Cygnus Rock Band - Valkyria Army (Revival)

Life is weird and unpredictable as I stated it in a previous post. This song - just like the aforementioned one, "The Perfect Blend" - brought me a tough battlefield. In fact it was much more tough than with the album's antidepressant song.

I turned my back to this song right when Revival was released. I refused to accept it, to take it into my hand, not to mention to love it and to hold it tight.

I won't tell you why, simply because I prefer not to talk about it. Who knows knows - if you don't know then it's for the better, believe me. This isn't what is important anyway, the important is what this song made to me.

Just like with "The Perfect Blend" it was awful. I felt awful. I wanted to spit myself in the eyes for doing this, I hated myself. It was something very weird, I hated myself for hating this song, and I hated myself the deepest for rejecting a gift those people wanted to give me whom I love the most. But I was too weak and way too much in pain. The worst was that I didn't recognize it.

This is so strange. These are the moments my ego gets a serious slap right in the face. I often like to think about myself as someone collected, strong and cool, who doesn't depend on anyone in any way. I know what I'm doing and I know why. I do it because I can, and because I earned it. No windstorm or thunderbolts can weaken me.

And then dang... Something occurs and it doesn't even have to be extreme. In fact this time it was the most innocent going on, and there I was... in pieces, being a beast full of wrath. A Shelob in humane form. My usual self disappeared. Instead there was a stubborn, stone-hearted, poison-spitting person full of anger, but most of all, full of fear. I turned my back, my eyes were full of hot tears of rage. I refused to reach out for this song. I refused to listen. I refused even to call it a song. I even skipped it while listening to Revival. Not just once.

This is the truth. And the truth is that I'm far not this level-headed, temperate, balanced thing as I would like to see myself. I'm painfully a human being, fallible, weak, with a dark side that shows up in moments when nobody - not even me myself - would think about it. It's there. This case held a mirror right into my face without any remorse. But I closed my eyes and kept it like that for quite a while. I was sure that I was right, that my standpoint was right and I was sure that nothing and nobody can change that. No earthquake, no thunderstorm, not even the gods themselves.

The most heart-breaking of this all was that the song didn't seem to give it up on me. No matter how madly and stubbornly I turned my back to it, it still tried to reach out to me. But I refused to listen. It even tried to convince me with the most beautiful and sublime lyrics the band has ever written, but I covered my ears. The song then offered me the most hidden, most precious gem of the entire album hiding inside of it but I kept hissing painful words. Finally I ran away, but the song followed me, even when I tried to hide in a corner, covering my head, so it won't see my painful, self-loathing tears. It reached out to me, touched my arm, even caressed my hair - but I pushed off its gentle hand and locked myself up in a stone-made closet. Nobody will see me being weak... not even this song...

Then Life took that certain upredictable turn.

I remember it was the same as with The Perfect Blend. I was sitting on the floor of my room when I felt a little tickle around my heart, as if a warm, caring hand would touch it. As if it had a secret key to my stone prison I locked myself up in. It opened the heavy gates and peeked inside. For that moment I was so deeply sad, lonely and depressed, and I was so drunken by the beauty of The Perfect Blend that I didn't think for a moment, I followed it.

The song was waiting for me outside and in the moment it saw me, it hugged me and held me tight in its arms.

It wasn't easy though. I needed to shed my thick skin to be able to find my way to its loving hug. Then I had to go a few layers deep into the song as well asking it to allow me to take off its robes. It didn't mind though. It let me do so, bearing with me patiently while I was focusing, concentrating, sometimes falling on my knees again, but this time I was not willing to let its gentle hand go. The song was just smiling, holding me in its arms whispering "trust me" into my ears. 

I did. I finally did. 

Eventually I could see its pure, divine beauty, its warm-toned skin and its bright smile. I heard its beating heart and I could really feel its gentle, loving touch. 

I hid away from the world in its embrace.

The intro of the song is beautiful. It doesn't hesitate, it sweeps you off your feet. Complex, orchestral, rich, the more you listen to it, the more you realize what a masterpiece it is. One of my first impressions while focusing on it was that this song is somehow related to The Perfect Blend. No, not because of my own misery but because of the structure these two songs - at least for my ears - share.

They both contain The Royal Theme™.

