After Forever - Decipher

AFTER FOREVER

DECIPHER (2001)

  1. Ex Cathedra
  2. Monolith Of Doubt
  3. My Pledge Of Allegiance #1
  4. Emphasis
  5. Intrinsic
  6. Zenith
  7. Estranged
  8. Imperfect Tenses
  9. My Pledge Of Allegiance #2
10. The Key
11. Forlorn Hope

AFTER FOREVER

DECIPHER

1. EX CATHEDRA

Nemo mihi obloquatur impune
Ex cathedra

A deo ipso verba mea ad vos proveniunt
Non obsequentes exsecratio condemnabit
Subicite fato vestro et obtemperate.

2. MONOLITH OF DOUBT

The ordeal has begun
To oblige the unknown within me

As I drown
Cannot remember, cannot think
As I sink, deep

Near the monolith of doubt
Creeps the fear
The fear to lose yourself
In the severe reflection

I don't know
A flashing moment that has frozen me
My whole existence passed by
Through the trusted eyes of a mirror
But it wasn't me I could see

This monolith of everything that I have been
Is vacillated and aghast
The inexorable time has taught me once again
That my features will change and macerate me

See, it's me, my monolith of doubt.

3. MY PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE #1

She kept her beauty
She kept her beauty concealed
Concealed behind a curtain
Behind a curtain of suspense
And endures her fate
And endures her fate
Moulded by an ancient culture
Moulded by an ancient culture

The honour wasn't allowed
The honour wasn't allowed
To be injured
To be injured
She is going to live
She is going to live
As her community expects her to
As her community expects her to

I find myself confined
Between furtive desires and feelings of guilt

These are my last words
I'm gonna leave you
Can't stand your narrow-mindedness any longer
Forgive me

I find myself confined
Between furtive desires and feelings of guilt.

4. EMPHASIS

The game is over, time has taught life
Open your eyes and embrace our so-called paradise
All the notions and thoughts
Devise a way to make it yours
The enigma of a reason

How can life be what you want it to be
So find the emphasis in your own reality

Deviate from the search with episodic glimpses
Of a spectrum no one can see or feel, nor declare

No, slowly become aware life knows its prophecies
So find the emphasis in your own reality

In all life you see
A sudden shifting of events
What's coincidence, what's faith
The ambiguity makes the sense of our destiny
Worth searching for
What can it induce

If our being was omniscient
There's so much you'll never know, but
Your life will be what you want it to be
And so find the emphasis in your own reality.

5. INTRINSIC

At night, assimilate life
In the infinite realm
Of our intrinsic side

Find the missing parts of the mind
The hidden truth behind
Our dungeon of thoughts, this labyrinth

Search, it has a reason and a meaning
Remembered and repeated
A guide, not to be ignored

Feel, there's so much to feel
Amnesia must confiscate an elusive link
To consciousness

It's there, 'cause there's so much we don't know
Even our own true face
It's there, facing what we can't have

Our ideals ain't true, naked and exposed
To the bareness of what's real
Boundless fantasy, becomes reality
As we breathe water and run through the sand

'Cause there's so much we don't know
Even our own true face
It's there, facing what we can't have

'Cause there's so much we don't know
Even our own true face
It's there, facing what we can't have

Whispers and a scream, flying high, falling down
And a face with no features or name
Exposed to life, we can only divine
Tell me, what's your reality?

6. ZENITH

Is there something you feel?
Is there something you furtively know?
Under the spell of science
Can we declare?

Can we allow ourselves to experience?
Can we be open-minded enough?
Won't we fear what we cannot defy?
Do we need to declare?
Break the force of habit!

Why can't you see?
Fear will impede you to break through your trivial life
And find the missing aim to evolve
Is this the frontier, our zenith?

Can we be receptive to our ignorance?
Will or won't we be able to reveal?
Dulled senses and the need for proven theories
Has masked our natural insight in life
And mysteries

Life is discussed and measurable
Every aberration is observed with agony and suspicion
Until it is declared again

Why can't you see?
Fear will impede you to break through your trivial life
And find the missing aim to evolve
Is this the frontier, our zenith?

