Resentment (feat. Minco Ruyter)

This is Act One (Spring) of the Ragna-rock-opera 'The Elements', which we started to compose and perform in 2009. At that stage it was ment to be listened by kids. After a couple of years it turned out to be more suitable for adult-listening.

The story describes the fate of the invisible Viking Gods, like Wodan, Loki, Brunnhilde and the Nibelungs, who reincarnated after the rise and fall of the Gods in Richard Wagner's 'Ring des Nibelungen' respectively in the personifications of Spitfire, Loki, the Ice-Queen and the Humus. They are each representing the visible natural elements, Fire, Air, Water and Earth by ruling their atoms: a dragon, waternymphs, flurries and the Humus.
With the changing of the four seasons during the year each Element is changing its behaviour and its interaction with the other Elements.
Why? This story tries to explain why nature is doing what it has to do through the seasons of the year. You think this is stupid nonsense? Please read further...

COMMON INTUITIONS?

Do you remember the great epic story of The Ring of the Nibelungs, put on music by Richard Wagner? Or rather Wagner's source of inspiration, the even older stories of the Edda, a Nordic collection of Viking-sagas? Of course you do know the more recent and popular Lord of the Rings of Tolkien or Star Wars? In the world of comic books most commongood is Thorgal, but a lot of other stuff is on the air.
All of their stories variate a bit in themes, but the ingredients are likewise: there is the power of the ring and goblins, who always live under pressure, dreamy prophecing elves, wise Gods who do not fit in the end, a dragon, beaten by the good and strong and a smart traitor (Sarumen, Loki). And much more...
There’s one common factor in all these stories: Lots of its roots is found in the old pagan beliefs of Northern Europe. Why are these stories such attractive to lots of people nowadays? Why are we digging up old common intuitions? Is the Christian religion lacking some content to fulfill our religious needs?

THE BIG ASSIMILATION DURING THE MIDDLE AGES:

Much of these old pagan oral stories were whipped out of the history-books since the Christianisation flourished over Northern-Europe. But to prevent pagan revolutions, there was a great deal of Norse traditional stuff which was assimilated by the new Christians: In the old belief the trees were covered with lights in wintertime to enlighten the long winterseason of darkness, which the Christians renamed as the Christmas-tree. Remember the names of the days throughout the week, all rendered from these heritage. The birthday of Jesus Christ was most probably somewhere in oktober, but Christians replaced its date to 25th of december, partly to fit more with the date of the Midwinter-party of the old Norse tradition during the week following up 21st of december, the shortest day of the year.


THE DIARY OF ELEMENTS:

AKT 1: SPRING

1.1: Overture: Loki's Fate
1.2: The Awakening Spitfire
1.3: Scenic Beauty
1.4: Flowering Humus, Part One
1.5: The Melting Ice-Queen
1.6: The March Of Spitfire
1.7: The Arrival Of Spitfire
1.8: Flowering Humus, Part Two
1.9: The Vernal Equinox Festival (Spring Party)
1.10: Resentment
1.11: The Opposition
1.12: Fermenting Air ...
1.13: ... And Scorching Earth
1.14: The Prophecy Of The Flurries
1.15: Spring Fire


CHARACTERS:

SPEAKER:

Loki: A child, who's trying to express his earliest adventures of his life, unconscious as they are from the start (guest-singer: Minco Ruyter)

THE INVISIBLE GODS:

Odin: Formerly Upper-God of Asgard; in the new world-order locked up in the sun's Ragnarok-proces, being God of FIre
Balder: Everlasting God of Earth and Spring and everything that grows as the 5th element
Fricka: Everlasting Goddess of marriage; in the new world-order ruler of day and night rhythm, embodied by the presence of the Moon

IT"S REPRESENTATIVES AT EARTH:

Loki: Formerly God of Fire; but in the new world-order degraded to be the leader of the Flurries, being God of Air
Brynhild: Formerly Odin's most beloved Walkure; in the new world order Ice-queen of Niflheim or Helheim and Ruler of Water (Guest-singer: Angela Obscurius)
Spitfire: Fire, embodied by a huge dragon, with the tongue of the Midgardsnake, son of Loki; guided by Odin

THE ELEMENTS:

The Sparkles: Fire, embodied by the flames all over the world; represented by the dragon Spitfire, guided by Wodan
The Waterdrops: Water, embodied by countless water drops; guided by Brynhild
The Humus: Earth, embodied by dirty moulds and worms; guided by Balder
The Flurries: Air, embodied by siren-singing flurries of wind; guided by Loki

THE FIFTH ELEMENT:

Animals,
Plants & The fifth element
Humans:


FIRST ACT: SPRINGTIME

Hello, i'm a boy of one year old and since I'll never grow up, i'm so glad finally i can write down the earliest adventures of my life. So i can tell you my stories about the Gods of Nature i've met!