The song - just like its sibling - has got a beautiful, very rich base.

No, I won't tell you which or what, because regardless of my inner journey I'm still morose and grumpy enough to keep certain things to myself. Not to mention that you nicely learn to use your ears since they've been grown on both sides of your head 😒

It's the orchestra that's leading the entire song. The electric instruments in fact just give a kind of soil for the symphonic ones to grow and blossom. Yet at the same time the song is very heavy. It has a galooping, fast theme, the presence of the rhythm section is very strong, it pretty much stomps at you time after time like an AT-AT. And the best is how much they are in a harmony.

These are the little things that make this harmony. And this band has reached a Grand Maestro level in putting all these little details into one huge beautiful whole.

At this point let me stop a bit, dear Reader. Usually I seldom talk about the lyrics of a song, which is strange by the way, and I have no idea why I'm not doing this more, as I'm very much a lyrics person. I think in Cygnus's case the reason is that the music itself is so beautiful, so rich and complex that they give me more than enough matter to reflect on and the lyrics, even though they are also beautiful and poetic, get back on the 2nd place.

But not this time.

This song, dear Reader, has got the most poetic, delicate and thoughtful lyrics the band has ever written.

"In the halls of history, stories unfold

Of women fierce with hearts of gold"

It's already strong here, even though it's just the very beginning. On one hand it raises women up into historical positions

if you're a woman, you know what I'm talking about; in case you're from the sterner sex, I can tell you, we rarely get such gentle but clearly expressed respect from you and even though we are in the beginning of the lyrics, I'm already moved

on the other it determines right here the theme of the song: the two sides of the female nature. 

I can tell you, dear Reader: only true gentlemen and real poets can put it into such beautiful words. And I don't need to get into details how very rare this is today and what a gem this song puts into our hand very carefully packed into a gift.

Yes, dear Reader; this is us in one line. It's simple: for us it's not the "me" that is important, but "mine". All that is ours: our families, our men, our children, our friends, our home. And we give in ourselves fully, not keeping a single slice back to ourselves. That's how we are happy, and if we see that it makes those around us happy, then we are willing to carry them all on our backs tirelessly. This is us; and these two lines beautifully describe it.

"From battlefields to heart's embrace

Their power shines in every place"

This sizes up what I just said above. If it's about all that is "ours", we are ready even for the literal battlefield. And this is what empowers us in the million little battlefields of life: all that is "ours", to care for them, to see them being happy, cozy, relaxed, well-fed, enjoying life. And knowing that we provide it for them. 💓

"Mothers nurturing, love so true

Warriors, bold in all they pursue"

I love the duality the poem describes. And I especially love how the poet (lyricist/composer/whoknowsknows) grabs it and pictures it as the essence of the female nature. A mother's love is told to be the purest way of love; it gives only, without the slightest intention of demanding anything back and at the same time it grabs essentially the phenomenon of "mine". It's not about me... it's about those I love the most and I happily give myself all in. 

And again I want to underline that this goes for our men, our other family members, our friends, our home as well as everything and everyone that belongs to our home.

And let me here tell a secret to you, dear Reader. I know a lot of women will be mad at me that I tell it to you, but it doesn't matter.

We can be such bold warriors only in two cases. The first is when there's a man behind us, who is strong and protective enough to make us safe and enter the battlefield. The other is when we have absolutely nothing to lose. I'm not sure which is the more dangerous; because when a woman feels the love and protection of a man, then she knows that she can be herself and she can let her inner power flow that makes her unstoppable. And then, when she's completely all alone, nobody is by her side (and perhaps she even has got others to protect and care about) and she has only one option, to be strong... then she has to boss up and kick some asses around.

"Housewives' love a binding force

Little girls with dreams of princess, of course"

Well, yes, the lyricist again grabbed the essence of the female existence and for this (not just for this!) he deserves a big hug. After the mother's love it's the housewife that is told to be the real embodiment of a woman's love and power, keeping the entire family and the household together through the everydays, in good and bad, thinking only about her beloved ones' well-being.

