Get all 11 Temenos releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of A Time Of Fire, Architects Of Aquarius, Advent (The Karma Before The Storm), Ascent, Dancing With The Stranger, Ouroboros, Under The Weight Of Heaven, Stormbird, and 3 more.
1. |
Olive Tree
11:21
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The olive tree where I first fell for you is lying fall to the blade.
The secret silence of my knowing you is silently unmade.
The shattered peace that once was all we knew, now scattered pieces all around.
The oath of blood you swore to God and life now lies bleeding on the ground.
This is here, this is now
This where, this how
But in this devastated land , this wasted land of ours
Who will stand up? Who will stand up?
Who will stand up? Who will stand up?
Who will stand and ask the question why?
The sacred ground where I once prayed for you
is sown with atavistic seeds.
The holy spaces that were made for you
are rank with speculative weeds.
The time of plenty, plans and peace
has trickled tamely through our hands,
And all the light of burning hopes
just cold grey ashes across these lands.
This is here; this is now
This is what the times allow
But in these sacrificial times, this killing ground of ours
Who is left to; who is left to;
Who is left to; who is left to;
Who is left to pay the iron price?
Where the glowing gods walked in human faces,
faceless uniforms now stride.
And ancient wall are concrete fences now
To keep the shameful truth outside.
And a generation each day betrays
Another's past despairing slide.
Abused hand in abuser's glove,
Replicating genocide....
This is old, this new
Is this what we all come to?
Repeated follies, age on age, lured into the trap.
Trapped and caged; trapped and caged;
Trapped and caged; trapped and caged.
Imprisoned here and set about by lies.
Beneath the tree the fallen fruit lies rotting on forgotten ground,
Whilst killing fruit falls from the skies, lies clustered all around.
Tears of accusation cry and whispering bullets spit and fly,
While children of the dispossessed throw their stones and die...
In the silent, eternal olive grove the centuries drift by,
While empty certainties and emnities defy
The shared truth of our humanity in the womb of shared belief,
As day by day the crimes march on where freedom ever comes to grief.
On the East bank, on the West bank;
In the air and on the land.
Where the Olive Tree stands burning; apocalyptic light.
There the hell is; there the hell is;
There the hell is; there the hell is;
There the heaven stolen from us;
Thrust into eternal night.
Where is peace and where is love and
Where compassion from above and
Where the heaven here on earth and
Where the innocence of birth and
This is here and this is how
And God, this is Eden now.....................
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2. |
Emergence
08:41
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There’s a sense that I’m emerging:
A butterfly on tattered wings
That the times they are converging,
Pulling strings.
There’s a sense that I’m escaping:
A prisoner from the captive's cell
To a moment that is shaping
Me as well.
Breaking out;
There’s war amongst the angels
A war between the ignorant and wise.
Breaking out;
Before you turn the tables
Make sure you have the keys to Paradise.
Breaking out....
There’s pretence amongst the mighty:
A pantomiming jester's dance
Motley, cap and bells
A fool’s romance.
As intense as it is flighty
The self-regard the gods repay
Initially with madness;
Then blown away...
Breaking down;
To grow you must diminish
To prosper you must falter and then decline.
Breaking down;
To follow through and finish
You know that first you have to make it to the line.
And then break out......
There’s a fence that lies between you
And the promises you made yourself
To climb into the light
Of your true wealth.
In defence of all that’s been you
And all the people you have been,
You take that ragged step
Outside the dream.
Breaking through
A wall of past reliance
Built with every prayer that you have ever made.
Breaking through;
A pall of choked defiance
To all the demi-gods to whom you have prayed
To break you out........
Up from the hole
Up from the depths
Out of the chrysalis
Out of the nest
Out in the daylight
Out in the sunlight
Out of the clinging arms of doubt.
I’m breaking out..........
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3. |
1939
11:57
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It’s happening again,
Time retracing its circle.
Now and then
Then as now.
All over again,
History repeating.
A matter of when,
Not of how.
I just can’t believe
We’d commit the same crime
They lie and deceive,
And we allow them.