At the times when i was a baby, my mother took me regularly for a ride with the buggy. i felt a fresh breath of air, whirling around my head, which made me sleepy. As if they were singing right into my ears. They tend to calm me down. i've called these soft singers Flurries.
Then these Flurries took some friends with them: the Waterdrops were falling down from blue-grey wads of cotton, which seems to be blown by the Flurries. i completely got soaked from their rain, which remembered me first at my mother putting me in bad, and in a second after i flashed back to my mother womb, swimming freely surrounded by these Waterdrops.

Once my mother was cooking, i was attracted by a living toy which looked like a small dragon, coming out of the stove. i wanted to play with it and when i reached out my hands to it, i felt a warmth, that was becoming painfully. My mother warned me terrified, that i should not play with fire, because it destroys everything. i could have burned myself, so she told me. i started crying and felt the Waterdrops appearing to my eyes, as if they were there just to mourn, in order to help me extinguish the fire. Later, outside in our garden, i felt the same pleasing warmth, which seemed to be derived from a very bright shining object up above the sky. i reached out my hands to open the sky, but nothing happened. Why was my mother afraid of this fire? i don't understand, it's nice warmth, and its really fun to play with fire.

When i was somewhat older, i started to play in the sandbox. At one day, really out of nothing, there appeared a small animal from underground in my sandbox. My mother told me this was a worm. i was amazed. i started to dig like hell in my sandbox. It wouldn't last for long: the bottom of my sandbox was not that deep. So i started to dig in a more adventurous huge mountain in the back of our garden. There i was even more amazed about the result: it was teemed with worms and other little animals! So i wanted to dig deeper and deeper underground to see what was next... But oh no, there again was my mother, preventing me from discovering things which are likely to be the simplest explanation of the mysteries of life: i was forbidden to dig further, because i ruined already father's compost heap... Anyway, a few weeks later, all kinds of plants started to grow, especially at this compost heap. Really crazy. Who has managed this? Definitely not my father, nor my mother, and i'm sure no-one else had entered our garden in the meantime.

i asked my mother about it. From where do these so-called elements come and where do they go, and foremost, who is moving them all the time? She mumbled something about God, which i didn't understand, but it was a huge trigger to my fantasies. So there must be a God of the Flurries, one of the Waterdrops, one of the Dragon i adventured and maybe even one of the Growing Plants, which grow out of the Ground itself.
Then my mommy told me about a God and Jesus Christ, which i didn't understand quite well, because i couldn't touch them in daily life as i could indeed with the Flurries, the Waterdrops, the Dragon, and the Worms. And for what purpose did Jesus end up crucified at a cross?

In the meantime, when months went by, i was surprised by the changing of these elements, during the seasons. At Springtime, there was a huge amount of plants, happy animals and humans outside on the street. At Summer it was as hot, as that from the dragon, and everything went burned or scorched in the surrounding. Then at Autumn, it really started to rain, stimulated by the wind, and at Wintertime, everything was serene white, abandoned, silent and icy-cold. Then the whole range of events seemed to repeat itself.

By now i was convinced: Somebody moves these elements, but i can't see, feel, smell or hear it. So, for the sake of simplicity, i call them the "Gods". For each element one God. But i still didn't know the purpose of cycling the seasons all the time. And what these Gods had in mind for their elements.

When i learned to read and write, i started to read books in order to find answers on my questions. i red the Edda, Lord of the Rings, Thorgal, listened to Wagner's Ring, watched the movies of Harry Potter, Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings. Now, don't tell me all these stories are just fairy tales only suitable for kids, cause you know they aren't. If the old poetic Vikings had conquered Europe instead of Rome, the religious impact of these stories might have been much greater than that of Christianity today. If history took another course...

But it didn't. Nowadays, all our habits and traditions are deeply Christian-rooted, neatly seated into two thousand years of road-rutting. We are eager to see much evidence of the presence of Jesus Christ or God in the material world. Some of us even still believe that the stories in the Bible really happened the way they are described. Like Jesus walking on water.
Nevertheless, through sensory perceptions, the evidence of the existence of older plural Gods, or even figures out of fairy tales, being active in Earth's nature, is far more apparant.
Meanwhile i was growing up. i red the old Norwegian stories of the Edda, and listened to the Ring of the Nibelungs, composed by Richard Wagner, who told the next history:

