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 FrΓΆberg 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 FrΓΆberg 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 CsΓΆrsz. Daniel GildenlΓΆw 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 CsΓΆrsz 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 HammarstrΓΆm 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, FrΓΆberg 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, FrΓΆberg 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 Spockβs 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)
Jealousy
The Flower Kings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I love when your wings
Are nailed to the ground
And your pain brings me joy
But I'm a lonely and cold jealous boy
And this feeling is all that I know
I've been taken and bent by the undertow
And I hope you hurt like I hurt, I do
When it rains, it rains, it rains
My memories, they're fading fast
Like watercolors in the rain
So much I wanted to say
But I'm locked away
How I love it when you fail
When your wings are tied down to the rail
When the train run you down
See your smile break down into a frown
Any devil give credit to me
Turning triumph to sweet misery
Guess I locked my door to love long ago
And the questions don't come for the answers I know
When it rains, it rains, it rains
My memories, they're fading fast
Like watercolors in the rain
So much I wanted to say
But I'm locked away
I'm lonely and cold jealous boy
I'm a lonely and cold jealous boy
The Flower Kings's song "Jealousy" seems to be about a person who gains pleasure from someone else's pain and failures. The song's opening lines reveal the extent of the person's sadistic tendencies: "How I love it when you're down / I love when your wings / Are nailed to the ground / And your pain brings me joy." The person takes pleasure in seeing other people fail and suffer, but at the same time, he or she is lonely and jealous. The singer seems to be trapped in a cycle of emotional pain and seeks to bring others down to his or her level.
The chorus "When it rains, it rains, it rains / My memories, they're fading fast / Like watercolors in the rain / So much I wanted to say / But I'm locked away" reflects the singer's sense of regret and sadness. The person's memories are fading away, and they can't express the emotions they feel. The line "I'm locked away" suggests that the person is trapped in their own emotions and unable to fully connect with others.
Line by Line Meaning
How I love it when you're down
I feel pleasure when your spirit is broken and you are in a state of vulnerability.
I love when your wings
I love when you are helpless and unable to fly free in life.
Are nailed to the ground
You are chained to one place, and you cannot escape the situation you are in.
And your pain brings me joy
I find pleasure in seeing you suffer and feel pained.
But I'm a lonely and cold jealous boy
Despite my cruel tendencies, I am still lonely and envious of others.
And this feeling is all that I know
My negative emotions are so strong that they consume me entirely, and it is all I can feel.
I've been taken and bent by the undertow
I have been dragged down by my own negative thoughts and suppressed emotions.
And I hope you hurt like I hurt, I do
I wish for you to feel the same emotional pain and loneliness that I feel because it would make me feel less alone.
Hope you join my emotional vertigo
I want you to experience the same feelings of dizziness and instability as me, so we can suffer together.
When it rains, it rains, it rains
Life can be difficult and unpredictable, and sometimes we can feel like we are drowning in our own emotions.
My memories, they're fading fast
As time goes by, my memories of past experiences and emotions become less vivid and significant.
Like watercolors in the rain
Just like watercolors that fade and blur in the rain, my memories are becoming less distinct and meaningful.
So much I wanted to say
There are so many things I wish I could communicate, but I feel unable to express myself effectively.
But I'm locked away
Despite my desires to be heard and understood, I feel trapped and isolated, unable to communicate with others.
How I love it when you fail
I feel joy and pleasure when you experience failure or difficulty in life.
When your wings are tied down to the rail
I love when you are unable to fly freely in life and are restricted by circumstances.
When the train run you down
I take pleasure in your pain and failure, even if it causes you harm or destroys you entirely.
See your smile break down into a frown
I find satisfaction in seeing you suffer and become unhappy, even if it means losing your joyful spirit.
Any devil give credit to me
Even the most evil being would recognize and applaud my cruel behavior and negative emotions.
Turning triumph to sweet misery
I enjoy destroying not only your joy but also your triumphs, turning them into negative experiences for you.
Guess I locked my door to love long ago
I have shut myself off from love and positivity a long time ago, choosing instead to embrace negativity and cruelty.
And the questions don't come for the answers I know
I no longer question my negative behaviors and emotions because I am aware of them and have accepted them fully.
I'm lonely and cold jealous boy
Despite my need to inflict pain on others, I am still a lonely and envious individual, consumed by negative emotions.
Contributed by Mason F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.