Rising up like a haze,
Darkly foul and obscuring,
Spreading like plague
We breathe it in.
The ticking boots of time are marching.
Hate revives its ancient force.
Blood-winged death through heavens arching.
Fate plots its lethal course.
In villaged scores and citied millions
The drip-fed poison takes a hold.
And malice in its smooth battalions,
Creeps in from the cold.
We are the Judas generation,
Selling out our past, unsung,
Into squalid subjugation,
For words from a silver tongue.
We are the empty generation,
Echoing lies in hollow hearts.
Spewing shallow veneration.
This is how it starts;
Always how it starts…
A man on a stage
Barking, crowing angry lies.
The uniforms,
And the spies.
Demonising others
On the say-so of demons
Falsehood smothers
Everyone.
Dividing each nation
To select and reject
Malign creation
Of minds infected.
Take it to the limit
Lay it on full and strong,
And if that’s permitted
Take it on beyond………
Wheedle your way in
With hard righteous anger
Shout and sing
Fly the flag.
It’s what they think that they want
So give them what they’re after
Crack a little joke,
Play the fool.
Play games and pretend
To be on their side
Because in the end
They’ll believe you.
Claiming black is white
As the truth slowly dies,
When wrong is right
In this mirror world.
So this is how the cookie crumbles,
Unsuspected, unremarked
Until the day that freedom tumbles,
The reality unmasked.
This is how the ball is fumbled,
Easy-handed careless pride
And this is how we all are humbled
Betrayal from inside.
We are the sleeping generation
Distracted on our vital watch
All looking in the wrong direction
Tar-babied in the briar patch.
We are the guilty generation
We had the chance, and we were warned.
The hapless, cosy generation.
Midwife to the Evil spawned.
“It could never happen here!”
“In the land of the free;
And the home of the brave.”
“What is there to fear?...........”
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4. |
Fly Your Flag
10:01
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Fly your flag,
I don’t recognise it.
Tie your gag
Across my mouth.
When you drag
Me out across the courtyard
In a bag
In the deep dead of night
Like a rag
Torn up and disposed of
I guarantee
That what remains of me
Will not surrender the fight...
Fly your flag,
I do not require it,
To make me feel
That I belong;
To make me brag
About the place I come from.
It’s not real,
This stale myth of borders;
No appeal
In jingoistic nonsense.
Not for me
From sea to shining sea;
Your world’s claustrophobic order…
The banners of your national pride
They flap and leave me cold.
You challenge me to take a side and pray
To the gods of patriotic frenzy,
The devils of nationalistic greed,
And worship at the sacrificial altar
Where the savage thrust of war plants its seed.
We are one people,
We have one dream,
We have one voice with which we scream.
The words don’t matter;
The thought is all.
We have one mind within us all.
It has no flag…………
No Presidents,
No perfumed princes.
I dissent
From all you praise.
Your time is spent
In sanctifying
Sordid crimes
In the name of home;
Of sins
In the games of birthright.
A legacy
Of our stupidity,
Believing what matters is built on foam……..
We are one people,
We have one road,
We have one heart to lead us through.
The songs don’t matter,
The anthems fall;
Silent before the Silence of All…..
And there are no flags………
So wave your flag,
And play your school games.
Blow and brag
And call me names.
Fly your flag
Above the piles of corpses,
And the poor
Made poorer by your fences,
The sad betrayed
In the shadow of your walls,
The refugee
Beneath your liberty;
When will you come to your senses?…
Burn your flag,
It’s a scrap of nothing.
A coloured rag
That someone made.
There are no flags
When you’re dead and buried
In the grave;
In this world or another,
No country,
No language or traditions;
Just what may be,
Just what remains of me.
And I am everyone’s brother……
We are one people,
We have one light,
We have our sight to see us home.
Boundaries shatter;
The human heart
Can heal the world we’ve torn apart…
So furl your flag………………….
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5. |
To Be Continued.........
05:44
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To start again:
Now there’s a thought.