Once there was a bunch of Gods, living in a heaven, called Asgard. Each God had his own realm of reigning; Thor was the God of thunder, Loki of fire, Fricka of marriage, Balder of spring, etcetera. They were leaded by their upper-god Odin. Everything was ordered neatly and peacefully without fighting each other for the order of things. It was paradise.
It was too much paradise. At last they were such overindulged in realizing their wishes, Odin couldn't withstand the temptation anymore from grabbing it all. He became such greedy, that at last he squandered their paradise. In the attempt of satisfying his greed, which was supported by Loki's wicked advices, he stole the Earthly treasures from the Nibelungen, an underground working class. With that action he initiated an everlasting battle with the Nibelungen. A precious golden ring was the symbol of the curse of the Nibelungen: every owner of the ring shall be doomed, caused by his own greed.
One of Odin's many possessions were his children, especially his once most beloved daughter Brynhild, once a Walkure. She lost everything, because she refused to support her father in his deepest mental decisions. From then on she withstood Odin in his everlasting hunger for destruction, which started immediately: He ripped her from her status as a Walkure and she was degraded to a humanoid woman. He foretold her, she won't be able to fall in love with a man anymore. She suffered different indignities and betrayals from Odin, whereupon she took revenge on Odin: together with the Nibelungen she ignited a big fire from Loki, which caused the twilight of Gods, called Ragnarok, which jailed Odin into the sun, together with the other Gods. The Era of Gods which was visible for humankind so far came to an end.

That's it! i realized this is not the end of the story of these so-called Gods, it continues in the next greater era of time-span of the earth, maybe like the maya predicted in their calendars. The sun is the most fascinating object of all elemental materials. Many cultures thought it was a kind of God, as the Egyptian's once believed in Sun-Ra.
i started to imagine that the sun represents some sort of jail, to keep these fallen Gods in prison. From the first day of embodying the sun, these gods wanted to escape of course, or at least get their energy be active somewhere. From the sun, Odin still can have a great impact on Earth by shining his heat to the surface of the Earth. To prevent overheating, the alternation of day and night went in existence. The Moon of Odin's former wife Fricka pushes down the sun beneath the Earth at the end of the day. Then Fricka's moon rises at the horizon and moves the tides of the oceans to cool down Odin's stream of heat.
Down to earth, the fire we can see is unpredictable, passionate and lightening, but also destroying. Its duration of life is solely depending on other elements. His flames behave like a dragon. Lets call him Spitfire. He only wants to exist passionately and burns as much as he can, solely to enlarge his existence. Especially at summertime he's very busy. Without the fuel of the earth or the oxygen of air, he'll be non-existent.
When Spitfire flares up, Odin will give its energy to move him on and on, sometimes to the extreme.

That's where its counterpart-element, water, is coming into picture. She extinguishes the fire, especially after a hot summer, at the beginning of the autumn. But in the end she can be devastating as her opponent: like a huge fire can do, a flood also can wipe out the entire population of Earth. But since Water has no urge for expansion, it often falls apart in millions of water drops, called Waterdrops. Their sad fate is to be hunted after forever by everybody: from the air to Earth downwards the gravitation pulls to water of the clouds, then it'll be soaked-up by the Earth. Followed up by Odin's heat, the water will vaporize upwards to the air again. Without any liquid comments, they'll be ping-ponged all over again.
Their deepest wish is to rest forever. At wintertime the Ice-queen Brynhild is taking care for their need. Then she freezes the water in an unmovable ice-stasis.
As a human being you'll never meet her, because she lives a secluded life, at her home Niflheim, hidden near the North pole of the Earth. Since her humiliation from her father Odin, she's at forehand disappointed in every living being. She lives her life in solitude and she won't face her own emotions anymore, drowned in bitterness and tears. Odin is always eager to melt down her frozen status, because deeply hidden in his mind, he regrets his former humiliations towards her, which caused the ice-masses. Foremost he misses her love. Only the Waterdrops are accompanying her in the form of snow or ice.
Once her huge ice-empire at the Earth-poles will be melted, by the time when humankind will love the sun's passion more than the rest of the cold ice-queen. Then the melted Waterdrops will cry all over the world in the form of floods.
Could the huge amount of distrust between Odin and Brunnhild ever be resolved?

During the springtime the chance is the biggest, all of the four elements will be in good balance. New Age followers should probably translate it as the five chakras being perfectly in balance. Call it Nirvana or the highest level of the pyramid of Maslov, whatever you like...
Anyway, it is the only suitable moment at which the element Earth is flourishing. Its humble habitants, the Humus, are working the entire wintertime underground, digging, mining and extracting feed-treasures from the ground, in order of developing the seeds of the 5th element: plants, animals and last but not least, from these plants and animals in combination of the availability of the just amount of the four elements, humankind is finally flowering. They are a precious art of work, but extraordinarily vulnerable to misbalance of the elements.
Anyway, since the Humus are highly irritated by daylight, you won't see them either. Only at some Midsummer-party or at Carnival they presents themselves as clowns performing tricks: the landscape at the surface of Earth is getting greener and everything starts to grow from nothing, though it seems. Most of time they're hiding underground, forging their treasuries, which you can see flowering above the ground in springtime. The Humus are the descendants of the so-called Nibelungs, mentioned in the Ring of the Nibelungs, or dwarfs in the Edda.

