Alan

What can I say? I think this is the best track we've ever done. I love the intimacy of the opening vocal section, and I think it's the best singing I've ever done on record. Bizarrely it didn't take me too long to do. I'd been singing all day and we'd gone off to get some dinner. I was pretty knackered and I'd thought we'd just listen to it a few times so I could get a feel for it before I tried recording the next day. But it was late evening, and I thought I'd try and get a version down anyway, and before we knew it we had "THE" take in the can. The vibe was just right. The "God only knows" line still sends a shiver down my spine every time I hear it.

The final section had only been roughly marked out when I put down my vocal, so imagine my surprise when I heard the final mix. Pandy's vocal is just breathtaking. Takes the band to a whole new place. Magical.

Graeme

Now some songs almost seem to write themselves, (see Messiah, Ghostdancers)...and then there are those who's birth is...traumatic. This was traumatic! I had played the guys a demo idea which had numerous elements of the finished song over a year ago. We had the concept of the lyric, tho' not the finished item, and knew that we wanted to use a female operatic voice in the track. The song sat part finished for a loooong time. There was talk of ditching it and saving it for later, as it seemed to have stalled. There have been numerous developemental directions but in the end Niall and I stripped it bare and went minimalist on the first half so as to really feature Alans vocal. With time running out and no BIG end section(mandatory), desperate measures were called for, so Colin, Niall and I sallied forth into the Live Room and jammed an ending which you can now hear on the album. Pandy came along and worked very hard on our melody and Italian lyrics (Thanks to Italian fan Daniele Castrecane for helping me with translation) and contributed a phenomenal Diva performance. I am so glad we persevered with this because I don't think I've ever heard anything like this before, by any band ever. It is so difficult to do anything truly original these days but, you know, I think we've done it here!

Niall

I would love to say that we wrote this one as we were eating breakfast one morning but in all honesty it took along time to evolve. Pandy's vocals were great fun to do but trying to get them balanced with Armageddon in the background was more fun.

Colin

Another marathon track with multi parts to it. The drum part becomes interesting as the operatic voice is introduced. I am playing a syncopated rhythm around the cymbals with both hands, which then is pushed along by a driving kick drum, I then turn this into a very syncopated rhythm that straightens out into a real pushing rock part which drives the song along. We then decided that I should let myself go at the key change or "outro" part of the song. So I open out a bit to the fade out.

The album was a long toil, but hopefully worthwhile. I think it is the best one yet for playing and musicality. Time to gig........

Ronnie

Again, this was created in my absence – all I remember was a rough computer sketch that is now barely recognisable in the completed piece. This track is a remarkable achievement, and I would have loved to have been involved with it (its right up my alley!)

Lyrics

Alone in the dark, I feel like I'm drowning
Hope I'll see a light to guide me to morning
I'm gasping for breath, the temperature's falling
Can you hear me calling?
I'm searching for heaven

Sent on a mission to rescue your kind
I've seen so many things I've wished I was blind
I'm floating through space, I'm diving through time
Lived millions of lives, none of them mine
Why did I fail here I'll never know
Now I'm drowning in an ocean of desolate souls
All searching for heaven

And I see you as you murder your brothers for power
And I see you turning away from the poor in your ivory towers
And I see you kneeling at the altar of celebrity
And I see you selling your soul for the price of your dignity

Why was I sent here? God only knows
Now I'm drowning in an ocean of desperate souls
Searching for heaven

Wandering through the ruins of what might have been
Was it ever real, this dream of grace we all cling to
I'm the last of my kind
The battle is lost in my mind
Now I want to go home
But I can't find the way
It has gone

Il paradiso è nel tuo cuore
Permettimi di sognare di domani
Sei perso, sei perso, la mia voce
Lasciati andare, ascoltando la mia voce
Lasciatemi mostrare la via e seguite
La mia voce, la mia voce

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