lullaby

soothing voices
calling, awaken
teardrops, laughter
I’m blessed, forsaken

tie me, guide me
free me, encage me
sing me, softly,
lead me,
unfrighten
what I can’t see

we follow the piper’s dawning
a star in a cloudless morning
just a heartbeat away
just a heartbeat away

whenever we’re prone to give in
whenever we’re far from living
a heartbeat’s step each day
from the chosen path we stray
for the restless a lullaby

soothing voices
calling, awaken
teardrops, laughter
I’m blessed, forsaken

tie me, guide me
free me, encage me
sing me, softly,
lead me,
unfrighten
what I can’t see

wastelands – we are scattered without a trace
we are stranded (we are stranded)
quicksand – slowly spiraling out of life
we’re falling deep (we’re feeling deep)
confined- we are wretched and all we seek
understanding (understanding)
we’ll find – our heart is a promised land
awaiting us, awaiting us

soothing voices
calling, awaken
teardrops, laughter
I’m blessed, forsaken

tie me, guide me
free me, encage me
sing me, softly,
lead me,
unfrighten
what I can’t see

a long way since the earth crashed
music: bertok/menses
lyrics: bertok

we came a long way since the earth crashed
a long way since the one flash
a long way yet we have to go

we placed a startling fire
we breathe a new desire
we long to yearn,
but we yearn too long

we can walk those curious traces
fall in love with a hundred places
we are the home of coming grace
we can dream by the stars we’re chasing
we can feel the earth embracing
we are the storm of coming days

reaching the sun place, our own peak
a sunlit passion we seek
a fleeting moment in the glow
we place our contemplation
exceed imagination
yet we have some weary miles to go

we can walk those curious traces
fall in love with a hundred places
we are the home of coming grace
we can dream by the stars we’re chasing
we can feel the earth embracing
we are the storm of coming days

we can’t see that
we can be
all but drops
in one sea
in one sea

a giant leap of faith
music: steffen/menses
lyrics: steffen

it is more than the sum of its parts
it is more than all the amazement and delight
there you are in a pouring of light
while I hide and freeze in the corners of dark oblivion

but I’m more than the sum of my fears
so much more than pain, so much more than my failing
here we are in the beauty of rain
still we’re holding out, so imperfect and so intrigued

you’re the eyes when I can’t look down
you’re the lungs when I cannot breath
joy and pain, where do we go now?

like a spell floating on the wind
that brings the sun and that brings the rain
love and loss, anything goes

a giant leap of faith
a giant leap of….

it is less than the things we expect
and project onto all the days and every sunset
it is more than the sum of our fears
others bleed and live, others will simply fade away

I’m the ground underneath your feet
I’m the air underneath your wings
joy and pain, what do we choose now?

like a spell floating on the wind
that brings the sun and that brings the rain
love and loss, anything goes…

you’re the eyes when I can’t look down
you’re the lungs when I cannot breath
joy and pain, where do we go now?

like a spell floating on the wind
that brings the sun and that brings the rain
love and loss, anything goes…

what you wish for
what you dream of all the time
what you seek in someone else’s face and hidden heart
is it maybe something that you someday hope to get

joy and pain, what do we choose, where will we go?
this stinging insight that the sum of you will never match
this incompleteness is nothing but a giant leap of faith

what you wish for
what you dream of every single time
is it maybe something that you someday hope to get
this stinging insight that the sum of you will never make a perfect match

you’re the eyes when I am too terrified of looking down
you’re the lungs when I am gasping for some air to breath
like a spell that brings the sun and brings the rain, anything goes…

a giant leap of faith

the stillness beneath the snow
music: steffen/menses/bertok
lyrics: steffen

within every raindrop
worlds of noise and passionless sounds

in everything we hear and see
our naked eyes read the lie, we choke our sigh

and with every day we waste
we lose another part of ourselves

one day we will build up a city of gold
where we can protect our deepest craving
and nothing will reach all the dreams that we dream
in the stillness and warmth beneath a delicate snow

no man is an island
but nothing blooms in these heartless times

with all the horrid pictures
how can we keep singing our song?

a river flows into an ocean of gold
and we are the heroes in legends of old
in this very moment we are what we dream
in the stillness and warmth somewhere beneath the snow

my friend
untimely we are
daydreaming in vain

and still
we are what we are,
are what we feel

we
we remain
in darkness unseen

love
we thought love
love would remain

one day we will build up a city of gold
where we can protect our deepest craving
and nothing will reach all the dreams that we dream
in the stillness and warmth beneath a delicate snow

a river flows into an ocean of gold
and we are the heroes in legends of old
in this very moment we are what we dream
in the stillness and warmth somewhere beneath the snow

the blueprint of a winter
– for Anna –
music: steffen/menses
lyrics: steffen

sing you a song of long ago
hidden beneath the shoreless sands of time
sing you a song a lullaby
to let you know how the giant used to be

dancing snowflakes
celebrating a life
painting a blueprint
a monumental homage
you’re not here
but I recall
every little word you said

and I remember you as you were then in summer’s light
a watchful titan, so endurable yet so hard to reach
I made my peace with all the shades that weighed upon your soul
today I see ourselves like birds that have ended their flight

blindly grasping
what is not here anymore
the way I see you
is more than just a memory
you’re not here
but I recall
every goddamn fight we fought

giant in the heart of winter
when you walked away from me
earth and time stood still as you were flying someplace else

once upon a time ago
it was so beautiful to live
time has wings made out of marble every now and then

dancing snowflakes
celebrating your life
painting a blueprint
a monumental homage
you’re not here
but I recall
every little warm embrace

giant in the heart of winter
when you walked away from me
earth and time stood still as you were flying someplace else

once upon a time ago
it was so beautiful to live
time has wings made out of marble every now and then

the colossus that bestrode the world
music: steffen/menses
lyrics: steffen

thousands of years I was watching
over the plains and the sands
eternal smile on my lips

I was announcing peace
with unassuming grace
while people looked up to me

then came a faith
raping all signs
all in its way

you can erase a thing of worth
while you can’t cast out its truth
you can negate and violate all over again
you can collapse an icon and wipe out its light
but you cannot erase the one eternal smile

hundreds of years on an old shelf
knowledge and culture preserved
in a word some won’t ever conceive
then came a hidebound hand
raping the deathless page
it happens every day

you can erase a word of truth
while you can’t cast out its worth
you can negate and violate all over again
you can collapse a bright star and wipe out its light
but you cannot erase the one eternal word

swimming home
music: steffen/menses
lyrics: steffen

it doesn’t exist
but it will remain
a fervent mirage

it’s just like a dream
in pursuit of light
raising its head
toward an unseen warmth

we were invisible
to all the days that passed
we would have looked so very beautiful in life
so wonderful in life, my dear

we were an unbreakable
blueprint in a frame
fragile as morning clouds
like dew on lotus leaves
like dew on lotus leaves, my dear

millions of stars
millions of suns
wake up without memories now

millions of stars
millions of suns
shed their salving light upon our secret world

the ghosts in the night
whisper our names
and we will live on in their dreams

we do not exist
but I will hold on
try to regain

we will set like the sun
and you don’t even know my face
you and me, in hiding,
until we’re swimming home

millions of stars
millions of suns
wake up without memories now

millions of stars
millions of suns
shed their salving light upon our secret world

the ghosts in the night
whisper our names
and we will live on in their jaded dreams