And what about Loki? Well, what do you guess?
Of course, i'm Loki, who's telling you this story! Otherwise nobody could tell you this story!
i'm assigned to lead the element of Air: the Flurries. In former times i was God of FIre, but in the end i was fat up with the never ending greed of Odin. Odin had to become the new God of Fire in his fulfilled Ragnarok. In the end he'll be better off than me. His sun-power reaches much farther, than my restrained job: i was finally ripped off from my former status of Fire-God, because i was judged insufficiency to fulfill that task, like Odin failed as the upper-god. i was exiled to fly around the Earth as the leader of the element of Air.
i also was condemned to balance the elements by wind-force throughout the seasons of the year, with help from my assigned prophesying Flurries. Sadly everybody distrusts me, and wants to see me crawling. To tight my boundaries and preventing me from developing too much power again, every year i'll have to die after the start of Spring (Easter). During the next season of summer, the heat from the spring-fire of Odin will burn the Earth dry like a desert. Finally the fire will be extinguished by an autumn-flood, caused by the Waterdrops, directed by the Ice-queen. Then the silence death of the winter enters. Every year, in the midst of the winter around the shortest day of the year, 21 december (Christmas), i'll be reborn. Woh, am i Jesus then? How knows, who beliefs? i don't know, in this story just call me Loki. Anyway. Every year again, i start a fresh new life as a baby. i'll grow up under supervision of the Ice-queen. She teaches me, that i'll have to rule the world by balancing the elements.
But i don't want to rule the world; i only want to play as a child, because i am a child. Then my greedy father exposes the challenging toy of fire again. i'm in the spirit of all our children...
i like to play games all the times, so lets Listen what happens every new year...


1.1: OVERTURE: LOKI'S FATE (Instrumental)

In the white serenity of the dark Winter-months, i'll grow up in the quiet icy world of the Ice-queen. i'm swirling around up high in the sky as a playing child. Feed by the energy of the siren singing of my flurries, my mind is filled up with youthfully unconsciousness. As my free will is developing, my mother, the ice-queen, knows that once the day breaks of loosing control over me. Every year she has to loose again her beloved. It's her fate. Then she is forced to draw back in her summerly hiding place, Niflheim, situated at the North Pole of the Earth, permanently in an icy state. While she mourns, melting icecaps, i'll be curious about the earthly life, i'll grasp my consciousness together more and more and finally blow myself down to Earth, right in the middle of a specific Vulcan in Mispelheim.


1.2: THE AWAKENING SPITFIRE

Mispelheim at the last days of the winter. Still there is some snow on the ground, but for the first time this year the sun is shining through the clouds. From a cave, hidden in the top of a huge mountain, which looks like a Vulcan, some smoke escapes for the first time in the new season. It's from Spitfire, a huge dragon, still hibernating the last days of winter. His body does not have a solid state, instead he's wholly made out of fire. His eyes are like two heated suns, too blinding to look at. His tongue is embodied by the snake of Midgard, which circumferences the whole earth with the speed of a comet.
The earth is starting to shake more and more from the accelerating activities of the Humus (some believe thunder-god Thor is helping them).
Then spontaneously i blew a cold breeze through the cave, to discover the living energy at that place. Spitfire awaked from my cold breeze, bad-tempered by the coldness of his house, his hunger from a wintertime long waiting for food to consume, and foremost those who disturb him...

SPITFIRE:

Who's snatching at my dragon's wake?
By gathering together goblin's sake?
Hunger hammers boldly at my belt
Winter cries less coldly, starts to melt
Loki, get me on my feet again
Behold your blood-brother's bothering clan
Odin's will is wounded by desire
He'll wake the snake surrounded by his fire

Move on, mates, get rid of Mispelheim,
We're prisoners, all caused by Odin's crime
Reincarnated in his hatred
Doomed to dwell down earth-related
Madly aspired Mayday parties
Let us freak out all you smarties
Greedy Odin, getting nowhere
Begging Loki to declare:

Each year at Yule he yells and yearns
That Soon the day dawns black to burn,
From Ragnarok, enclosed by sun
He fights his way to have some fun.


1.3: SCENIC BEAUTY (Instrumental)

Spring wants to break free. Behold the beauty of Nature!


