Juha Raivio explains the genesis of Hallatar: "After the death of my beloved and my life partner Aleah Starbridge last April, I have been gathering writings, lyrics, and the poems of Aleah to keep them safe and close to my heart. About one month after the world came down on the blackest day of my life on April 18th, I knew I needed to pick up the guitar and try to create something or I would be truly destroyed. And something did arrive out of the darkness, and I wrote the music for the Hallatar album in a week's time. I don’t have much memory of this week, not a memory of a single day of writing the music. But all I remember when going into this abyss of the writing process was a promise to myself that whatever music would come out, I would not touch or change anything of it afterwards. What mattered was that the music would stay forever as an absolute truth of those moments as they came out. I asked my good friends - and amazing musicians - Tomi Joutsen and Gas Lipstick if they would want to record this music with me, and both of them said yes without even hearing a note of it. I am forever grateful to both of them for sharing this road with me; even the weight of the process has not been easy to carry, or will be."
Adds Gas Lipstick, "I am grateful and very honored to be asked to join this band. Juha is a dear friend of mine since many years ago, and when he told me about his vision for Hallatar and asked me to join, I said yes instantly - I just had to be part of this amazing journey. I had never heard a single note of the music before I gave my 'yes' because I didn't need to. Juha has been one of my favorite songwriters already for years, and I knew that Hallatar will be a very deep, personal, and one-of-a-kind story which I wanted to help him to bring alive."
Continues Tomi Joutsen: "I have known Juha from the year 2007, when we worked together for the first time. A couple years ago, I had the privilege to meet Juha's life partner, Aleah Starbridge, who was such a beautiful person, inside and outside, and had an angelic voice out of this world. Aleah lent her voice on the latest Amorphis album, and we called her 'the whispering ghost.' When I heard about Aleah's passing last spring, it came as a total shock and heartbreaking news out of the blue. When Juha asked me if I would want to be part of this album and carry Aleah's flame with him, I didn't have to think twice. When everything has been taken, all that is left is the music. The sorrow strips us naked and leave us humble - this is how it sounds like."
Concludes Raivio, "What we recorded was a raw moment in time honoring the memory, lyrics, and poems of Aleah Starbridge with all its pain, beauty and darkness. There are no stars left upon the bridge to light the way anymore, but the music will always be a dim light, even in the darkest of the night."
HALLATAR is:
Tomi Joutsen - vocals
Gas Lipstick - drums
Juha Raivio - guitar, bass, keys
pieces
Hallatar Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Behind the shield of broken dreams I hide
But nothing can remain
So recognize your wall
Broken into pieces
You're holding on no more
Fall in to the dream
Through the open door
The life inside your core
To bleed is to feel
In this song, the singer is describing their emotional state as being one of hiding behind broken dreams, unable to move forward or make any progress in their life. They mention feeling denied access to certain things, and being constantly protected by a shield made up of these broken dreams. Despite this protection, the singer understands that they cannot continue to hide and that they need to break down their walls in order to move on.
The chorus of the song speaks to this idea of breaking down barriers and stepping into a new reality. The singer encourages the listener to recognize their own walls and to allow themselves to fall into a dreamlike state of being, where they can embrace the life inside their core.
Overall, the song is a powerful message about self-discovery and personal growth, and the importance of facing our fears and breaking down the walls that we put up to protect ourselves.
Line by Line Meaning
Pieces that gave me access denied
I am haunted by fragmented memories that I cannot access
Behind the shield of broken dreams I hide
I conceal my shattered hopes and aspirations as a form of protection
But nothing can remain
Change is inevitable and all things must come to an end
So recognize your wall
Become aware of the barriers you have built up around yourself
Broken into pieces
Shattered and fragmented to the point of being unable to function properly
You're holding on no more
You have finally let go of what was holding you back
Fall in to the dream
Allow yourself to fully immerse in your desires and aspirations
Through the open door
An opportunity awaits you, and you are free to pursue it
It breaks your heart to free you
It hurts to let go of the past, but it is necessary for growth
The life inside your core
The essence of who you are and what makes you unique
To bleed is to feel
Only through the pain of bleeding can you truly experience and understand the depths of emotion
Writer(s): Aleah Starbridge, Juha Raivio
Contributed by Cooper O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.