The Dream Sequencer

"It is the 22nd century. I am the last of the Mars Colonists. The air
supply has almost run out on this desolate Mars colony, and the food
supplies from Earth have stopped arriving since the final war of 2084. I
am walking through the tunnel towards our recreation machine called the
Dream Sequencer. I hope it will sweeten my final days..."

(Dream sequencer system online)
Good morning colonist. You have selected the Universal Migrator program.
Please lie down in the energy tank and place the electrodes on your temples.
Think of your designation number and drink the fluid from the vessel at the left
terminal.

(Program loaded, commencing U.M. preincarnation protocol)
Now focus on the music as I take you back to your chilhood......and beyond.....

My House on Mars

"It is the end of the 21st Century. I have returned to my own childhood. I remember it
all as the Dream Sequencer images mix with my own recollections. This is the day my
sister and I realised that we would never see the planet Earth."

Daddy where are you now
Forgot about your vow?
You promised you'd return and take me to Earth

Did you have to fight that war
What was it all for?
The honor of one's name, what is it worth?

I'm all alone - we're all alone
My future's unknown - our future's unknown
I reach out to the stars out here in my house on Mars

Mother did you hear me cry?
You never told me why
You put me in this world of rock and dust

No friends for playing games
No foes who scorn my name
Computerized machines of steel and rust

Is this my home? - this is our home
This desolate dome - this desolate dome
I call out to the stars: I'm alone in my house on Mars

I'll never smell the ocean breeze
I'll never climb the highest trees
I'll never feel the burning sun
I'll never meet my chosen one... in my house

Daddy I forgive you now
You could not keep your vow
You will never return, I'll never see Earth

My time has come - our time has come
I'm emotionally numb - emotionally numb
I'm headed for the stars, I'm leaving my house on Mars
No friends in my house on Mars
No foes in my house on Mars
I was born in my house on Mars
I will die in my house on Mars.

2084

"It is the 21st century. The Final Experiment has failed. The final devastating war that
was foretold by the blind minstrel Ayreon has indeed come to pass. The war has destroyed
all life on Earth, making it completely uninhabitable. I hover above my own dead body..."

Silence fills the air
Echoes fade away
Of sadness and despair
On that cruel and fateful day

My body lies motionless
Upon the kitchen floor
The Earth has died, the world's at rest
2084

Many centuries ago
In a dark enchanted land
Our fate had been foretold
By a poor misguided man

We carried on down the road we chose
The path of nevermore
The journey ends, the book is closed
2084

And now I have to leave, my work on earth is done
I'm heading for the planet known as Mars
To the last of its race, the final newborn son
Before I start my voyage to the stars.

On Small Step

"It is the 20th century. I am a little boy peacefully asleep. My father comes to wake me
so that I can witness an historic event in the finite story of mankind."

On an early summer morning, July '69
As I dream of the planets
I hear a voice softly whisper: 'son, it is time
It's happening soon'

It's a quarter to four now and he carries me down
To our place by the telly
I see lights on in houses all over town
For the man on the Moon

One small step for man
But a giant leap for mankind
The mighty Apollo prevailed
The Eagle has landed

I go back to my warm bed, back to my dreams
But not the one of the planets
I decided this morning I don't want to be
The man on the Moon

As I lie here in this cold tank, living a dream
I'm the last on the planets
I decided this morning I don't want to be
The man on Mars.

The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B. Cocq

"It is the 17th century. I am a noble ensign-bearer posing with my guild for the Dutch
master painter, Rembrandt van Rijn, in Amsterdam."

I'm standing proud
In this noble crowd
My banner raised high the coat of arms of Amsterdam
To the mystic sky a magic light enchants the land

We're marching on
The shooting company of Captain Frans B. Cocq

My uniform shines the livery of a high-born man
The Claw-guild signs immortalized by the master's hand
Light and shade with colors rich and brushwork bold
Night and day with shadows black and amours gold

We're marching on
The shooting company of Captain Frans B. Cocq

I'm standing proud
In this noble crowd
In our golden age eternalized by the artist's hand
A glorious page in the history of our tiny land

We're marching on
Up to the battlefield to where the spirits walk
The shooting company of Captain Frans B. Cocq.

Dragon on the Sea

"It is the 16th century. I am Queen Elizabeth sending out the brave Sir Francis Drake to
defend the English realm against the invading armada."

