Newland: The best years of our lives
Toen ik aan deze liedjes begon, had ik niet het gevoel dat ik een album aan het schrijven was.
Ik schreef losse verhalen, losse gedachten, kleine momenten die zich aandienden. Pas later
ontdekte ik dat ze allemaal over hetzelfde gingen: de tijd die voorbijgaat.
Misschien hoort dat bij ouder worden. Je kijkt vaker achterom, niet uit verlangen om terug te
gaan, maar om te begrijpen hoe je bent geworden wie je bent. Je beseft dat herinneringen
mooier kunnen worden dan de werkelijkheid, dat afscheid nooit helemaal verdwijnt en dat
sommige mensen, zelfs als ze er niet meer zijn, altijd een plek in je leven houden.
Deze songs gaan over twijfel, hoop, verlies, liefde en verwondering. Over de wereld om ons
heen, die soms onrustig en onbegrijpelijk voelt, maar ook over de kleine dingen die houvast
geven: een dans, een stem, een foto, een straat, een naam die je na al die jaren nog steeds niet
bent vergeten.
The Best Years of Our Lives is geen album dat zegt dat vroeger alles beter was. Integendeel.
Ik geloof dat ieder hoofdstuk zijn eigen schoonheid heeft. De beste jaren zijn misschien niet
de jaren die achter ons liggen, maar de momenten waarop we echt leefden, liefhadden, vielen,
opstonden en verhalen verzamelden die ons voor altijd veranderen.
Ik hoop dat je jezelf ergens in deze liedjes terugvindt. Misschien in een regel, een melodie of
een herinnering die onverwacht boven komt drijven. Muziek doet dat soms. Ze geeft woorden
aan gevoelens waarvan je niet wist dat je ze nog bij je droeg.
Dank je wel dat je luistert.
Alex Nieuwland
The best years of our lives
The Wolf Age
Smoke on the horizon
Red in the sky
Ash falls like winter
Where the old Gods die
Cities turn to ruins
Crowns fall to dust
Gold can't protect you
Steel starts to rust
This is the wolf age, Wild and untamed
This is the wolf age, break every cage
The old world is fading
It's temples erased
Truth isn't written
It's haunted and staged
Still in the distance
A whisper remains
Are we the beasts or
Just wearing their names
This is the wolf age, Wild and untamed
This is the wolf age, break every cage
A wolf in every house, a wolf in every heart
Rip the world to pieces
A wolf beneath the skin
Wakes the beast within
Where ever mercy ceases
This is the wolf age, Wild and untamed
This is the wolf age, break every cage
I’m not the one
At times I do regret
I cannot hide the things I said
I wish that I was someone with an ice-cold attitude
But I laugh in awkward silence
Just to keep the peace subdued
At night I lay awake
Overthinking every single big mistakeI wish I’d keep the distance
Keep my feelings locked away
I keep my thoughts exposed
And hope tomorrow clears the grey
I wish that I was beautiful
Like Leonardo di Caprio, Brad Pitt or Harry Styles
I wish that I was wonderful
Like Edgar Allen Poe
I hope my heart survives the trials
But then I realise
I cannot see myself through someone else’s eyes
I wis I could forget about the rules I learned at school
And live my life my own way
Not as somebody elses fool
I wish that I was magical
Like David Coppefrield, Tommy Cooper, Darren Brown
I wish that I was radical
Like Martin Luther King
I chase my dreams all over town
But I’m not the one
Not the one you want
But I’m not the man
Not the man you need
And I try to make it better
But I don’t think you notice
And I try to make you happy
But I’m not the one you want
Blue and Grey
Blue and grey
I hols my breath
And know there’s nothing left to say
If I let go
Will we still feel the same
And what we might have been
Is just a shadow disappearing in the dark
Lost inside a dream
Nothing as it seems
A fading light and just a softly dying spark
Blue and grey, colours of my heart
Blue and grey, Calling
Blue and grey
The mirror tells the shape of my mistakes
I wait
But nothing moves and even silence breaks
And what we might have been
Is just a shadow disappearing in the dark
Lost inside a dream
Nothing as it seems
A fading light and just a softly dying spark
Blue and grey, colours of my heart
Blue and grey, Calling
The best years of our lives
The road is long
Longer than the memory
Of places that I left behind
Carrying my footsteps farther from home
Will I belong
Will you keep me company
Telling me that I’m not alone
Holding my daydreams close to my heart
Just one more round to go
Before we say goodbye
Tot his great adventure
When all is said and done
Remember the best years of our lives
The sky turns gold
Where the oceans meets the land
I’m guided by my trembling hand
Trying to keep up with the times
The stars above
Tell stories of forgotten days
Their lights fall steady on the ground
Turning the fields to silver haze
Just one more round to go
Before we say goodbye
Tot his great adventure
When all is said and done
Remember the best years of our lives
Where will we go
I’m the lucky generation
Never had to go to war
Since my train left the staion
I’ve been wondering
Heard the stories of the battles
From the voices of the old
Their long and lonesome travels
Keep me thinking
Where will we go now?