1.4: FLOWERING OF THE HUMUS (part one)

The Earth is trembling underfeet. Earthquakes occur as a result of the Humus, digging too much holes and tunnels during the winter. They collected too much treasures from Earth by now, and they have to expand their goodies above the ground further. The result of the diligent labour of the Humus becomes visible for mankind when in Springtime everything starts to grow. While hurrying up each other, the Humus pushing up their Earthly treasures above the ground, so they can sell their merchandize on the Mayday-Festival, so-called by the Humus which is the same as the Vernal Equinox Festival. Humans called it the Midsummer-party.

THE HUMUS:

North, South, East, West,
Dain, Dvalinn, Duneyr, Durap,
Fighter, Sighter, where is Gandalf?
Chant the praise of Balder's spring
Spread the race of living string
Hurry up, Come along
Push that barrel of oil, be strong
Move along with that goblin-freight,
To the surface with that rich
With might and main.

Dig that hole by big gig quicker,
To make the party of Balder bigger,
Offer the arts of an earthly goblin,
At Balder's boldly mayday's-feast.


1.5: THE MELTING ICE-QUEEN

A huge landscape looms up if we travel north. During the past winter, the Ice-Queen expanded her empire of ice, snow and rest from Niflheim to Midgard. In ancient times she was called Hell, the God of death. After the twilight of Gods there was no god visible anymore, since then, mankind started to call her the Ice-Queen. But almost no one knows, that in fact she is Brynhild, the pariah daughter of Odin. She is also mother of the Waterdrops. A close friend of her is Odin's wife Fricka, who helps her in the war against Odin's heat, by regulating the tidal movements with the moon.
The end of the winter is near and since Spitfire awoke, it starts to get warmer in Midgard. Her massive body size made of ice is melting, will fall apart in a million drops of water, and by crying and weeping all over again, she will cause floods all over the Earth. To prevent this, she'll have to move as far as possible from Spitfire, so she withdraws to her everlasting icy homeland Niflheim, heading for her huge hell of ice, built in the centre of Niflheim. Right there, it is always winterly cold, because Odin's sun rays can't reach that place close enough. There she's all alone and she will prey to the former God of Spring, Balder, for the re-awakening of me, Loki, her redeemer. Every new year i'll be reborn at 21th of december at midwinter-night. Until the next midsummer-day she teaches me anew what i'll have to do in my one-year-short-life: keeping the balance between the elements, more specifically, controlling the power of Odin and Spitfire.
In the meantime, i'm not bordered by the war of my father and mother. i only want to play around like a child usually does. And my father Odin really wants to play exiting games with me: fire is a wonderful toy!
At the Vernal Equinox-party i'm expected to be grown-up and then my mother is absent in every respect.

THE ICE-QUEEN:

Loki, Loki, Loki,

Loki, my keen playing child
To me you'll stem from croaking wild
Nothing less than Fricka's moon
Who shone and changed the tide that soon

In many drops we'll fall apart
Obedient 'till his fire flares start
Are we just left behind insane?
Odin or Brynhild, who'll laugh in vain?

LIsten, homeless epicure,
Separated from Godly lure,
Do you accept your airy fate:
Tie your elements to this gate.

Your disloyalty, deceit and scheme
No god could understand the scene
We stop the shimmer, let's be true:
Your pantheon has abandoned you

LOKI:

Am I as guilty as you suggest?
Was I that horrid to the rest?
When I lift the wounded Wotan willingly
Then his Greed defeats responsibility

When you are Battling as former Brynhild
With Odin'S honor which has finally been killed
Earth becomes completely out of balance
Suffering from you both fight in trance

Who else could be your eternal saviour
Than puppet Loki with his smart behavior?
Locked up in a life of one year,
I'm sentenced to give light to each fear

Return my empire of fire!


1.6: THE MARCH OF SPITFIRE (instrumental)

Spitfire is marching from his homeland Mispelheim to Midgard to enjoy the Vernal Equinox Festival.


1.7. THE ARRIVAL OF SPITFIRE (instrumental)

Finally Spitfire arrives at the festival, which is already opened by de Humus. They are busy with transporting their Earthly goods to the surface of the Earth. Then they meet each other for the first time...


