Ένα χρόνο πριν απ’ το Presence των LZ, οι Renaissance, από τα επιφανέστερα βρετανικά progressive γκρουπ της περιόδου κυκλοφορούν αυτό που, για πολλούς, υπήρξε το magnum opus τους : Scheherazade And Other Srories. Για όσους ενδιαφέρονται, το απόλυτο αριστούργημα του άλμπουμ βρίσκεται εδώ. Σήμερα ακούμε τα συναρπαστικά πέντε πρώτα μέρη του 25λεπτου epic Song Of Scheherazade. 🟡 🟡 A year before LZ’s Presence, Renaissance, one of the era’s most prominent British progressive bands, released what many consider their magnum opus: Scheherazade and Other Stories. For those interested, the album’s absolute masterpiece can be found here. Today, we are listening to the thrilling first five parts of the 25-minute epic Song of Scheherazade.

00:00 I – Fanfare 0:39 II – The Betrayal 02:44 III – The Sultan 07:29 IV – Love Theme, 10:11 V – The Young Priest And Priestess As Told by Scheherazade.

III – THE SULTAN
Sultan king, cruel majesty
Ordered that his women die
A single night, this for all his wives
Takes his pleasure then their lives
And so for many days with the dawn
The sultan had his way, wives were put to death
His name on their dying breath
Then one day as the evening came
Sultan sends for him a wife
“Choose her well, charms I wish to see
Bring her, send her in to me”
Then came Scheherazade to his side
And her beauty shone, like a flower grown
Gentle as he’d ever known
Scheherazade bewitched him with songs of jewelled kings
Princes and of heroes and eastern fantasies
Told him tales of sultans and talismans and rings
A thousand and one nights she sang to entertain her king
She sings
Scheherazade, Scheherazade
Scheherazade, Scheherazade
Scheherazade, Scheherazade

V – THE YOUNG PRINCE AND PRINCESS AS TOLD BY SCHEHERAZADE
And you would cause the sun
To see your light and then be shamed
You cover darkness with a thousand secret flames
With your love, oh my love, oh my love, my love
And I would cause the winds to blow a hundred different days
And bring the perfumes of the gardens of the ways
Of your love, oh my love, oh my love, my love
Crystal and the clay, nights and the days, all on the prince’s seal
Eagle of the sky, lion of the earth
This is what the seal is worth, what the seal is worth
Holds all of the dreams of a man
Tapestries, wishes of man
Pictures and visions of man
The spirit of the soul of the man
And he would vow to love her for the rest of all his days