Formation
In early 1993, guitarist and singer Roine Stolt had written material for his third solo album The Flower King and sought for musicians to perform it. He had wanted to release a progressive rock-style album for a while and felt the time was right to pursue the project. The album features Stolt on vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards, Jaime Salazar on drums, and Hasse Fröberg on vocals, and was recorded in Sweden between May 1993 and January 1994.
In preparation for Stolt's concert tour to support the album's release, Stolt, Salazar, and Fröberg were joined by Stolt's brother Michael on bass and Tomas Bodin on keyboards. The five performed their first gig on 20 August 1994 at an outdoor festival in Uppsala, Stolt's hometown and the city where The Flower King was recorded. After they decided to become a full time band, they officially adopted the name The Flower Kings, named after Stolt's album. Stolt had produced a list of potential titles for the record, one of which was "The Flower King", and chose it because of its positive meaning and its reference to the hippie era of the 1960s.
Activity
After performing a series of concerts through 1994, the band entered the studio in December 1994 to record their debut album, Back in the World of Adventures. The recording process was gradual, finishing in September 1995.
In 2000, Michael Stolt was replaced by Jonas Reingold. Two years later, Salazar was replaced by Zoltan Csörsz. Daniel Gildenlöw of Pain of Salvation joined the band the same year as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.
Other contributors have included Hasse Bruniusson (percussion) and Ulf Wallander (saxophone).
Stolt has written the vast majority of the material the band has recorded, with Bodin contributing most of the rest. The music is best described as symphonic progressive rock, bearing a strong resemblance to the music of Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and early Genesis, with jazz fusion and blues influences. The band's lyrics are almost uniformly positive and uplifting, affirming such values as love, peace, and spirituality, and furthering their association with Yes.
Their 1999 album Flower Power contains the eighteen-section, almost 60-minute "Garden of Dreams".
In June 2007, they released The Road Back Home, a compilation of remixed songs from 1994 to 2006, plus "Little Deceiver" (a previously unreleased track) and the full version of their cover of "The Cinema Show" by Genesis.
Zoltan Csörsz was replaced by new drummer Marcus Liliequist for one album, but returned for the 2007 album, The Sum of No Evil. He was subsequently replaced by Erik Hammarström in 2008.
In 2008, Ola Heden, previously of Reingold's side project Karmakanic, joined on guitar, vocals and keyboards.
In November 2008, the band were the opening act of the Ecco Prog Fest in Moscow.
After touring in 2008, The Flower Kings were inactive for four years. Stolt felt the band had varied levels of focus in their direction and had started to feel lost. They reunited in 2011 to work on new material after Stolt felt it was the right time and sensed eagerness from the other members to work together. This marked the arrival of German drummer Felix Lehrmann. Banks of Eden, the group's eleventh album, was released in June 2012 and was recorded with analogue recording techniques and styles reminiscent of the height of vinyl records. This was followed by Desolation Rose in October 2013.
The line up of Stolt, Bodin, Reingold, Fröberg and Lehrmann played together for the last time in 2015. 2016 and 2017 saw the bandmembers busy with other engagements.
In December 2017, the first part of a career-spanning box set titled A Kingdom of Colours was released. This first box, with 10 discs, covers the period from 1995 to 2002 and includes the studio albums from Back in the World of Adventures to Unfold the Future. The second box set, titled A Kingdom of Colours 2 and covering the albums Adam & Eve through to Desolation Rose, was released in June 2018.
In September 2018, Stolt announced a new album named Manifesto of an Alchemist. The album did not feature long-time keyboardist Tomas Bodin, and as such it is credited to "Roine Stolt's The Flower King" rather than "The Flower Kings"
In August the same year Roine Stolt presented a new band called "Roine Stolt and friends play The Flower Kings". The band featured Stolt, Fröberg and Reingold with new keyboard player Zach Kamins and new drummer Mirko De Maio. Roine Stolt stated that he was done being in a group and wanted to tour as a solo artist like Roger Waters or Steven Wilson. Tomas Bodin was not a part of this group and made his displeasure quite public. The band toured with Spock’s Beard in November and December 2018 and continued to do shows in 2019, this time under the name "The Flower Kings Revisited".
In July 2019, "Revisited" was removed from the band name, making it clear that this line up was now "The Flower Kings". The band went on to release the double albums Waiting for Miracles in 2019 and Islands in 2020, the latter having been recorded entirely remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 24 March 2021, Roine Stolt announced two big projects. The Flower Kings are working on a brand new album "in the same innocence" of Stardust We Are. On 19 April 2021, Roine officially teases that Stardust We Are is getting a brand new vinyl remaster.
On April 8th 2022, InsideOut and Roine Stolt announced that Back in the World of Adventures and Retropolis were getting "remastered and partly remixed". The release date for both was placed on May 27th 2022. Also Stardust We Are and Flower Power are getting remixes and remastered in June.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flower_Kings
Studio albums
The Flower King (1994)
Back in the World of Adventures (1995)
Retropolis (1996)
Stardust We Are (1997)
Flower Power (1999)
Space Revolver (2000)
The Rainmaker (2001)
Unfold the Future (2002)
Adam & Eve (2004)
Paradox Hotel (2006)
The Sum of No Evil (2007)
Banks of Eden (2012)
Desolation Rose (2013)
Manifesto of an Alchemist (2018)
Waiting for Miracles (2019)
Islands (2020)
By Royal Decree (2022)
Church Of Your Heart
The Flower Kings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't believe in freedom, you've seen the shape I'm in,
Never mind the limits, the values come astray
Trust upon the only thing, that matters today....