Times are dark now, our empire's gone astray
Forces from down south, armada on the way
So we call our greatest men to run the barricade
Shine your light where shadows fall and wash the night away

Sail on for your queen
Sail into history
You will never be the same
Sail on for country
Into our memory
Time will remember your name
Dragon on the sea

Fires burn now in once our tranquil bays
Tall ships that rain down thunderbolts and flames
Go and raise your pirate flag, cast the lines away
Take your fleet where darkness falls and turn the night to day

The sun never sets on the empire won
But wise men say never say never
It slips through our hands just like sand in sun
We thought it would go on forever

Dragon ships they keep on sailing, on to Nova Albion
While the waking world is sleeping, dragon ships are sailing on.

Temple of the Cat

"It is the 8th century. I am a Mayan girl heading for the Jaguar Temple in Tikal on the
central American continent."

Shine down on me, Sun of the Underworld
Set me free, chase away the night
Proud Jaguar, king of the Mayan Gods
Shining star, light up the sky

And guide me to the Temple of the Cat

Heart-of-Sky, Maker and Hurricane
Mighty eye, harvester of life
We were born solely to speak your name
Bring the dawn, we'll praise the sky

Here inside the Temple of the Cat

Upon his throne the High priest addressed the crowd
Now carved in stone his holy name
Beads of jade adorn his cotton shroud
His silvery blade on a golden chain

He lies here in the Temple of the Cat, dead
He will rise again from the Temple of the Cat

Carried by the Wind

"It is the 6th century. This is where it all began. My tired body has passed away, but my
once-tortured spirit is finally free now. My name is ... Ayreon."

I've crossed the edge where time disappears
My life has been taken by the charm of the seer
My conscience is clear, I committed no sin
My spirit roams free now, carried by the wind

My mission has failed, the spell has been cast
I wasn't the first one and I won't be the last
This can't be the end, so let it begin
My message will reach you, carried by the wind

Out here on Mars I now realize
Mankind has vanished, tears fill my eyes
There must be a world I can live in
My spirit will find it, carried by the wind.

And the Druids Turn to Stone

"It is 2800 B.C. I quietly witness the astounding secret behind the creation of a
mysterious monument in Wiltshire, England."

The moon sheds no light on Salisbury plain
The day turns to night and the bonfires cease burning

The druids gather round and the chants fill the air
Their echoes resound and the living world stops turning

The magic words are spoken
As we leave the plain in silence
Now the circle stands alone
And the druids turn to stone

The dawn shines its light on Salisbury plain
The day floods the night with gilded rays of sunshine

The magic words were spoken
As we left the plain in silence
Then the circle stood alone
And the druids turned to stone

The rising sun is dancing on the edges of the stones
Casting shadows, creeping down the Avenue
Into the heart of the sarsen trilithons

I marvel at this mystery, beholder of the stars
A holy temple, a sacred burial ground
Guarding well its secrets from us all.

The First Man on Earth

"It is 50000 B.C. The world is almost empty; nature is still untouched by man. Off in the
distance, a clan of ape-like creatures gather near a cliff side. But I am the first to
stand. I must be..."

In fields of green, vast as the oceans
Is this a dream, is it evermore?
A million years, fast as a notion
I stand alone here on the silent shore

I'm after prey in the fields
Shelter in a cave from the cold and lonely nights
And now it all seems so real
Warming at the fireside beneath the pale moonlight

This is the dawn of time
I am the first to stand
Looking through the eyes of the primal man
This is the dawn of time
Witnessing the birth
I am the first man on earth

The skies of blue reach to the heavens
They go on and on forevermore
No avenues, no city sidewalks
Planet Mars is but ancient lore

This place has all that I need
No computers glowing screens, no industrial machines
Somehow it all seems surreal
Memories of days gone by, a slowly fading scene

No one here to blame me
No one here to hurt
So much space here to occupy my mind
I can breathe the breath of virgin land

The firefly at nighttime
The sounds of nothing known
And I belong here like I never have before
The wandering child returning home

When twilight falls, red is the sunset
Planets appear across the colored sky
No prison walls, no war, no bloodshed
Hard to believe this new world will die

I wish that I could stay for a while
In the dream world that the sequencer creates
And though it all seems so real
Now I fear the time is gone, I feel its heavy weight

Hold on to this moment in time
Savor a life how it used to be
Hold on to the world in its prime
Breathe in the air, feel the energy.