Adrian Hates was originally a classically trained guitarist and pianist, and subsequently bassist of Garden of Delight. He initiated the Diary of Dreams project in the late 1980s, taking the name from one of his early classical guitar compositions, 'Tagebuch der Träume'. The first album, 'Cholymelan', appeared in 1994 on the Dion Fortune label.
Encouraged by this success, Adrian formed his own label Accession and released a string of albums over the following years, building a loyal fanbase each step of the way. The second album 'End of Flowers' was released in 1996, expanding on the darkwave sound of the debut. 'Bird Without Wings' followed a year later, whilst the more experimental work 'Psychoma?' arrived in 1998.
The first sign of consolidation came in 1999, when a compilation album 'Moments of Bloom' appeared, containing two reworked tracks from each album. The next two albums 'One of 18 Angels' and 'Freak Perfume' (plus its companion EP 'PaniK Manifesto') made greater use of electronic rhythms, resulting in greater club play and wider recognition for the band.
Their 2004 'Nigredo' (a concept album inspired by a mythology the band designed themselves) saw a move back towards the more subtle, sparse concepts of old, but still featuring bursts of their more recent, dance-oriented sound. Songs from the Nigredo tour were later released on the live CD 'aLive' and the companion DVD 'Nine In Numbers'. The next Diary of Dreams album 'Nekrolog 43' was released in 2007, offering a greater variety of moods and concepts than previous works. Adrian Hates claims to be influenced, both lyric wise and artwork wise, by the German 1909-1935 expressionism and the "beauty of ugliness" in the course of his work.
The ninth album entitled "(if)" was released on March 13, 2009.
Discography
Albums
* Cholymelan (1994) – re-released in 1999 with four bonus tracks
* End of Flowers (1996)
* Bird Without Wings (1997)
* Psychoma (1998)
* Moments of Bloom (1999)
* One of 18 Angels (2000)
* Freak perfume (2002)
* Dream Collector (2003) (originally a limited South African compilation - later given wider release)
* Nigredo (2004)
* Alive (2005) – live album
* Nekrolog 43 (2007)
* (if) (2009)
* Ego:X (2011)
* Dream Collector II (2012)
* the Anatomy of Silence (2012) - acoustic album
* Elegies in Darkness (2014)
* Grau im Licht (2015)
* reLive (2016)
* hell in Eden (2017)
Singles and EPs
* O' Brother Sleep (2001)
* AmoK (2002)
* PaniK Manifesto (2002) – EP/mini-album
* Giftraum (2004)
* Menschfeind (2005) – EP/mini-album
* The Plague (2007)
* King of Nowhere (2009)
DVDs
* Nine in Numbers (2006)
Kingdom of Greed
Diary of Dreams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You cannot forgive yourself
And the wonders of a lifetime
in each and everyone's face
Like a ship close to the shore
Like an anchor in the deep
Like the calm before the storm Like a homeless back at home
Would we ever dare to see in it the beauty?
Will we ever see it's fine the way it is?
Could we make it all undone?
Would we dare now to start over
We fear the next step
discouraged from the previous one
The lyrics of Kingdom of Greed by Diary of Dreams are open to different interpretations, but one thing is certain: they deal with the human tendency to regret past choices and to be paralyzed by fear of making new ones. The first lines of the song refer to a feeling of disappointment and self-blame that seems to have held the singer back from fully experiencing life. The "wonders of a lifetime" that can be seen in others' faces imply a sense of envy or longing for what has been missed or lost. The metaphor of a ship close to the shore denotes a sense of being stuck in familiar territory, while the image of an anchor in the deep suggests a longing for security and stability that is hard to achieve. The calm before the storm is a potent image of the tension between the desire for peace and the inevitability of change, while the idea of a homeless back at home hints at an internal displacement or alienation from oneself.
The chorus of the song raises the question of whether we can see the beauty in our current circumstances and accept them as they are or if we are always looking for a way to escape them. The ambivalence of the lyrics suggests that this is not an easy task, as the fear of the unknown and the weight of past failures make it hard to take new risks. The final lines of the song underline this ambivalence, as they express both a desire to start over and a sense of being discouraged from doing so. Overall, the song conveys a sense of longing and regret mixed with a fragile hope for a better future.
Line by Line Meaning
You waited here in vain
You waited for something that was never going to happen
You cannot forgive yourself
You are struggling to forgive yourself for something
And the wonders of a lifetime in each and everyone's face
Everyone has something amazing and unique about them
Like a ship close to the shore
Being close to safety but not quite there
Like an anchor in the deep
Being trapped in a difficult situation
Like the calm before the storm
A period of peace before chaos
Like a homeless back at home
Feeling out of place even in familiar surroundings
Would we ever dare to see in it the beauty?
Do we have the courage to appreciate something despite its flaws?
Will we ever see it's fine the way it is?
Can we learn to accept things as they are?
Could we make it all undone?
Can we undo our past mistakes?
Would we dare now to start over
Do we have the courage to begin anew?
We fear the next step discouraged from the previous one
We are afraid to move forward because of our past experiences
Contributed by Samuel N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.