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Royal & V​ä​r vs. the Sky Kingdom

by Royal Holland

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1.
Please do pardon my French. "Joyeux Halloween" Narrator: Royal et Vär au Paris, á Sacré Cœur; Ils disent "Joyeux Halloween". Puis font un vœu et sont importé dans nouvelle aventure. "Translation" - Royal and Vär in Paris at the Sacré Cœur; They say "Happy Halloween". They make a wish and are whisked on a new adventure. Royal and the Valkyrie Choir: When I sit down and think of things My mind floats down in tighter rings like falcons soar and bluebird sings but all I see and hear is you The magic spell behind your eyes Your sacred heart a golden prize Like Vishnu you've been glorified But all of this holds true "Sacré Cœur" Royal: When I sit down and think of things My mind floats down in tighter rings like falcons soar and bluebird sings but all I see and hear is you The magic spell behind your eyes Your golden heart a sacred prize Like Vishnu you've been glorified But all of this holds true When I wake up and look at you Can't believe it's something that came true The likes of me with the likes of you And they are halcyon days And golden nights by glassy seas And magpies hiding in the trees And sharing countless energies A mythology that's true All of this holds true And all of this holds true You are the red moon scattered on the sea You are the queen of everything in me You are the lucky star I will collide And share with you the magic that's inside Forever holding us my love Intertwined throughout below above You are the heart that holds the sacred key To all the beauty in our synchronicity And I will always be in love with you And all of this does hold true All of this holds true "Nacho Cheese" Royal: I woke up today with a view of the sea and foretold catastrophe It was raining below us and chanting above the song of your leaving me My hands were tied into tiny little bows And planted in the yard in perfect rows When will my fingers grow into little trees that house the birds that fly you back to me I woke up today with you on my mind and a dream of the cloudless sky It was raining beside you but not overhead and your hair was meticulously tied Into a bow of inordinate size It covered up your face, all except your eyes When will my fingers grow into little trees that house the birds that fly you back to me "Bird" Royal: You gave me a caged bird, yellow and bright blue She turned out to be the ghost of someone I once knew Somewhere there's an echo of the song she used to sing Every note is sacred and deeply promising That she's flying back to me And, I will wait for you dear until your songs are through Then I'll jump out my window and wing my way to you While you're flying back to me "Caught Away" Royal: Sleep comes and goes but I can get no rest Phantoms of your breath linger on my sunken chest When you get caught away You have to go Stolen from yesterday Now so long ago When you get caught away You have to leave But now I spend eternities Every day you're not with me
2.
"The Mediterranean" Royal and the Valkyrie Choir: When I look out across the sea A vision floats in haunting me About the day we spent so free So easily in love. A vibrant stroll through bustling streets Your magic always grounding me Against my floating aimlessly Through the holy stars above. "The Sky Kingdom Descending" Royal: I saw, the sky had opened and inside there was a scene Of the terrible destruction, that lies just behind the screams Of the smallest of the children and the oldest of our kind. All their zeppelins descending with corpses dangling from their sides And their leathery commander with patches over missing eyes But a gaze that had surely rendered thousand blank within their minds And I knew that very moment what it will be like to die And I felt his stare burn through me as I watched his birds take flight Then I saw avian armies forming squads among the clouds Setting forth from battle stations, holding secrets in their mouths A name on scrolls of paper tied with torn strips of a blouse and they caught fire as they fell to earth and could never be stamped out And so what am I to do now as the sky draws ever near? My love had been caught away and this had been my deepest fear They had come covered in midnight and the wisdom of their years And just how their magic claimed her is anything but clear And then the sky became a theater and I watched them set the stage The plot had seen her stolen, snatched away by jealous beasts Wanting all of her for nothing in the hedonistic feast Of her glorious provision that could bring them to their knees But her kindness can't destroy them so it's all left up to me And as soon as I can stand up from this shock I have received Fighting off the feathered fury of the sky poured out on me I will storm into the middle of their clockwork companies And destroy the cage that holds her and once again we will be free I'll destroy the cage that holds her and once again we will fly free "Strange Machinations" Royal: Pale moonlight Stars shedding light Shadows of the birds in flight The question is What messages Do they pass amongst their ranks tonight Their secret schemes Strange patterns it seems And my mind cannot crack a solution And so I bide My time and design A firm and swift resolution "Skeleton Man & the Danse Macabre" Skeleton Man: Why do they call me the Skeleton Man It's because I love to dance with the skeletons Since you aren't going to have a need for yours perhaps you'll Indulge me a spin or two on the floor Why do they call me the Skeleton Man When I'm not even either one of them I keep a secret as well as I can But I always give a glimpse of what you'll be in the end Why