Wednesday 29 February 2012

Nothing else matters...

John Byam Liston Shaw: Now is Pilgrim Fair Autumn's Charge


Tuesday 28 February 2012

Monday 27 February 2012

Dreamer

John William Waterhouse: Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus

He is down by the riverside
Late one night
He's tryin' to count the stars
In each of the signs
All alone by the riverside
And time passes by
Gathering thoughts of the past
And maybe he'll cry

So they say he's a madman
And he don't understand
But I know that he's tryin' hard
To act like a man
All those years he has suffered, my friends
All those years of pain
But I don't think he knows for sure
If those years were in vain

He's a dreamer
And he's fightin' for his life
He's tryin' to understand
He's a dreamer
But he wants to carry on
Yet I know he's a lonely man


(Europe: Dreamer)

Sunday 26 February 2012

I feel I'm growing older...

Edward Burne-Jones: The Wheel of Fortune

I have often told you stories
About the way
I lived the life of a drifter
Waiting for the day
When I'd take your hand
And sing you songs
Then maybe you would say
Come lay with me love me
And I would surely stay

But I feel I'm growing older
And the songs that I have sung
Echo in the distance
Like the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be...
A soldier of fortune

Many times I've been a traveler
I looked for something new
In days of old
When nights were cold
I wandered without you
But those days I thought my eyes
Had seen you standing near
Though blindness is confusing
It shows that you're not here

Now I feel I'm growing older
And the songs that I have sung
Echo in the distance
Like the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be...
A soldier of fortune
Yes, I can hear the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be
A soldier of fortune

(Deep Purple: Soldier of fortune)

Saturday 25 February 2012

Friday 24 February 2012

Thursday 23 February 2012

Sympathy

Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Ligeia the Siren


Sympathy just doesn't mean
That much to me
Compassion's not
The fashion in my mind
And if you're looking for
A shoulder to cry on
Don't turn your head my way
'Cause I'd rather have
My music any day

You and I are
Masters of our destiny
We look for consolation all the time
Until we find out things are not
What they were meant to be, oh no
And if it doesn't suit our mood
We'll call it crime

Dedication's not an obligation
Or a figment of
Someone's imagination
It's the only way they say
To live from day to day
To make each passing way
A small sensation

Dreams are the possession of
The simple man
Reality the fantasy of youth
But living is a problem that
Is common to us all
With love the only
Common road to truth

(Uriah Heep: Sympathy)

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Out of fashion...

Arthur Hughes: Overthrowing of the Rusty Knight


Tuesday 21 February 2012

Total Eclipse

Frank Frazetta: The moon's rapture


Monday 20 February 2012

Bella Dona

Jules Joseph Lefevbre: Odalisque

Oh Belladonna never knew the pain
Maybe I'm crazy, maybe it'll drive you insane
The open letter just carelessly placed
And you move in silence, the tea so delicately laced

Out of reach, out of touch
How you've learned to hate so much

Came from passion, and you gave it a name
The fingers are poisoned like needles in the drivin' rain
So smile discreetly as you watch with such grace
Now I must slip away, but can you forget my face


Sunday 19 February 2012

Saturday 18 February 2012

Friday 17 February 2012

Wasted Time...

Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema: Expectations



Wednesday 15 February 2012

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Back to Back

Boris Vallejo: I 've Got Your Back

Ride
They came at dawn
into the morning light
black shadows ridin' on the mist
prepared for battle
swords were shinin' bright
filled with anger and harm
came to kill not to charm

The sound of metal
screamin' in the air
the time has come where justice rules
the endless victims
looking up in fear
now who were the fools

[Chorus:]
Oh here they come
riders of the sun
and they will fight
back to back - back to back

They're fighting hard
their way of victory
dead bodies lying on the ground
they are the soldiers of eternity
and their swords spinnin' around

[Chorus]

They're fightin' with power, ready to ride let go

They got it all
they'll never fall
but they will fight
The night is fallin'
light will disappear
a magic silence fills the place
could read the warning
shinin' crystal clear
now they were lost for the chase

[Chorus]
No - no - no - no


Monday 13 February 2012

Dreaming (tell me)

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema: The Tepidarium

Shades of night, fall upon my eyes
Lonely world fades away

Misty light, shadows starts to rise
Lonely world fades away

In my dreams your face is all I see
Through the night you share your love with me

Dreaming visions of you
Feeling all the love I never knew

Here we are on the crossroads of forever
Shining star lights the way

Walk with me on the winds of time
Love's mystery is for us to find

Dreaming visions of you
Feeling all the love I never knew, I never knew

Until that day, the day until I find you
I won't rest, I won't let go

Somehow, some way, I know I'll be beside you
To warm my heart and fill my soul


(Y.J. Malmsteen: Dreaming)

Sunday 12 February 2012

Red roses in a forgotten diary...

Eleanor Fortescue - Brickdale: Romance



Lonely at the top


Boris Vallejo: Conan opening a bottle

It's a long way down from the top to the bottom
And I'm slipping all the time
So many people around me
Trying to take whats really mine

I made it all alone
Not a single helping hand
So many people are afraid of
The things they don't understand

It's lonely at the top
Everybody's trying to do you in
All the losers down below
Trying to drag you back there again
It's lonely at the top
It's a long, long lonely drop
And I feel I'm slipping day by day

My number isn't listed
But they stop me in the street
Catch me in the elevator
Now they're turning on the heat

I think I'm going crazy
But I know I'm not alone
There's a private detective in the car behind
And a bugging device on the phone

It's lonely at the top
Everybody's trying to do you in
All the losers down below
Trying to drag you back there again
It's lonely at the top
It's a long, long lonely drop
And I feel I'm slipping day by day

It's lonely at the top
Everybody's trying to do you in
All the losers down below
Trying to drag you back there again
It's lonely at the top
It's a long, long lonely drop
And I feel I'm slipping day by day


Friday 10 February 2012

Here I go again...