1.8: FLOWERING OF THE HUMUS (part two)

The Mayday-Festival is opened by the Humus. Surrounded by different arts and cracking jokes, resulting in a covering of green flowering plants, they show their collection of curiosity and attributes, which are made by themselves in their mines underground. Different attributes which dates from the times of the Gods of Walhalla are skilled with witchcraft, derived from Spring-god Balder: Skidbladnir, the ship of Freyr, which always has the wind behind it's sails. Draupnir, a ring, which reproduces itself nine times squared, Tyrfing, the cursed sword, that never misses. And the tarnhelm, which makes men invisible or Mjollnir, the mighty hammer of Thor and then Gungnir, the spear of Odin. They still have to be excavated from underground and no one knows if, and how they will work in the new elemental world-order. For example the ship of Freyr seems to point at the birds in the sky, which i admire; Draupnir, the ring, alludes to the existence of humankind; and the mighty hammer of Thor in the meantime is explained as a falling astroid on Earth. These attributes were in former time ment to serve specific Gods, but now they're a part of the at forehand selling stuff. Can you imagine what will happen if the Humus finally dig these goodies out of the deepest Earth and sell it to the wrong element at the wrong time? I don't know...

THE HUMUS:

Fire, wind water,
Watch us with a laughter
Odin's javelin of wandering, wait!
What would you like to buy or trade?

He he, ha ha, ho ho, hi hi

Skidbladnir is sixty
Tyrfing hundred and eighty
The golden hair of sif and,
Brinsingamen, Draupnir,
These are just very precious,
Do me a bid before it crashes.

Whatever you wish
You get your bliss
Choose much more of it,
Buy a lot of it,
Follow fierce our circus
Swallow swords and purchase
Make more magic trick games
To enlighten

the environment
Come on, eating greedy,
Buy the whole and loose control
Get drunk and pick through our junk

We want to please you
Everyone will know who is who
And so, there'll be nobody who's left all alone
And lets keep it that way.

As long,
As you can pay the bill
It's all right.


1.9: THE VERNAL EQUINOX FESTIVAL (THE HOLY TRINITY AT THE MIDSUMMER-PARTY):

The Vernal Equinox Festival is started-up: Spitfire, the Humus and the Waterdrops are all together present. Everybody is happy and enjoying each others goods and deeds at the party. The Humus offer lots of jokes and tricks to get the attention from the other elements, in an attempt to sell as much as possible. The Waterdrops only wants to drink and keep it quiet, while Spitfire like to strengthen the passion of fire and calls for me to help him. Only my Flurries are whirling restless up in the air, having anxious forebodings. They are awaiting my appearance to lead the party, but i rather like to wait a while, because the result of my presence at springtime always works out badly to the balance between the elements. Lets see if they can manage the balance on their own...

(Trio):

THE HUMUS:

Hi my comrades elements
Welcome to our stands and tents
Fresh air, fuel to feed the fire
Even icy waters, for your desire

THE WATERDROPS:

Let's celebrate this with a drink
With deliberate word of thanks.
And think:
As the festival feeds the flourishing
The benefits are encouraging

(Refrain):

(Separated one after the other):

SPITFIRE:

Don't be that superstitious
To burn these are my wishes

THE HUMUS:

Let's quickly start the party
Anybody can be that smarty

THE WATERDROPS:

This moment is quite right
'Cause there's nothing yet to fight

EVERYBODY (together at the same time):

Follow the passion...

(Separated but mixed):

THE HUMUS:

Of an hour of wealth!

SPITFIRE:

Of a fire of hell!

THE WATERDROPS:

Of a hydropathic spell!

(2e Verse):

SPITFIRE:

Where is our merrymaker Loki?
Emcee of our hocus-poci?
Doesn't he have to blow our fire?
Feel the fake of this child-like liar!

THE WATERDROPS:

Lovely mother, don't wait longer,
Send us Loki, lets get stronger
Always he will blow along,
When the snow is melting, things go wrong

(Refrain):

(Separated one after the other):

SPITFIRE:

It's the ardor I admire
Let's dance round and round the fire

THE WATERDROPS:

Lets clink until we're raving
Spare no drink left in the saving

THE HUMUS:

This moment is quite right
'Cause there's no violence yet to fight

Everybody (together at the same time):

Follow the passion...

(Separated but mixed):
SPITFIRE:

Of a fire of hell!

THE HUMUS:

Of an hour of wealth!


THE WATERDROPS:

Of a hydropathic spell!


1.10: RESENTMENT

Spitfire and the Humus are starting to argue about the rights of ownership of the merchandise: Spitfire is arguing that he has the right to own the merchandise because he can't help it to be dependent on his fuel just to exist. He argues that it will be unfair to withhold him from the fuel, because he's the only element who can't live without it and he certainly will die without it. He also proposes a profit in it for the Humus: it generates new warmth and light, which can be used by the Humus to create more new animals, plants and humans with their treasures.
However, the Humus themselves are suspicious and think a bit different about this matter. Every year i hope they will manage their cooperation harmoniously themselves, but every year its hopeless; i'm forced to appear in order to act like a arbitrator between them.