do they call me the Skeleton Man It's because I love to dance with the skeletons Since you aren't going to have a need for yours perhaps you'll Indulge me a spin or two on the floor Oh yeah, why don't you give it to me? Give it to me Give me your skeleton, well dance the night away-hey hey Give it to me Shake them weary bones "Royal's Flying Machine" Royal: Flying again. To be flying again with you. You know I would do anything. I'd comb through the desert just to find a single grain of sand that you once held in your hand. And I'd sail the starry ocean and lasso and old and mighty black hole. GIve you everything it ever stole and swore to never release again. Flying again. To be flying again with you. You know I would do anything. I'd build a strange contraption and test it with a reckless heart, just to find a place to start. "Un Fois de Plus" Royal: I was pulled out of the water just scrounging for a dime I found my heart was dripping in arsenic and time. They found me face down in the dirt, just like a wise bird said "You'll never see the morning 'til you cover up your head. Royal quoting Skeleton Man: For the kingdom she's a coming, just like the Devil's Night You only got these three more times around, so you better do it right" Royal: I got one eye on the bottle. I got one eye on the grave. A third one in the ether, but I still can't find my way. My candle is the lightning. My pen a crooked claw. My ink is my own holy blood but I don't mind at all Royal quoting Skeleton Man: "For the kingdom she's a coming, just like a butcher's knife You only got these two more times around, so you better do it right" Royal: The Devil he once told me out of his crooked eyes, That I was born to tell the truth and him for telling lies. But, his trap it can't hold me, because a secret kept-- I too fell from heaven and I think they're glad I left. Because when you're in heaven, you never use your mind. You're too busy being perfect, you forget to be alive. So, just one dive in the basin, one more swim through Hel. Out of all my obligations this is one I won't dispel. Royal quoting Skeleton Man: "For the kingdom she's a coming, just like a serpent's bite You only got this one more time around, so you better do it right."
3.
"Asgard" Royal and the Valkyrie Choir: When everything seems hard to do And I'm feeling lonely without you I focus on my favorite view Staring in your eyes I'm a better man because of us And all we've dreamed and all we've sought And how we grow stronger regardless Of all these petty trials "The Gates" Heimdallr: Welcome to the sky my friend I know that this ain't what you'd planned But can we just start again? You'll never get around it if you take it from the bottom You see how they have it reinforced with golden limbs? I know it might surprise you that I give this information But we want you to understand we have nothing against you at all Not one thing against you We'd be friendless without you Let's see if I cant change your mind You see a different way of looking at it Is that we're calling you home We're.trying to take you somewhere beautiful And she'll be waiting there for you There's nothing to worry for Everything is looking up Just trust me and grab my wing Here we go, here we go Just takes a different way of looking at it Sometimes that all it takes. "Ardea Herodius" A Mysterious Figure: You can see her soaring over the river And you can see her lighting in the trees You can let her take you, trembling, with her On a journey to find your family The mirror shows the time while the clock face tells the rhyme "Life is but a dream in a knot skillfully tied, The trick is to untie it while firmly tucked inside." And the credits start to roll overtop "Sweet Caroline" It's just like breathing in a cyclone And breathing out a balmy breeze I'd like to soar with you for quite some time Create and solve some mysteries The mirror shows the time while the clock face tells the rhyme "Life is but a dream in a knot skillfully tied, The trick is to untie it while firmly tucked inside." And the credits start to roll overtop "Sweet Caroline" Sweet Caroline, the good times never seemed so good And I've been inclined to believe they never could "Valhalla" Royal: Where are you? I'm coming, coming to find you. I heard that you might have a solution to all my problems. So, can you help me? Can you please help me? Üllr: What you want me to do, it a'int easy And it's gonna hurt you, boy, way more than it hurts me. Said, this is gonna hurt boy. I hope that whatever you're missing is worth it. I say, we gotta pull out your heart, fill it up with the heat of a million stars. And if there's anything left, we have to cut it wide open to see if you're still there. And I don't think you're ready, boy. Well are you ready boy? Cause if you're ready, then I'm ready, so let's begin. Let's begin. "Riding the Heron's Back" Royal: It looks like we're making progress. I'm almost through this, I guess. Don't worry my love, I'm getting closer every day. I'll never give up Üllr and the Valkyrie Choir: You've got to make it through just a few more trials Pass the test of the Sphinx at Yggdrasil Have your soul weighed out on Ma'at's scale Confront the most terrifying of all, the truth about yourself. Royal: The truth about myself. "Yggdrasil" Hugin: Hey it's Hugin and Munin comin' at you from Yggdrasil That crazy tree on everbody's minds and we got a question for you I said we got a question for you, We got a question for you Just one question and you can pass Please take a look at our friend the Sphinx Let her enter your mind She'll ask you the question, the question you must answer And answer it you must You gotta get on that bus, the bus that's leaving for the edge of time. Munin: Now this is Munin Look at the tiny little human We get to play with the tiny little human He gonna feel this magic we are doing He gonna find that it is a bit confusin' But if he just keep his body movin' To the beat to the beat that we are usin' He can answer this question The Sphinx's question, is "Who are you?"
