Live at Maximal

2009

Essentially Human
The old Tricks that cheat us
In silent Age
Between the Phases of the Night
Into the vast Unknown
Who can tell
The Mirror of Division
Cutting the Veil
Curtain Call

Total time: 155 min

"Live at Maximal" was taken during a Gig at the Maximal in March 2009.

This DVD is only available at our Live Concerts.

Arne Schaefer: Vocals, electrical and acoustic Guitars
Ekkehard Nahm: Piano, Organ, Synthesizer, Bass Pedals
Thomas Keller: Bass Guitar
Thomas Reiner: Drums, Percussion

Essentially Human

Some hundred thousand years have

passed since ancient sapient
brain began to shed its tight
corset just ruled by instinct and reflex
to poach inside its inborn paradise - the playground of creation

Digging tunnels and cutting lanes into the thicket of our brains
to trace causality - the seed once grown as fast as weed
securing human kind advantage to survive - the fight of evolution

And by rage - of natural selection - driven by fate - challenging the world
came about what made the human mind believe in
the chosen ones – equipped to kill and to create

But thin - the line between the vague subconscious currents
in the ocean of our mind and the reality we feel

Whenever we’re so sure to follow a clear marked and secure path
cheated by force – the tide of moving emotion - a game of thought
irrational congestion of our soul

But then it seems – that slight imperfection attracts us fine
as if we shall return inside and close in the cycle ahead of time
into the primordial ocean of our dreams

Essentially human - in all we feel and love
that rhyme and timing echo in our hearts
a feeling for regular steps off he path – reflected in our culture and arts

From microspace of unclear coherence - evolving fast
once just a spark now gaining complexity and spreading past
far beyond perceptive memory

Essentially human - in all we feel and love
that rhyme and timing echo in our hearts
a feeling for regular steps off he path – reflected in our culture and arts

And now along our street of dreams
we’re tracing - following subconscious schemes
see moving searchlight beams

Along the narrow line between
all reason and emotion we shall see
all human wit and feel

Between the Phases of the Night

In precious time I´m balancing along a virtual borderline

on neither single side of the world I may find my home
for all I want to be I need the key to all doors

I love to feel the twirling turbulences along the surface plain
entrenched in spirals of doom - between the phases of the night
a twinkling light hidden behind the mirror

Every twist of history still reveals its traces
every change of path leaves its mark on our course
every form of matter, energy, and mind
condensing from interfering vibration
bearing an encoded vision of the whole

Hand over hand I'm climbing through the abyss of decision calls
carrying on an endless research for those aesthetic crystal germs
emerging from spontaneous intuition

Every twist of history still reveals its traces
every change of path leaves its mark on our course
every form of matter, energy, and mind
condensing from interfering vibration
bearing an encoded vision of the whole

Into the vast Unknown

Into an endless sea of lights discharge

enormous tensions of primordial energy
accumulated in sad privation times
firing the fantasy imprisoned for so long
reveal a sense to all – so I can let me fall
into the vast unknown

In graceful garlands waves of light still keep refracting
constantly changing and reviving coloured lines
A fleeting moment of intensified perception
is slowing down subjective memory of time

I caught a glimpse that seems unleashing all the powers of my brain
creating worlds outlasting physical existence and again
providing faith that I’ll somehow arrive – the spirit survives

Yet how fugitive the nature of this inspiration
which may fizzle out if not immediately preserved
utilised efficiently by dynamics of creation
to unveil in time the hidden secrets of new life

I caught a glimpse that seems unleashing all the powers of my brain
creating worlds outlasting physical existence and again
providing faith that I’ll somehow arrive – the spirit survives

In timeless nights I’ve been floating on the sea
within the calms – no breath to fill my sail
my driving hope already fading – to approach my goal in time
all memory obscured in a veil

As suddenly a soft curling of the waves is to be seen
enough to wake me gently from my dream
rising up in imagination – allowing me to see

over the strait – beyond the horizon
an island in sea surrounded by brightness
providing new hope
within this vast desert of sorrow

Then I can see – fragments combining
in virtual space
and everything changes – rearranges

clearing my sight and suddenly all that I find
matches just perfectly
all becomes one
feeling so strong
guides me along

A bursting spirit released by mind and soul
a sudden focus of emotional energy
Eternal longing and an unconditional will
are concentrating all my craving to one point
reveal a sense to all – so I can let me fall
into the vast unknown

Who can tell

It's gotten quiet on the hill
collective mirrors hunger still
for indications of the dream
in liquid crystal brightly gleam

Minds displacing consequence
disillusion on the fence of visions

Who can tell, if it turns out as wasted time
knowing well it's diverting
the focus on the real
the internal grievances wasted time
for salvation of nature law

Hiding down the trap of fascination and
confine ourselves with the essential
out conscience might clear
at least our concience might clear

Splendid theories in their minds
spinning virtual units time
waiting for the final clue
mental force out of the blue

Suppressing questions, if it's worth
provincial logic of the earth we're hooked on...

Who can tell...

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

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"