7. ESTRANGED

Diving in the lake of thousand faces
Every sign seems a delusion
And fills me with doubt
I shouldn't look for certainty
Among these disorderly impressions
But still I do

Being estranged
Slowly I loose the grip on the reality
Time shall shatter what we have built up
From the reliable
Don't even recognise the warmth
You always fulfilled me with

Break through my crystallised sphere and hold me
Enter my deepest inner self

Imprison the pain

Besieging in vain

It feels like I'm in the middle of a movie
Gazing at the script
It shows me new insights
Delighted by the bygone sufferings
But already waiting for the next ones

I bend forward and look between the ripples of the lake
It's the leading character

Break through my crystallised sphere and hold me
Wherever you are

Deceitful memories mingled with reality
I hold myself to the timeless spell
Fascinated by never knowing if it really happened

Being estranged
Slowly I loose the grip on the reality
Time shall shatter what we have built up
From the reliable
Don't even recognise the warmth
You always fulfilled me with
You always fulfilled me with.

8. IMPERFECT TENSES

Why can't they see
They're to blame, I can't forgive
It left a permanent mark behind
My weakness, my strength

I'm waiting for the perfect sign
To reveal what lies inside
There's no lie in trying
Why do you fear me

Why can't you see
There's neither blame nor forgiveness
Be strong by being susceptible
And don't quail, your frankness is your strength
And shows their weakness

I'm / You're waiting for the perfect sign
To reveal what lies inside
There's no lie in trying
Why do you fear me
Why should I fear you
An open heart is just as confronting as honesty

Why can't I forgive
You must stop to condemn the past
Why can't this fear be my guide
It will be your strength if you dare
There's no blame in my life
Nor forgiveness for the pain
I will show them
Let them know who you are
This is my perfect revelation.

9. MY PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE #2

My decision is fixed
The suitcases are packed
I'm laying the letter on the table

Tonight, I will be safe and the fears will be over
I shall outline my own way again!

I'm walking to the door
Open it and look behind for the last time

Tonight, I will be safe and the fears will be over
I shall outline my own ways again!

But he's at the doorstep, this can't be real
He's surprised because he notices, notices my bags
Immediately he grabs my wrists and pushes me inside
I realise I'm lost, I'm lost

O no, what have you done?
What have you done?
Where is your self respect?
You've defiled our honour and your troth
You crossed the line

You won't get out this time
You won't get out
There's no other solution
Then requite you for this insult

But he's at the doorstep, this can't be real
He's surprised because he notices my bags
Immediately he grabs my wrists and pushes me inside
While he's reading the letter I realise I'm lost

Faded beauty, her body trembles
The scars of this dream will always be remembered.

10. THE KEY

The eyes, looking so cold
Condemn failure
And seek for perfection
What will never be attained

They're judging the denying face which stares back
A bewildered revelation

Show me objectivity
And let these eyes judge again

You cannot touch what you can't ever obtain
I'm inexhaustible
As well as empty in my bitter search

My words are yours
My voice speaks for your thoughts
I am your mirror without remorse
Your reflection without doubts

I fall and fall
I must learn from the bruises
The scars will be my guide

There's no excuse in ignorance
No time for weakness or regret
Face your mirror without doubt
Your reflection without remorse

If knowledge was wisdom
And wisdom the key to inner rest
Teach me

I fall and fall
I must learn from the bruises
The scars will be my guide

I fall and fall
I must learn from the bruises
The scars will be my guide.

11. FORLORN HOPE

An old man is proud
But behind his modest smile lies the grief
Only one picture of his brave son remains

It seems that the vicious circle
Can never be broken through

The hopeful ones gathered their strength
To achieve the apparent impossible
But all plans seem to be in vain

As a soldier of Allah
He's an example for the others
On his bloody way to immortality

It seems that the vicious circle
Can never be broken through
Because old wounds are reopened every time

This Intifada as a device
To thwart the peace negotiations

He can rely on a reward in the hereafter
Eternal paradise awaits him

It seems that the vicious circle
Can never be broken through
Because old wounds are reopened every time

This Intifada as a device
To thwart the peace negotiations

Pugnacity
With our blood
Show no mercy
With our soul
Die for heaven
An eye for an eye
Burn to let them
Suffer for all their actions

We will not move an inch
They won't play in our hands
We will not tolerate those who defy

We will not hesitate
To start an attack
If you undermine the agreement

Let them suffer!
Suffer, let them
Suffer
Suffer, let them
Suffer
Suffer, let them
Suffer!

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