For the second part, allow me, dear Reader, to tell you something very personal. When I was small, I never dreamed about being a princess, regardless of how strange it might sound. Yes, true, at the same time around me all the little girls in kindergarten and at school were dreaming of wearing these huge royal gowns and crowns, living in palaces, doing absolutely whatever they just wanted and then Prince Charming comes on a white horse only to marry them - while at the same time I was fascinated by tales like Busytown and stories about animals, especially when animals were antropomorphic, walking, speaking and hanging around like human beings. And I confess you, dear Reader, when I was a little girl, I wanted to be an animal in a place like Busytown. I think in secret I even enjoyed to be this outsider. This is the truth.

Thank you for your patience.

Here let me talk about the music a bit, too. The orchestration disappears while the lyrics rule the song, only the guitars and the rhythm section escort them. The tempo is galooping for the whole time, the strong power metal base surround the lyrics and give them a protective embrace.

Here comes the bridge:

"Through fjords and forests, no matter the dialect

Empowered, their home they'll always protect!"

The lyrics gives a warm hug to all women of the globe, regardless of their place, mother tongue, ethnicity, anything that would be a base for any distinction and it points on the most significant characteristics of their nature that I also mentioned above: when they feel empowered, backed (by a man), then they fiercely protect all that is dear to them.

And then comes the chorus:

"Queens commanding, fierce and wise

Viking women, rise!

(Rise!)

Embrace your beauty, strong and free

Flirt with Life and Death, it's your destiny!"

A confession: the last line of the chorus is slowly but unstoppably getting to be one of my favorites from the whole album.

I love this idea, that the poet calls every woman a Viking woman. On one hand it's clearly a loving gesture and a heartfelt compliment from him

which makes my formerly ice-cold heart totally melt, with the urging wish to hug him and hug his song tight, never letting them go 

on the other it's just...

...I have no words, I feel totally moved. Apologies, everyone. It's just... beautiful 🥺

And it even encourages women to be themselves, unapologetically, bravely, not to let them being broken by any inner or outer force... isn't it divine? 💓

Yes, this means a LOT to me. More than anyone could ever imagine. No, I won't tell you why. Who knows, knows, may that be enough now.

The orchestration returns for the chorus giving a wonderful, cinematic, intense and vibrant atmosphere for the sublime lyrics.

One day I would love to listen to just the orchestration for this song. Nothing else, no rhythm section, no vocals, no guitars, nothing, only the symphonic part. It's so beautiful, complex and deep, yet so delicately and playfully teases the listener's ears by appearing, then hiding away, then appearing again. A masterpiece, the same subtle yet powerful as the lyrics - and the entire song - themselves. Again you can only stare in awe on how these musicians are experts when it's about the little details, the harmony and complementing contrasts, lyrically and musically as well.

Bow down for them. Now. I don't care where you are right now. They deserve it.

Here comes a musical bridge between the chorus and the second part. The orchestration shines in its full grace, backed by all the electric instruments and they together sweep the listener away just as they did in the sibling song "The Perfect Blend".

"With swords and shields they stand tall

And when they dance, they enthrall"

The contrasts again the poet so fondly plays with, the strong woman and the vulnerable, innocent girl. Both are present in every single one of us and if the man can see them both...

...and not just that, not just seeing the two sides of female nature but he even admires them. Gently, with poetry, delicacy, respect and love. These things might seem trivial for some, but for me personally - and I'm sure for many others as well - it means everything. Especially in today's world, where the two sexes, men and women often see each other as opponents, if not enemies.

I do not - and will not - get into any sociological or social problem analysis here, this place is not for them, I'm not an expert, just a music fan, but I have an opinion and I would like to share just a thought here. I know it's rather unpopular by the current trends, but "with swords and shields I stand tall", as the lyrics say and it's totally fine if you disagree with me.

I'm totally done with this, that men and women see each other as enemies, fueling wars and all sorts of quarrels and bickerings all around, especially on social media sites while the current pop culture is heavily backing these trends. The saddest is when it's not only men and women having fights with each other, but also men vs. men (about women) and women vs. women (about men). I see a LOT of emotionally irresponsible and immature people, regardless of their actual age, acting around like 5-year-old children in a sandbox. Please, people, grow up. Be adults, be mature, responsible people who consider others as living and sentinent beings instead of enemies. 

May the example of this wonderful poet be in front of your eyes who wrote these lyrics.

Thank you for your attention.

"Their allure, a force to behold

In every tale their legends told"

The poet gets playful here and I can't help but love every little piece of it. He tickles that little soft spot no woman can resist.

