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Amfortas

Citizen Regen

By Citizen Regen
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Citizen Regen

Citizen Regen

Posted
Posted (edited)
See "The Opera Story" below the lyrics the basis for the song.

Amfortas
(c) 2023 Citizen Regen

Verse 1:
The prince would be heir to the throne
Become the sacred defender
One day he surely will atone
No longer the foolish pretender

PreChorus 1:
Out to destroy evil Klingsor's hell
He was persuaded by Kundry's spell

Chorus 1:
The evil one takes Christ's Holy Spear
The Grail King's wound does appear
"Kings Wunde erscheint"
Only pain and fear in his head
Amfortas waits upon his death bed
"Auf seinem Sterbebett "

Verse 2:
While he lives each day in agony awake
He's relieved only by the lake
His nephew is to be his savior knight
And set all the wrongs right

PreChorus 2:
Parsifal searches for the sacred thing
To heal his uncle the Holy Grail King

Chorus 2:
Amfortas lies upon his death bed
"auf seinem Sterbebett "
Only pain and fear are in his head
Waiting for the hero knight to appear
"Heldenritter zu erscheinen"
And return unto him the Holy Spear

Bridge:
The grail was uncovered only for Amfortas
Now it's uncovered for any with cause

Verse 3.
Parsifal places the spear to his king
"zu seinem König"
Power restored the knights will sing
"Ritter werden singen"

PreChorus 3:
Parsifal searched for the sacred thing
"heilige Sache"
And healed his uncle the Holy Grail King
"Heiliger gral könig"

Chorus 3.
Amfortas rises to greet the new day
Healed mind and body in every way
"in jeder Weise"
No longer the foolish pretender
"Dummer Vorwand"
He is the true holy defender
"Heiliger Verteidiger"

 

====================================
"The Opera Story"
Parsifal. Son of Titurel, who was the first ruler of the Kingdom of the Grail. When Titurel became too old to care for the Grail and Spear, his son succeeded him.

After inheriting the crown, Amfortas decided that it was his responsibility to destroy the power of the evil Klingsor who threatened the Grail and he went to  Klingsor's nearby castle, armed with the Holy Spear which had pierced Christ's side on the Cross.

But he fell under the spell of Kundry and while she seduced him, Klingsor stole the Spear and used it to stab Amfortas. His wound will not heal and Amfortas is in constant agony, relieved a little only by his daily bath in the lake.

When the opera opens, Amfortas has had a vision that only an ‘innocent fool’ who has been ‘made wise by compassion’ will be able to relieve his suffering by  regaining the Spear from Klingsor and using it to heal the wound.

The Knights of the Grail await the coming of this youth while Kundry brings Amfortas some balm to put on the wound (which she has allowed to be inflicted on him).

Titurel tells Amfortas to uncover the Grail, but weakened by his wound he cannot find the strength to do this and begs his father to carry out the sacred office himself, and leave him to die.

Titurel refuses, pleading old age, and Amfortas suggests leaving the Grail uncovered, to avoid the agony of having to move repeatedly to do it daily.

The young knights place the Grail in front of Amfortas, who with great difficulty and pain, raises it and blesses the bread and wine before these are shared among the Knights.

Amfortas is too weak himself to partake of the ritual and is carried out on his litter. After Titurel has died, Amfortas feels responsible for his father's death. His own refusal to uncover the Grail each day has deprived Titurel of the nourishment he needed. Amfortas wants only to die and asks the dead Titurel to plead for him  with the Lord.

The Knights urge Amfortas to carry out his office at his father's funeral. He jumps up and rips the bandages from his bleeding wound, begging them all to kill him.

Parsifal appears, the Holy Spear in his hand, and with this he touches Amfortas's wound which is at once healed. Amfortas kneels before Parsifal, the new King of the Grail.

Amfortas is, from the beginning of the opera, in the most holy of positions, responsible for caring for the Grail and offering the Knights Holy Communion. But he knows that he has sinned and that this is the reason he has a wound which will not heal. His physical agony and despair are matched by his guilt, which is further felt when he feels responsible for the death of his father.

Edited by Citizen Regen
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FreeEarCandy

FreeEarCandy

Posted
Posted

Sort of a rock opera? I have always been a fan of rock operas. Jesus Christ Superstar was the first concert I went to.  It was the road show version (brown album). I think I was 12 at the time.  Then came along Tommy (The Who) and I was sold on the concept. But they apparently had a shelf life and things moved on. I suppose radio stations had limitations preferred the 3 min standard which allowed them to plug more ads and reap more revenue. 

Anyway, cool production and backstory.  Thanks for sharing it. 

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Grem

Grem

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Just listened to it at few times on my Bluetooth speaker here at work. 

Good vocal performance.  Opening synth lines are really interesting.  Very nice. 

Opening guitar riff sets a good feel for the song.

Lead sounds good. Tone is excellent on this speaker. The the synth lead sounds good too. The next guitar lead, is that a different player? Sounds good. Just very different. 

Will listen more when I get to some better speakers. 

Love the synth ending.

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Bapu

Bapu

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, DeeringAmps said:

Yep! ?

Much props  (to all the usual suspects?)

t

Yup,
Ken Nilsen (Zargg)  vocals
Dave Townsend (bitflipper) keys 
Kai Steines guitars 
Ed Kocol (Bapu) bass
with guest drummer Hugo Ribeiro

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57Gregy

57Gregy

Posted
Posted
On 3/2/2023 at 1:57 PM, Bapu said:

Ken Nilsen (Zargg)  vocals
Dave Townsend (bitflipper) keys 
Kai Steines guitars 
Ed Kocol (Bapu) bass
with guest drummer Hugo Ribeiro

Those other guys need nicknames.
 

The ones without nicknames, craigb (ITYRN).

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