SPITFIRE:

Shortly I only can have a bit
With my ever passionate corpse called Nid,
Don't make me shine too hot on you
I keep it straight with you: listen to my clue:
I'll provide more heat for you to grow
When you doubling your production for the show

THE HUMUS:

Working only makes good sense
When the profit is immense
Be sure of one thing: that we won't begin
On a job with no profit to win

Our treasures burned,
What do we get returned?

We have indeed worked long on our tenure
Your excessive urge to burn is giving us nothing more, that's for sure!
Let's jail you underground,
And instead of your useless summer, forge our treasury!

SPITFIRE:

Bashing
Crashing
Thumping
Bumping

You call this
An honest
Deal?

You think too small
As a stupid Droll
You are counting like a troll

Water and fire, you owe them much
From Giant's flesh you grew as such

Respect your spring-god Balder's wish
And offer your treasures on my dish

If you Deny my lashes
Then I'll burn you to ashes
Make you the more anguish
Just generate, more precious, to languish

Hide away, go underground
Bring me more treasures to be burned when they're found.

THE HUMUS:

Ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha ha

Ha

Ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha ha

Ha

What a farce
What a joke
What a greed
You will need us
'Till your death!
Just illuminate us
And there's nothing left to have!

Come on you, you greedy dragon-freak!

SPITFIRE:

Loki,
Deliberator
Make your choice, you cunning traitor

Wipe out these trolls,
With their earth-bound calls,

(They're) boring,
(They're) tedious,
Do we have a party
Getting ruined by a smarty?

Let's be hearty!

LOKI:

Relax
My friend,
Trust Loki
Will stand,
He appears just right on time.
Why are you
In such a hurry,
To make me feel like some bad fury,

Everything
Is on the wing
Don't mess up with your sting

Petulance spoils the chance,
With your ridiculous revenge

Nymphs and trolls,
Jibe this dragon
With his pathetic loathing beckon

But since playing is a joy for me
It's chaos 'n' creativity
Like a god in earlier days,
Playing with fire in many ways

Just let's party!


1.11: DE OPPOSITION

i can't resist the joy of playing with Spitfire, the firedragon. Sure, everything is gonna be allright, just give me some time and faith, mates! Now the Waterdrops are getting suspicious too and scared as they are, they're attempting to extinguish the fire by raining as much as possible. After a while there are different lakes coming into being and in the end the whole party is surrounded by lakes. But Springfire is very motivated to stay alive and with my help, he tries to boil the lakes in order to vaporize the excessive water upwards back to the air.

THE WATERDROPS:

Nobody left around here
We only wish our queen of ice
Freezing us finally to rest
Up or underneath the Earth

(Refrain):

We only like to play around
Drinking much with many
We'll get sick of rushing unfound
yeah, condemn us to be a worthless penny

But Loki,
Who'll be soon your greatest fellow?
And who'll prove soon to be most yellow?

Heiress daughters of Rhine
Our queen unfreezes yet
Some play with too much fire
Melting our peace
O, please!

(Refrain):

We only want to play abound
Drinking much with many
We'll get sick of rushing around
Yeah, condemn us to be a worthless penny

But Loki,
Be honest with us anyway,
Don't turn around in what you say,
Do not delay,
There comes the day,
You'll have to pay

Who'll be soon your greatest fellow?
And who'll prove soon to be most yellow?

(Refrain):

We only want to play fair
Drinking much with many
We'll get sick of rushing over there,
Yeah, condemn us to be a worthless penny

(Bridge):

Listen, loki,
Do you remember, Loki,
Just think,
Don't let the water surprise you
Just use it in advance like the wise do
Don't let the crafty fooled by toxic wine
Of the daughters of Rhine!
Come streaming in our dreaming...

And who will be soon then,
Your most trusted bellow?
Your most beloved mellow?
Your very very very best fellow?
But who will prove to be your biggest yellow?

Why do you choose for greedy Odin?
While your wind is forcing us to let you soaking
Again, the fire gets fanatic
And the Earth is begging for dramatic,

The Humus (all together):

Water, water, water, water, water!!!

THE WATERDROPS:

Lets join us Waterdrops all together,
Collecting clouds into really bad weather,

Drop, drip, mourn,
Drink, push, bourn,
Dive, drift, stream
Sink, cry and dream...


1.12: FERMENTING AIR ...

The huge amount of water from the lakes, combined with the plants of the Humus, together boiled by the increasing fire-heat of Spitfire, makes all of the presented fluids fermenting. All of the party-goers are drinking themselves drunken, which makes the party getting out of control.
i'm also getting drunk and i forget the message of the Waterdrops. i don't want to pay attention to their message, anyway. It's really the way of things should come and go: the earthly goods have to ferment and to prevent it from too much rotting further away, it should be cleaned up to the benefit of the seasonal cycle. In order to do so, the only solution is to burn the earthly stuff. So i blow up Spitfire, who is rapidly spreading around his flickering flames at the former party place in a short time ...