It's true, the church of your heart
Will ring out the wonder of the moment
Spirit of the ages
We saw them materialize, and, one by one
We turn the pages
We do believe in wonder, we do believe it's right
Stars will be our blankets, the moon supply the light
Gracefully I watch them coming down like waterfalls
All ancient souls, universal wisdom, come true! Open doors....
Believe, in the church of your heart
And every step you'll take is magic
You'll stand up to the heat
True, be true to your heart
And thru the looking glass of wonder
The universe, now at your feet....
Belief, will go all the way, build us a home, a heart out of clay
True, the sharp interplay, and no man shall dare, to stand in our way
It's true, the church of your heart....
Time may catch me in the middle of my great grand mission
Time may not be right, but still I hammer on, nail my higher vision
No moment in stagnation,
Still ain't no science fiction, slave to my one conviction
Watch for this elevation, flowers and celebration
Work my way to your heart, is it really true, tell me....
Tell me that it's.......true, the church of your heart
The Flower Kings' "Church of Your Heart" is a song inspired by spirituality and achieving inner peace by embracing one's true self. The first verse begins by rejecting the concept of physical matter and how it limits people's understanding of the universe. The singer then goes on to imply that freedom, too, is only an illusion because people, including himself, are prisoners of their own mental traps.
The chorus is an uplifting call to believe in oneself and the church of the heart, wherein everyone is capable of recognizing their color dreams and achieving them. The universal wisdom of ancient souls is there for everyone to embrace, and the singer encourages exploring it through the looking glass of wonder.
The second verse continues the call to embrace inner spirituality, and the notion that despite time's constraints, one can emerge as victorious in their quest to find their true self. The song ends with a resounding affirmation of the power of the heart in achieving personal fulfillment.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't believe in matter, so please don't fence me in
I don't want limitations, so don't try to restrict me based on trivial things
Don't believe in freedom, you've seen the shape I'm in
Even though I am not doing so well, I still don't want to be constrained or given limits
Never mind the limits, the values come astray
Don't focus too much on rules and regulations, because values are what really matter
Trust upon the only thing, that matters today....
Believe in and rely on what's most important in the present moment
It's true, the church of your heart
Believing in and following your heart is genuine and authentic
Will ring out the wonder of the moment
It will highlight the amazing and beautiful aspects of life
Spirit of the ages
The essence and wisdom of previous generations
All, of your colorful dreams
All of your imaginative and vibrant aspirations
We saw them materialize, and, one by one
We watched them manifest and become reality, one after the other
We turn the pages
We move forward and progress, never getting stuck in the past
We do believe in wonder, we do believe it's right
We firmly believe in the power of awe-inspiring experiences and that they are the correct way to live
Stars will be our blankets, the moon supply the light
The natural world will provide safety and illumination for us
Gracefully I watch them coming down like waterfalls
I watch with elegance and poise as life's opportunities cascade towards me
All ancient souls, universal wisdom, come true! Open doors....
With the help of timeless wisdom, all of our aspirations can come to fruition, and new horizons will open up for us
Believe, in the church of your heart
Have faith in what your heart tells you is good and true
And every step you'll take is magic
Every decision made out of pure belief and passion is enchanted
You'll stand up to the heat
You will overcome against all odds and opposition
True, be true to your heart
Be genuine and authentic to yourself above all else
And thru the looking glass of wonder
Through a perspective of amazement and marvel
The universe, now at your feet....
The universe is now like a carpet laid down for you to traverse
Belief, will go all the way, build us a home, a heart out of clay
With resolute faith, we can create a permanent residence and foundation in our hearts and lives
True, the sharp interplay, and no man shall dare, to stand in our way
Our bold and polished tactics will overcome any obstacle, and no one will oppose us
Time may catch me in the middle of my great grand mission
I may be interrupted during my important life mission by the passage of time
Time may not be right, but still I hammer on, nail my higher vision
Even if the timing is not ideal, my persistence and determination will allow me to achieve my ambitious goals
No moment in stagnation,
Life is continuously evolving and changing
Still ain't no science fiction, slave to my one conviction
Although it might seem unbelievable, I am steadfastly dedicated to my core beliefs
Watch for this elevation, flowers and celebration
Anticipate the uplifting experiences and jubilation that my successes will bring
Work my way to your heart, is it really true, tell me....
I am attempting to earn your affection, is it a genuine and authentic emotion?
Tell me that it's.......true, the church of your heart
Confirm that you genuinely believe in and follow what your heart tells you is right and true
Contributed by Jayden K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
foxtrotnow
Excellent performance of one of the greatest songs of the modern progressive era. From the brilliant studio cd "Stardust We Are" (1997). A true masterpiece of progressive rock....should be in all music lovers collection.
extremadrummer
One of the best songs of TFK. This Roine is a great music master. Thanks for all your work.
IYAMNI
I've heard this song so many times but for some reason I can't get it out of my head lately. It's healing music.
Vic Garcia
WoooW!!!!! Simplemente maravilloso, una de las mejores canciones the flower Kingston.
Papa Bear
Probably my favorite band, and that says a lot as I listen to music almost all the time. Discovered them a couple of years ago, never stopped listening to them. I would even read the lyrics without the music even existing, and even then I would be more than satisfied.
ProggerProd
I absolutley LOVE this song!!! I can't wait for the new album The Sum of No Evil to come out!!! Long live the Kings!!!
ARNathan
This sounds just as good as the studio version
nice Nisei
One of my favorite bands. Great song.
Ed van der Molen
Superb song :) can't wait for the new album!!!
L Shipp
I agree! Great vocals, great lyrics...glad I found these guys 6 years ago!