"Journey North" genre: Progressive Rock
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	An imaginary trip to Iceland. Old demo recorded in my home studio, for what it's worth (I still like it).
	CD: Orion   Label: SP'AM Records Credits: All instruments and vocals: Fred Lessing, except clarinet performed by Maria João Tavares
	Story Behind the Song Inspired by our dummer's 'Scandimania' and Portugal's best red. Of course I've never been to Iceland, but it did inspire my first extended-length track. Lyrics JOURNEY NORTH 1. PREPARATION & ASSORTED READINGS Þegar Norðmenn fundu Ísland á síðara hluta níundu aldar, komu þeir að óbyggðu landi. Með stofnun Alþingis settu þeir á fót lýðveldi, sem stóð þar til um miðja þrettándu öld. Þá hafði um nokkur ár verið ófriður innanlands meðal höfðingja, og endaði hann með því, að landið gekk Noregskonungi á hönd 1264. Með norsku krúnunni komst landið undir dönsk yfirráð 1380. 2. JOURNEY We're flying across the sea Northern lights ahead Lands of ice, here we come The journey begins 3. NORTHERN LIGHTS Instrumental. Clarinet performed by Maria João Tavares. 4. HIGHLANDS I might as well be on the moon The end of time is here too soon The voice of the earth in the magma below My frozen breath, ice in my eyes Crystal wind blows from the skies Crystallised, my bones and my mind So far away, out here The horizon so cold Far from the world In this barren land of ice Two-thousand year old lichen grows On granite and basalt's stony toes The horizon spreads underneath the white sky There's no shelter for me to hide No burrow in this land so wide So I stand in the wind and the cold and the ice So far away, out here The horizon so cold Far from the world In this barren land of ice 5. SAGA Iceland was uninhabited until AD 874, when the Norwegian king Ingólfur Arnarson settled in what is now known as Reykjavík. From then on until the end of the tenth century, the country was settled from southwest Norway and the Viking colonies of the British Isles. The events of the settlement are recounted in the Sagas. It is said that the earth's circle Which the human race inhabits Is torn across into many bays So that great seas run into the land Thus it's known wide and far That a great sea goes in At Narvesund, and up from there To the land of Jerusalem To Åsa's son Queen Skade bore Sæming, who dyed his shield in gore, The giant-queen of rock and snow, Who loves to dwell on earth below From this great sea A long bay stretches to the north Called the Black Sea Dividing the three parts of the earth North of this Sea lies Swithiod the Great Reckoned by some as big as Serkland The iron pine-tree's daughter, she Sprung from the rocks that rib the sea, To Odin bore full many a son, Heroes of many a battle won In Swithiod are many great domains And many races of men There are giants, and there are dwarfs Blue men, and creatures There are huge wild beasts, And dreadful dragons… 6. GEOLOGY Instrumental 7. SEISMIC WOMB I lie flat on the ground My ear against the belly of mother Earth Crystal echoes below the Fragile crust underneath my skin Listen to the shifting Layers of melting rock Magma runs in the veins of the land Breaking the horizon in two Lava to granite to endless sky Make this land eternally new Seismic womb, take me in Seismic womb, take me home Seismic womb, take me in Seismic womb, take me home 8. FEARLESS We don't care whether the Earth shakes — sky breaks As long as the drinks don't fall from the table We don't mind the cold The blizzard and the storm But don't you forget to close the door behind you We don't care whether the Ocean rises As long as the drunks won't drown in the flood We don't care whether the Earth shakes — sky breaks As long as the drinks don't fall from the table 9. FAREWELL The island lies far behind now Course is set for the sun The open ocean ahead now The journey home Has begun 10. JOURNEY HOME / WHALES Instrumental

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