Diary of Dreams is a darkwave project from Düsseldorf, Germany. The lead si… Read Full Bio ↴Diary of Dreams is a darkwave project from Düsseldorf, Germany. The lead singer and founding member Adrian Hates has produced most of the albums by himself or with minimal help from others. He rarely uses a full band, except when he is on tour.

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)

The Battle
Diary of Dreams Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

How rigid this beauty
Enlaced in a glance
of enormous confusion
In a spiral we dance

We abandon our comfort zone
to ride out the storm
We avoid the unavoidable

just to accept a new form

You stand your ground
to become what you are
You betray your fear
with open arms
With your greed in mind
like a miracle
you detest what you love

In depressing confessions
you have found the intrigue
You were able to ponder
and to convey the received

Can you kill the doubts in me?
Can you fight for every sensibility
Let me go

Nein!

Overall Meaning

The Battle by Diary of Dreams is a highly poetic and metaphorical song that delves into themes of inner conflict, change, and self-discovery. The opening lines, "How rigid this beauty, Enlaced in a glance, of enormous confusion, In a spiral we dance," create a sense of dichotomy and tension between beauty and confusion, rigidity and movement. This could be interpreted as the struggle between wanting to stay in one's comfort zone, represented by the rigidity, and the desire to move forward towards change or growth, represented by the spiral.

The lyrics go on to describe the journey towards change as abandoning one's comfort zone and riding out the storm, despite the fear it may bring. The lines "You stand your ground, to become what you are, You betray your fear, with open arms," suggest the importance of confronting fear in order to find one's true self. The final lines of the song, "Can you kill the doubts in me? Can you fight for every sensibility, Let me go, Nein!" give the impression that the singer is struggling to overcome their doubts and fears, but ultimately resist the urge to give in and stay stagnant.

Overall, The Battle is a deeply introspective and thought-provoking song that encourages listeners to confront their fears and embrace change, even if it may come at a cost.

Line by Line Meaning

How rigid this beauty
The beauty is so firm and unyielding.

Enlaced in a glance
The beauty is intricately intertwined with a single look.

of enormous confusion
Despite its beauty, there is a great deal of confusion surrounding it.

In a spiral we dance
We are caught up in a spiral of emotions and actions.

We abandon our comfort zone
We leave behind what is familiar to us.

to ride out the storm
In order to face a difficult situation head-on.

We avoid the unavoidable
We try to escape what is inevitable.

just to accept a new form
Only to end up transforming ourselves in the process.

You stand your ground
You refuse to back down.

to become what you are
In order to fully embody your true self.

You betray your fear
You show your vulnerability and reveal what you are afraid of.