4.
"Light as a feather" Royal and the Valkyrie Choir: Well now it seems we're near the end As i teeter on this precipice Preparing for the final test I feel the glowing prize Draw nearer to me and I feel The weightless feeling all too real Of falling into the ethereal love that's Beaming from your eyes "Ma'at" Ma'at: Let's see what your offering I'm looking for those human things Like the dreams you hide and the pain inside and all the heartbreak it brings I hunger for something it's hard to explain I tried to ignore it and still it remains And as you can see I'm a different thing So now let's see the gifts you bring To offer me so I might now what it's like to be alive And if you don't then I'll just make you live another life Royal and the Valkyrie Choir: You're never gonna steal these dreams There will be no burnt offerings And so I'll just sing the refrain And sing it again, sing it again Listen to me you fraudulent being I will just tell you what I am seeing Is what I believe and none in between and The reason I'm here is a hell of a thing I thought that you had stolen something But now I realize, you never even cared at all You're never gonna steal these dreams There will be no burnt offerings And so I'll just sing the refrain And sing it again, sing it again Ma'at: Give them to me now! "Le Juge Penitent" Royal: Well, I was kind at times And others I stumbled around blind Groping for truth and heat and light Hoping for love and searching the night On this journey you've watched me through So do I even needed to say a thing to prove Prove I was worthy, worthy to be Worthy to be and to believe the kingdom to be true And to believe, I had found the greatest clue and that it lies Inside the magic in our minds and we clever ones Embrace and then we find that our love gives everything it's lights And our love will last until the end of time When we have to leave this mystery behind [Redacted] The Sky Kingdom has chosen it's new Queen It is you my love and I will be your King And it's your song forever we will sing. "Queen Vär" Royal: Do you remember that June night, we walked in the moonlight that was pregnant with time The universe had called us to show that it had taught us of magic sublime The river lined with tiny floating willow wisps sacredly The birds aligned deciding then to sing a different song Your body calling out to the void as you spoke their names Your mind entranced in the workings of the spell, that's what you explained You speak their names and then they burst into the cloudy night Our love it seems is all we need to set the ages right There she lay as if in her watery grave The sun painted her skin in dazzling stars; a nigh blinding array I knelt before her surrounded by the secrets that we share I kissed her on the lips and woke her from her eternal slumber there And then as we sailed the sky keeping our eyes availed to the clouds and shaodw buildings First a glint in your eye, you pointed and said "There she is now" We stood with breath bated. Finally in darkness and light Ardea appeared at the exact right time She soared under our feet, and made us complete The Eternal Return of the stardust inside. "The Sky Kingdom" Royal: When I sit down and think of things My mind floats down in tighter rings Like falcons soar and bluebird sings But all I see and hear is you The magic spell behind your eyes Your golden heart a sacred prize Like Vishnu you've been glorified But all of this holds true Now this adventure's said and done I can't wait for another one But, now that we have found our home Let's never ever part We'll sail the sky and pass through time And find whatever we can find THat's beautiful and also kind And then we'll just restart
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6.
Sacré Cœur 03:01
7.
Nacho Cheese 03:29
8.
Bird 08:05
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Caught Away 03:35
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Asgard 01:23
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The Gates 03:10
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Valhalla 05:28
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Yggdrasil 03:29
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Ma'at 02:33
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Queen Vär 04:37
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about

The digital version of "Royal & Vär vs. the Sky Kingdom" a 4 sided odyssey through the world of the Sky Kingdom and Beyond.

Royal and Vär find themselves whisked away on a new adventure through time, space and parts unknown.

Will Royal be able to discern the truth from the mysterious ways of the Sky Kingdom and reunite with his lost love Vär, stolen from him by the tyranny of time?

The album is presented as sides 1-4, as they will be formatted for the vinyl (should that ever become a reality), where all the songs on a side kind of flow together into a mega-song. The songs are also mixed out as singles without the additional story and accompanying parts for those of you who like to listen that way.

credits

released July 30, 2023

Written, Performed, Recorded and Mixed by Royal at Dead Starling/Dead Beat Studios and The Moon Room.
Mastered by Abbey Road Robots
Artwork by Midjourney/Royal

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Royal Holland Dayton, Ohio

Dreamy Synth Folk Rock songs about loss and love.

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