All fences burned,
All tenses turned around
Present past,
The future now
All memories gone
And new ones to be found.
And there’s the rub
As the doomed prince said
Adrift in the dark
Seeking a mark in the sand
To start all over,
Rebuild a life
Yourself redefined
Renewed, refined, re-planned...
And we all come to it
We all come to face it
The final step from day into night
And we’re searching for it
We look to retrace it
That first bold step back into the light
To begin again,
To begin again......
To start anew,
Now there’s a challenge
To build from scratch
To mix and match and know
To seek and learn
The slate wiped clean
From age to youth
From hints to proof we grow
From seventh age
To childhood’s end
From culpable
To incapable we fall
From innocence
To experience:
On all fours through
Revolving doors we crawl...
And we never know it
We can never trace it
The path we take from strife into strife
No we never grasp it
We just can’t place it
That moment when we tumble into life
And begin again,
And begin again, again....
And we all go through it
We must pass through it
That space between evening and dawn
We can’t escape it
And we can’t undo it
To be, to not be, then reborn
To begin again
To begin again, and again………..
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6. |
Black Beasts
13:37
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…And the black beasts crawl out of the woodwork
The black beasts fall out of the sky
Black clouds fling the black beasts down
And they slide,
And they slither,
And they writhe
Into town….
Careful where you walk; be careful who you talk to
The black beasts listen on the end of the line
Black words whispered in secretive ears
And they whine,
And they whimper,
And they mime
The mummer’s fears…
Look to your heart
Look to your dreams
Don't let the shadows steal them.
Play your part
Practice your themes
Look to the light that reveals them.
Look out for the beasts…….
Treading on the cracks in your life's pavement
The black beasts wait for one mistake
Black looks cast by disapproving eyes
In the wake
Of your passing
And they shake
Off their disguise…
Hold to your truth
Hold to your course
Don't let the screams deflect you.
Look for your proof
Look for the source
Let the knowing protect you.
Understanding the beasts…..
The beasts are what you make them
And they will destroy you
If you give them the glimpse of a chance.
You are what they make of you
For better or worse
The black beasts simper;
The black beasts rage;
And you hold the key to their cage….
Out into the night, with every eye open
For the black beasts hidden in the dark
You can't see them, but they can see who
Bears the mark
On their being
In the stark naked truth
That is you….
Looking around
Taking it in
Wondering when it will be
Standing your ground
Secure from within
Seizing the chance to be free
Of the black, black beasts……………..
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7. |
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No room for a misstep when you're dancing with the stranger
Waltzing through the shadows with the black dog at your side
No place for denial when you put yourself in danger
Just by breathing in and out
Just by challenging your doubt
Just by stepping on and off this fairground ride...
Always counting time when you're dancing with the stranger
Counting every beat of your palpitating heart
Looking for the cues from the invisible arranger
Looking for the corridor
Looking for the exit door
Looking for the square that takes you right back to the start....
He's here, you know
All ready for the final dance
She's here to show you how to take your chance
Long ago,
And distant as a memory
The hole in time and space that is the Now...
No room for complacency when chancing with unknowing
Spiralling eternally with scales upon your eyes
Wondering where you've been when you don't know where you're going
Hoping for a map
Hoping for a gap
Hoping that for one more time the sun will rise...
Swirling through the hours on life's eternal dance floor
Steps in time with every changing rhythm of the drum
Round the mulberry bush and hoping for an encore
Waiting for the note
The one sublime note
To vibrate every single nerve until you're numb...
It's fear, you know
Fear of what it all will bring
It's clear like the sudden sunlight in spring
The way to go
As distant as a memory
The long, unending circle of the Dance.....
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Temenos UK
Temenos is multi instrumentalist/vocalist Richard Cork and drummer/percussionist Colin Sharman, plus various guests. Richard and Colin first played together in Caduceus in the 1970's, and came together again to create Temenos in 2008. Temenos have released 7 studio albums, plus Richard and Colin have recreated the original Caduceus set list in the albums 'Ascent', and 'Avalon'. ... more
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