J.W. Waterhouse:  Touchstone, the Jester

I don't know where I'm goin
But I sure know where I've been
Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
But here I go again, here I go again.

Tho' I keep searching for an answer
I never seem to find what I'm looking for.
Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on
'Cause I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.

Here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time.

Just another heart in need of rescue
Waiting on love's sweet charity
An' I'm gonna hold on for the rest of my days
'Cause I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.

Here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
But here I go again, here I go again,
Here I go again, here I go.

An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time.

Here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
'Cause I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.

Here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
But here I go again, here I go again,
Here I go again, here I go,
Here I go again.




Thursday 9 February 2012

Bye bye beautiful

Frank Frazetta: Top of morning

Did you ever hear what I told you?
Did you ever read what I wrote you?
Did you ever listen to what we played?
Did you ever let in what the world said?
Did we get this far just to feel your hate?
Did we play to become only pawns in the game?
How blind can you be, don't you see?
You chose the long road, but we'll be waiting

Bye, bye, beautiful!
Bye, bye, beautiful!

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Like lightning! (Iceman revisited)


Guillaume Geefs: La Genie du mal (The genius of evil) or Lucifer of Liege



(Satan: The IceMan)

Monday 6 February 2012

Dreams come through...



You can't run away forever
But there's nothing wrong
With getting a good head start
You want to shut out the night,
You want to shut down the sun
You want to shut away the pieces of a broken heart

Think of how we'd lay down together
We'd be listening to the radio so loud and so strong
Every golden nugget coming like a gift of the gods
Someone must have blessed us when he gave us those songs

I treasure your love, I never want to lose it
You've been through the fires of hell
And I know you've got the ashes to prove it
I treasure your love, I want to show you how to use it
You've been through a lot of pain in the dirt
And I know you've got the scars to prove it

Remember everything that I told you,
And I'm telling you again that it's true
When you're alone and afraid, and you're completely amazed
To find there's nothing anybody can do
Keep on believing, and you'll discover baby

There's always something magic,
There's always something new
And when you really really need it the most
That's when rock and roll dreams come through
The beat is yours forever, the beat is always true
And when you really really need it the most
That's when rock and roll dreams come through for you

Once upon a time was a backbeat,
Once upon a time all the chords came to life
And the angels had guitars even before they had wings
If you hold onto a chorus you can get through the night

Remember everything that I told you,
And I'm telling you again that it's true
You're never alone cause you can put on the phones
And let the drummer tell your heart what to do
Keep on believing, and you'll discover baby

The beat is yours forever
That's when rock and roll dreams come through


(18 yr old Angelina in 1993 Meatloaf video)


Sunday 5 February 2012

Saturday 4 February 2012

Hazy shade of winter


(Winter boots)

Time, time, time, see what's become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
But look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hear the salvation army band
Down by the riverside, it's bound to be a better ride
Than what you've got planned
Carry your cup in your hand
And look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hang on to your hopes, my friend
That's an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again
Look around, the grass is high
The fields are ripe, it's the springtime of my life

Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry
Won't you stop and remember me

But look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Look around, leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground...


Friday 3 February 2012

Animals

Ciruelo: Heavy metal


I'm on the prowl and i watch you closely
I lie waiting for you
I'm the wolf with the sheepsskins clothing
I lick my chops and your tasting good


Joe Jusko: Tiger swim

I come round, round i come feel your love 
Tie you down, down i come steal your love 
I come round, round i come feel your love 
Tie you down, down i come steal your love 
Come ride, savage seduction 
Ride, ride, ride 



Ken Kelly: Heavy metal

Thursday 2 February 2012

Ode to life

Frederic Lord Leighton: Idilio

(Κ. Παλαμάς - Ύμνος της ζωής)

Ζωή! δεν είναι τίποτε γλυκύτερο στον κόσμο
απ’ την πεντάμορφη ζωή, την ηλιοφωτισμένη!
Ζωή, κι αν έρχεσαι γοργά κι από χαρές γεμάτη
κι αν έρχεσαι με βάσανα και μ’ έγνοιες και μ’ αρρώστιες
… και μ’ όλες τις καλοκαιριές και μ’ όλους τους χειμώνες
ζωή, κι όπως κι αν δείχνεσαι, Ζωή, κι ό,τι κι αν είσαι
αν είσαι πράγμα ή όνειρο, καλή κακή κι αν είσαι
χαρά σ’ εσέ, δόξα σ’ εσέ κι αγάπες και τραγούδια!
… Από τον ήλιον η ζωή παίρνει ζωή μονάχα.
Αγάπα και ξεφάντωνε και δούλεψε και ζήσε
και προσηλώσου στη ζωή σαν τον κισσό στο δέντρο
και δέσου με την γην αυτή, στρείδι στο βράχο επάνω
και μη σε μέλει πού θα πας τα μάτια σου όταν κλείσης.
 … Ζωή! χαρά, δόξα σ’ εσέ κι αγάπες και τραγούδια!

Wednesday 1 February 2012

A cry in the night

Jeffrey Jones: As A Child




(Virgin Steele: A cry in the night)