Live at the Spirit

2002

Curtain Call (live) (17:00)
Strange Attractor (live) (12:15)
To go Free (live) (9:49)
The Mirror of Division (live) (21:49)

"versus X live at the Spirit" ist die erste live-CD in der neuen Besetzung.

Die Aufnahmen entstanden bei einem Konzert im großartigen Club Spirit of 66, Verviers, Belgien am 7. Oktober 2001 und wurden im April 2002 gemastert.

Erhältlich ist die CD bei MUSEA.

Arne Schäfer: Gesang, elektrische und akustische Gitarren
Ekkehard Nahm: Piano, Orgel, Synthesizer, Bass Pedal
Thomas Keller: Bass Gitarre
Uwe Völlmar: Drums, Percussion

Curtain Call

As the final curtain falls, she´s dropping off - lost in a maze

and in the silent corners of her mind a rest from daylights blaze
And as she falls, she´s well aware that it´s
just a symptom of her trial to escape
for to flee the triteness of reality

in this void surrounding her heart
And so she waits for the curtain call

for those voices behind the wall
who´ll come and see and let her be

pretending her life was a memory
And out of aggrieved artist´s defiance
she decided to sign herself to this state
commuting between the two alterning worlds
she´s trying to bear her fate
Her strongest wish to submerge down into a
fictitious world of noble ideals
where no-one is forced to accommodate talents
and visions to established and fashionable rules
And so she waits for the curtain call

for those voices behind the wall
who´ll come and see and let her be

pretending her life was a memory
- it will feel - as for real - a little time
Meanwhile beside the directors hall

of a major scale artists agency
sits an ill-humoured talent explorer who -
stares in despair at the chart of the
turnover curling in fine illustration -
the lies in disguise of a multi-dimensional -
colourful - push and pull...

Something reminds him - a week ago - at the party:
"go meeting the who is who"
with all those young artists are swarming ´round -
those whisked-off figures playing lost and found
And the young girl who stayed till the party was over -
trying to take her chance
All that he would say: "Try another time - don´t wait for us -
hope you´ll make it fine - and some day soon

you may get the chance
but today we can´t come your way"
More than two years we can´t take the risk - until then our investment must earn interest
Now my hands are in bondage - these days are hard
we all do our best and must play our part

Such a shame - keep on talking those terrible phrases - he thinks by himself but then
All that he would say: "Try another time - don´t wait for us-
hope you´ll make it fine - and some day soon

you may get the chance

but today we can´t come your way"

Strange Attractor

In silence I begin to wonder

Which kind of force creates this restlessness inside
Where do I want to go so fast and absolutely sure to be on my way ?

Do I really have to stress myself without external coercion
Like a rage - to find and chase
The urge to gain completion of a stage
To be released from the tightness of my cage
And finally turn the page - and then

To just begin again - to recognise the progress born within
I sense I am confronted with a strange and fascinating - dominating
Primary instinct beyond control
penetrates the spheres of heart and soul
To measure minds coherence to the whole

I try to reach out for more - I need to proceed to the core
Everything seems so clear - just missing one last idea
feeling the clearance being near

The more I approach the core - the more I feel the urge to soar
Mingling parts in mind - some pieces so hard to find
artefacts each one of a kind

Will something stable and lasting remain
When all time is gone and faded away
Will some kind of residual order survive
keeping an ancient spirit alive

I must proceed, must carry on, that's what I know for certain
Direction clearly specified but the focus is still blurred
A fog in constant motion - mysterious and challenging
The closer I approach - the more complex it becomes

I'm groping into the unknown and feel this thrilling shiver down my spine
Each time I'm crossing a turbulent zone
increasing the tension to a new baseline

The memory of this sentiment ever pulls me towards those regions
I feel the strange attractor that activates my brain
The knowledge of intensity within the twirling maelstrom
fuels my inspiration and carries me away

across the border - into the mirror world- a journey of all senses

To immerse into the ocean
Leaving behind the fail safe point
Go far beyond all comprehension
No standard left to be applied

Now - into the spaces - the power of mental force
beyond the chains of reason we'll be

out into the universal - timeless spirit - realise
the book of knowledge be re-written
and all our fortunes will be merging

To go Free

Hoping the story might come to an end

scribbeling the lines that no one will send
heavy like bricks hanging over my back
freezing emotions creep inside my head

...to go Free
will I be Free?

will I be free from the pressure
free from the pain
and last?

Hours were lasting, seconds keep dry
no ending to see, no light in the eye
wanting the breakthrough, seeking the chance
clutching each straw that leads through the fence

Flickering light at the end of the floor
finally getting me straight to the core
releasing the tension kept inside my heart
hoping this circle won't turn to its start again

will I be Free...

The Mirror of Division

Here in the blink of an eye - there's a motion

I shall keep the spot -the idea - just a notion of
what will be - what will fail intor oblivion
I'm down the line through the mirror of division

Caught inside the halls of my unearthly palace
dare take a look from the edge of my imagination
where shall I begin - where's the point of my departure
the course is set arbitrarily - there's no way back

Lost in the loops of a small coded spiral
I'm circling around about myself in denial
I'd never depend on this lasting imperfection
forever damned to perform the art of speculation

Out of it's surroundings been forming in a lifetime
gradually the spirit's defined
a differential equation with too many variables
margins ever set for my own
And I know that it feels so safe
within the orbit of common agreements

The choosen parameters accidential intersection
at zero on my contemplation plain
by statistical selection empirical dead ends
are reassured by the large number law
And I know that it feels so safe
within the orbit of common agreements

Pseudo accidentally generated propagation
the origin resembles the same damned with similarity these phantoms of creation
unable to change the angle of view
And I know that it feels so safe
within the orbit of common agreements
I am circling

And I try by catching an eye
on this vision that hides in my mind
And I try to identify
the ingredients inside I may find
But the sight has got blurred
it's fading away the focus is stirred
I'm deterred

It lies with me so peaceful glowing bright
embedded in this endless band of white
the juicy fruit pulp of a cosmic well manured
random sampled apple gently furred

wedged inside of a mould in space and time
in solitude progressing down the line
fate and chance in dislocation intertwined
out in here all history stands aligned

in variations manifold
unanswerable questions
and a vague anticipation still remains
minds confined and specialized
no time to dream or analyze
visions of beyond and after

will all this being still exist
without my view or just because of it
without the code all earthly things defines
born in singularity
our fate proceeds through entropy
forever in transition we remain

and once again I am left in contemplation
all sources are fed by the power of imagination
and by the way feelings overwhelm me
I'm free to step out in this world
so long the way I'd walked through
within a lifetime still further I may go along this road of inspiration