Will the stars be our guide
Where will we go now?
Time moves like a whisper
Soft as wind through the trees
And I’ve chased every sunrise
Just to find a little peace
I’ve met all those dreamers
I’ve been dancing with the ghosts
Shared some memories with strangers
Lost what I love most
Where will we go now?
Will the stars be our guide
Where will we go now?
I carry the pieces
I carry the heartache
Just for you
I carry on dreaming
I carry on hoping
For the truth
Hours (Last Waltz)
Let’s dance one last time
Now memories flow
Come take my hand once again
This last waltz is a challenge
For time to move slow
Holding me tight from now on
You know I’m no dancer
But here in your arms
It feels like heaven once more
This dance is a vow
It’s a love that will last
Lasting till everthing’s gone
Where have the hours gone
Let’s dance one last time
As years have gone by
Tell me you love me again
This last waltz is a promise
We’ll never let go
Taking life just as it comes
You know I’m no dancer
But now that you’re here
It feels like never before
This dance we’ll remember
As a memory dear
Dancing till everyone’s gone
Where have the hours gone
(Hours and hours)
Falling
The weekend falls like paper
In a hand that doesn’t care
CoWee goes cold in circles
Like you were never there
The window holds it’s breathing
Like it’s waiting for a sign
But nothing in the daylight
Ever learns to change its’s mind
And I can hear it falling
Soft and out of key
And I can hear it faling
Without asking to be free
Fall down
And the light across the table
Doesn’t land the way it should
It just rests there like a question
I never understood
And I can hear it falling
Soft and out of key
And I can hear it faling
Without asking to be free
I try to hold the moment
But it slips through every line
Like a chord that never settles
Into something I can define
Porcelain Parade
Under marmalade skies on a sunflower afternoon
I whisper all of your secrets
And humming a lazy tune
Butterflies fill the air
The world is a jigsaw
We can run and hide
Beneath the tangerine glow
In a fountain down by the gate
We’re whistling old secrets
And somehow it feels like fate
Velvet clouds tumble slow
The world is a riddle
Where gentle dreams reside
Porcelain parade is marching down
this golden afternoon
And like a symphony
It slowly floats across this silent moon
Under the marzepin clouds
That floats like a soft balloon
Beneath the pastel sunlight
Where the golden ribbons bloom
Cerry blossoms made of gold
The world is a jungle
And we’re growing old
Porcelain parade is marching down
this golden afternoon
And like a symphony
It slowly floats across this silent moon
A little less than gone
Doors closed, lights on
And I locked myself inside
But you never disappeared
I tried to pack you into words
But they came out way too small
I rehearsed the things to say
You’re a little less than gone
More than here with me
Like a song I almost know
Or a half rememberd key
I keep moving and I still hold on
You’re not here anymore
You’re not here
A litle less than gone
Words fall real slow
And I hide away
The night comes silent
And I dare to show myself
Lost fors so many years
I tried to pack you into words
But they came out way too small
I rehearsed the things to say
You’re a little less than gone
More than here with me
Like a song I almost know
Or a half rememberd key
I keep moving and I still hold on
You’re not here anymore
Down and out
Pictures I forgot to burn
Exit 41 at dawn
Somehow I’m just doing fine
Maybe it’s only half of mine
I was the one who always smiled
when I was down and out
Everyone else seem happy
Can’t I be like them
I guess there’s still a lot to learn
Saying love is hard to earn
Made it halfway tot he door
Then I turned around once more
I was the one who always smiled
when I was down and out
Everyone else seem happy
Can’t I be like them
Trying to fake a little light
While all my flames went out
Everyone else seem happy
I wanna be like them
Hold on, through the darkness of the night
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, everything will be alright
Hold on, hold on
Linger like a song
Dreams in our pockets
Stars in our eyes
Leading me back to
Our final goodbyes
The road has grown older
The signs have all changed
But memories linger
The echo remains of you
I found a photograph of forgotten days
Back to a world
With just sunshine and plays
I still hear the music
I still know your name
Lost in the turmoil
Caught in the rain with you
Looking back, stepping forward
I’m not the same but it’s just right
And maybe someday we will meet up again
Roaming the streets where it all once began
We were so young then
With time in our hands
But it’s slipping away
Like grain through our hands
mm