LOKI:

Such a nice treat,
Give me another drink
What a fun I enjoy
Many sparkles make the firework
When I dance around the clockwork
Incites my spirit to be a dreamer
Listen to your true condemner!

THE HUMUS:

Quickly, run away,
He doesn't want to pay

Where do we go?
No, not back down below

We don't have any choice,
Grab what you can take

The party has been spoilt
Loki has gone nuts!

Go!

Go!

A-jie-ha
A-jie-ha
A-jie-ha
A-jie-ha

Etcetera


1.13: ... AND SCORCHING EARTH (instrumental)

... Spitfire completely dominates the party with a fire as huge as big dragon. He consumes all the fuel of the Humus which is available, just to grow as big as possible. The Humus run for their lifes and goods as quick as possible, and take theirs for what's left behind, to get back underground, the only save place to hide for Spitfire. i can't help it, the whole cause is getting out of hand, and i even like it! i've had enough of mother's wishes according to my task and i'm very curious about father's fire-play. Let's see what he has to tell me...



1.14: THE PROPHECY OF THE FLURRIES

In the meantime the increasing heat of Spitfire heats the alcoholic waters of the surrounding lakes and vaporizes towards my flurries in the air. The remaining visitors of the Vernal Equinox Festival, who didn't left the stage, are becoming stunning enclosed by a circle, made by my Flurries. In the middle of the circle i'm floating down from the air, surrounded by a whirlpool of wind, which hose reaches far beyond the sky. The party gets even better: the alcoholic air is inspiring my Flurries to open up the summer-season with their murmuring singing. Everybody is getting intoxicated by my whirling wind and the siren-singing of the Flurries. Their siren-song is about the revealing of their prophecies of the future:

THE FLURRIES:

On behalf of the light, this is the moment
Render all energy to their torment
Open up all of our lives smartness
To enlighten the empty darkness

Around the Humus they are all sent
Who are willing to offer the fifth element
By selling their dark thing
In turn for their dreaded light of spring

LOKI:

Strengthen by fresh air for free
Shall the fires have to waste their energy
And the water shall have to extinguish it
When the wind chose the elemental time to quit

THE FLURRIES:

A day of Midsummer's vivid light
And cold darkness of midwinter-night
Remember our beloved Frey and don't rest
Loki, new lord of air, carry out your quest

You should want to die and flow
And Rising anew, reborn from snow
And right after our twelfth full moon
We are gonna sing you to sleep 'till next day noon

LOKI:

My son of fire wants to light up higher
Odin's daughter water wants peace from father
While the Earth is flowering by their balance, but why?
Should Loki helped them develope that high?

THE FLURRIES:

Your wind creates harmony everywhere present
When developing only from its earthbound-content
Be severe on the balance of water and fire
Just disturbing your earth-bloom you should have admired

But whimsical and spontaneously
Is your wind by wanting to break free
From your chains to regain control of fire
To reign and possess all might

LOKI:

Show me the joy of being a nine days wonder
Exiled by former Gods there be yonder
All alone controlling the arts
Don't you think Loki wants to change the cards?


1.15: SPRING FIRE (Instrumental)

"You crazy old-fasioned Flurries, why do i get stuck with you? i'm an adult now! You older Flurries are considerately old-fashioned and you don't know anything about todays life! So don't tell me what i should do; you can't comprehend my ideas. For the moment i'm only a bit drunken and like to play with the fire-sparks of Spitfire. Leave me alone!"
The Vernal Equinox Party has become one big fire of sacrifice: it's really a hell of a show, such fireworks! It's the real start of the summer-season. You follow me in the second act of this story? See you there! And live... and have fun!


(END OF THE 1er ACT)


***************

© & ℗ 2012 All Rights Reserved by Sonic Scenes
Text and Music written by Sonic Scenes
Composed and Produced by Sonic Scenes
Guest-Singer Loki: Minco Ruyter
Guest-Singer Ice-Queen: Angela Obscurius
Text Technical edited by Jimmy Hutchinson
Mixed by Rutger Klein Kranenbarg & Gerben Bisschop
Paintings by Cornelle Bisschop
Paintings edited by Sonic Scenes

Originally all the tracks are glued together as one piece on a physical CD, which is available on request. Please let me know at byallmeans@sonicscenes.com and I'll send you a physical CD via CDbaby.
If you like to read the complete text written above, on our website, garnished with paintings, drawings and much extra's, or if you have any questions or answers, please visit our website www.sonicscenes.com. or mail us at: byallmeans@sonicscenes.com