Marionette

I’m an old marionette,
Constructed of the flimsiest lime wood,
I was discarded from the pier of life,
Left in the mud,
Sinking slowly but surely,

A small parody of a clown,
A joke in truth,
Closer than I’d like to admit,
Faded paintwork,
No longer any particular shade,

Tattered strings made of hazy twine,
A control bar rusted by seawater,
I fear my puppeteer went astray,
Never been to an opera,
A puppet without a show,

Now the renaissance is over,
The dark comes,
I saw the sun exit stage right,
This peat will consume,
My little wooden heart.

Puppet

The puppet sleeps soundly,
He smiles in his sleep,
Dreaming endlessly of a life unfulfilled,
A pointless life,
An empty life.

He dreams of paying obscene taxes,
He has notions of amounting to nothing,
He fantasizes about voting for tyrants,
He dreams of a dead-end job,
His life is not his own.

He has nightmares of a better life,
Nightmares of relaxation,
Nightmares of aspiring for more,
Nightmares of finding romance,
His life is that of a manikin.

His strings wait calmly,
Waiting for a new day,
A new dance,
A new missed chance,
A day closer to the rubbish heap.

And then he awakens,
This puppet is not made of wood,
But of flesh and bone,
His puppeteer is no entertainer,
But a society that doesn’t truly care.

Then the puppet puts on his suit,
And goes to work.

King Diamond and the Puppet Master

In the last few days I discovered a new band while i was trawling Youtube as i often do. This band being ‘King Diamond’. At first the only notable thing about the band was the costume of the singer (who is the eponymous King Diamond). It reminds me much of my own face paint designs. These designs were inspired by bands like Marilyn Manson, KISS, Ghost, The Shanklin Freak Show, Gothminister and Alice Cooper. However, i think i can now add King Diamond to this list.  The music did hook me as well in the end. It’s also great, full of dark stories and heavy riffs. Some pretty amazing solos in there too. Awesome songs like “Give me your soul” or “Abigail” in particular caught my attention. I love it!

“Howdy!”

Anyway, that is not actually the point of this post. While i was checking out some of the bands various songs i came across one of their albums in particular. The album in question is called “The Puppet Master”. This album was released in 2003 and tells a thrilling, yet chilling story of a psychotic puppet master in Budepest and his satanic practices. The songs are sung from the point of view of King Diamond himself, a man who has been been turned into a horrific puppet (along with his love Victoria) by the Puppet master and his wife. The thing that intrigues me  so much about this album is how much it comes across more like a horror story rather than a metal music album. It’s quite disturbing and nightmarish throughout with a depressing and thought provoking end.

I could tell you a lot more about it but i feel listening to the album (and buying it) would get my point across better.

The band also made a video with King Diamond himself telling the story in a more traditional around-the-campfire kind of style. I think it’s worth watching both videos. He’s an amazingly capable story teller!

This album and band just go to show that music (yes, even metal music) can still be used to actually tell stories. I wish there would be more bands that would take this approach. For the record i must say that King Diamond have gained a new fan! I’ll be buying the physical album in the next few weeks!