And he is doing it very well...

"In the fires of passion they ignite

Sweating desire, pure and bright

With strong will they show their grace

Like meeting the gods in every embrace"

This. This is the melting point, the catharsis, the hidden gem. The most gentle, yet most passionate stanza of the lyrics. What I love the most in it is the delicacy, the dignity. Take a look at it, it has absolutely no explicit words, not even a hint. It has no profanity and with all the passion of it, it's still somehow pure and chaste. It's full of fire, full of desire, its gentle fingers touch the listener's skin and it whispers along your ears and neck. Yet there's nothing ambiguous or indecent. It's pure beauty, gentleness and chivalry. 

It's what the woman in love can give to the beloved, adored man; and he takes it all with gentleness, care and love.

Apologies, everyone, it's just.... 🥺💓

The galooping, pure power metal pushes the listener into the bridge, only to allow the orchestration to take over again for the chorus. 

And here comes a little surprise.

No, it's not little, it's HUGE, it's one of the most beautiful musical gems of the entire album along with the piano solo of Sealed Fate.

It's a bass arpeggio.

You need to focus heavily to find it. It's very humble, it hides away and it doesn't give itself easily. You need to have your ears and your heart wide open to hear it. 

It's like the violet flower here in my home country. Over here it is very small, it grows maybe to 4-5 cm and it has got tiny purple (sometimes white) flowers. It has got a very gentle, soft fragrance, and it's one of the first flowers that blossom in springtime. Since it's very small, you need to draw aside the other plants to find it. Here, where I live violets are the symbol of modesty, humbleness and beauty.

And this bass arpeggio is exactly like a violet. Modest, hides away, but beautiful, with every single one of its pieces being divine.

And here comes another thought that doesn't allow me to rest. 

Do I hear well that the arpeggio is actually following the harpe's melody from "Walking Through the Forest of Life"?

I'm not sure in it, so if anyone knows the answer, feel free to leave a comment. 

If I'm right and it's really a small part of the instrumental song of the album hidden here, then I find it a wonderful idea. The next thing I need - and will - find out whether there was any secret intention behind it

knowing these two wonderful musicians and how they love little details and to hide curiosities and hints in their songs, I wouldn't be surprised

or it was purely just for the sake of it.

It is followed by the solo, which - similarly to its counterpart in The Perfect Blend - is like sprinkling a drop of vanilla sauce on the whipped cream of your coffee. It doesn't want to flash or show off, it harmoniously blends in with the song. And here comes that one little thing that makes this song different - in structure - from the aforementioned massive beauty of Song No. 3: after the solo two stanzas show up. Two stanzas with two wonderful male voices. The first is velvety and rich, the second is sharp and powerful; they hold you, protect you and warm you to your core.

"With female power we are inspired

In every role they are admired

Viking spirits, free and wild

They will conquer all with their smile"

The mellow baritone is singing with all the emotions it can give to the listener's hands and your heart is shaking; his voice is so sincere and genuine, so intense, full of heat, devotion and affection that you can't help but smile as he is singing.

Through your tears...

...that here are these strong, powerful men, warriors, heroes, rulers, determined and courageous, entering the battlefield without thinking and... and a smile sweeps them off their feet...

Excuse me, everyone 🥺💓 this is the most beautiful of it all, I'm absolutely moved...

"Let's raise our horns high

Celebrate each women who aim for the sky

In this ode their power's sung

A tapestry of strength, forever young"

The rock-soaked, dusty tenor rarely sings so emotional and gentle lyrics, he is more fit for tough, hard war songs like It Rained Blood or hymns like The One-eyed Wanderer. But here the rough warrior-bard shows the world that he can and he will sing with affection and love. And he does it with power and passion, that the very last line of the stanza sweeps you off your feet. 

The most gentle, most admiring lyrics... you can't help, you let yourself get flowed by all the emotions. All you repressed, all you denied, all you turned your back to. These warriros won. They won your heart. It was a tough battle, but eventually love - their love - conquered. 

And you're happy that they again proved that you were wrong.

The chorus returns - now without bridge - to dance around you, to dry up your tears and to kiss your eyes before the song ends. You're sitting on the battlefield and your wounds slowly heal. You won, too.

Against yourself.