Ayreon - Isis And Osiris (Into The Electric Castle) 1998

Isis And Osiris from Ayreon's 1998 release Into The Electric Castle.

LYRICS:

[A. LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN]

[highlander]
what heathen place is this that I've arrived in
is now the time I pay for all my sins
I can't believe that this is God's creation
this realm was fashioned by the Deil's ane hand

[indian (chorus)]
no it has been foretold, in our legends of old
wake the spirit within, let the journey begin

[highlander]
this quest you speak of is for redemption
how can we travel when our souls are lost
you think we find ourselves at gates of new salvation
when I can only sense the end is here

[indian (chorus)]

[knight]
we're at the gates of Avalon, the island of spirits,
we're at the gates of Avalon, in search of the grail

[B. THE HALL OF ISIS AND OSIRIS]

[roman]
there's no way out, slaves for eternity
down in the underworld, the jaws of Orcus
I call on Jupiter, the ruler of the gods
show us the way, from damnation to salvation

[egyptian (chorus)]
the fields of Yaaru lie waiting for us all
rejoice! the judges have ruled
we have been chosen to enter the great hall
of Isis and Osiris

[roman]
no you're wrong, we're trapped here in darkness
among departed souls, and mislaid spirits
I call on Mars, the ancient god of war
grant me the power, to free me from this evil

[egyptian (chorus)]

[C. STRANGE CONSTELLATIONS]

[highlander]
can you see the stars? can you recognize the constellations?
if I could only see the hills that we're supposed to climb
even the sunlight.....it doesn't
warm.....doesn't wam
how are we gonna find our way?
if we can't recognize the stars, if we can't recognize the constellations
where do we go?

[D. REPRISE]

[highlander]
the quest you speak of, it isn't bound for glory
no grail exists within this heathen land
you think we find ourselves at gates of new salvation
when I can only sense...the end is near

#ayreon #arjenlucassen

[SarazenStudios]

This song is on my shortlist for my funeral music. I actually own the 12 string Takamine acoustic that is played on this track. I bought it from Arjen about ten years ago. It has belly bulge and is almost unplayable without crazily light strings but it doesn't matter because I know that I have a piece of one of the most iconic prog rock tracks ever committed to tape. This song and other Ayreon tracks have had a huge influence on my own music production. I guess if I had to explain Ayreon to someone, this would be in the top three tracks that I would play. Masterpiece is often an overused term but this song is so deserving!

[saturnmartin]

Deadwing brought me here to this underrated masterpiece <3

[bluefalcon]

This is the song that ruined my perception of music when I was in high school; ruined not for the worse, but the better. Ayreon in general is gateway music, and if you follow the threads used to make up the tapestry that is all of these songs and albums, you discover so many other musicians and connections into music as artistry.


Thank you Arjen, you have made the world a more beautiful place.

[ZantiAlien]

A trance and progressive listener here. Still the moment starting from 6:28 is one of my favorite moments in music since my friend introduced me that song a couple of years ago.

[kobbdl]

This track may be the THE Greatest Piece of progressive metal ever made. A Cornerstone.

[lucascampos]

Good Guy Arjen, uploads all albuns to people apreciate these masterpieces.

[voxacwithstrat]

First heard this album on the internet radio. Blew me totally away. Bought it and played here at home and my two teenage sons both went "WOW". Now they play it all these years later to their kids.

[abellavieri]

2020 and I'm still listening to this masterpiece. Love you, Arjen

[fustigamatti]

No other piece of music so far was successful in giving to me the cold and mysterious feeling of the travel to the stars as conceived by the ancient egyptians. Masterpiece.

[discomfort]

This song did it for me. I'm now committed to get rich so I can buy everything Ayreon (and a 5.1 sound system). My cats love this song by the way, especially the B-part. Funny really, maybe egyptian music was cat-friendly? Live Forever /big, big fan(s)

[deslandes]

Still one of my favourites after all these years!

[teddytiger]

Arjen, you are the man. I hope you'll influence other artists to follow your path so that the less fortunate of us can enjoy such beautiful art. And hopefully those who can afford to purchase music will do it, you more than deserve it

[varenoftatooine]

I noticed something... in this song it mentions that it was foretold in the legends of old, and in The Source, The Prophet tells of a 'castle deep in space'. That's such a cool callback!

[JeanMarceaux]

The album art drew me in, the music got me hooked.

[CaffeineNightOwl]

this song and the harmonies of sharon and anneke are so amazing

[pineapplepeanuts]

Masterpiece! Musically its obvious - amazing arrangements, melodies, vocals, etc. Lyrically its a great example of what people like Thomas Aquinas called the search for Truth, which is (or at least should be) a collaborative effort. Each character is confronted with the transcendent and unknown and forced to come up with an explanation, then exchange and debate those views in a collaboration to discern that Truth. For the listener, they might think one "is more right" than the other, but for the unwitting characters, they are much more limited (which is how they represent us in real life).

My favorite character is probably the Highlander - he's the one who carefully observes each thing, taking stock of everything, unlike the others who rush to judgement. He is perhaps the most rational. But being human like the rest, his reasoning and senses possess the same limitations as the rest, and he can't quite discern what he's found on his own. He's left to his own senses, saying "I can only sense the end is near."

The one thing they don't do though at least at this stage is put their heads together to come up with some attempt at an explanation - that collaboration - and lay out the common observations and such despite their different observations. Instead they just vehemently disagree, placing validity only in their own versions of the truth, which could be folly.

[inferno]

I am listening this album since 1998 and i'm still amazed at how high and prized it is, the highest peaks in rock music. Great attention to every detail. Flawless.

[janegilverkil]

Ed’s fills at 9:00 and 9:22 are so on point! 4/4 and 10/16 time signatures work SO good!

[carmengamundi]

Arjen, your music heals depression ❤️

[toniosanche]

Now this is real music. A masterpiece!