Aside from the clever wordplay (Shamandalie is a Finnish girl’s name; “sham and a lie” is a redundant phrase in English meaning “untrue”), the song itself is a work of fine art. I don’t even have any reason to post it other than that it’s an excellent song by an excellent group, and I have felt this before—so perhaps it will speak to you, too.

In good old times, remember my friend
Moon was so bright and so close to us, sometimes

We were still blind and deaf, what a bliss?
Painting the world of our own, for our own eyes, now?

“Can we ever have what we had then?
Friendship unbreakable
Love means nothing to me
Without blinking an eye
I’d fade, if so needed,
All those moments with you
If I had you beside me”

One cloudy day we both lost the game?
We drifted so far and away

Nothing is quite as cruel as a child
Sometimes we break the unbreakable, sometimes?

“And we’ll never have what we had then
Friendship unbroken
Love means nothing to me
Without blinking an eye
I’d fade, if so needed,
All those moments with you
If I had you beside me now”

I was unable to cope with what you said
Sometimes we need to be cruel to be kind
Child that I was, could not see the reason
Feelings I had were but sham and a lie

I have never forgotten your smile
Your eyes, oh, Shamandalie

Time went by, many memories died
I’m writing this down to ease my pain

You saw us always clearer than me
How we were never meant to be
Love denied meant the friendship would die
Now I have seen the light
These memories make me cry

“Can I ever have what I had then?
Friendship unbroken
Love means nothing to me
Without blinking an eye
I’d fade, if so needed,
All those moments with you
And see the world with my wide open eyes

Friendship got broken
There’s no other for me
Like the one of my childhood days
Can you forgive me?
The love got better off me,
On that one day back in old times”

© 2004 Sonata Arctica, Reckoning Night

Aside from the clever wordplay (Shamandalie is a Finnish girl’s name; “sham and a lie” is a redundant phrase in English meaning “untrue”), the song itself is a work of fine art. I don’t even have any reason to post it other than that it’s an excellent song by an excellent group, and I have felt this before—so perhaps it will speak to you, too.

In good old times, remember my friend
Moon was so bright and so close to us, sometimes

We were still blind and deaf, what a bliss?
Painting the world of our own, for our own eyes, now?

“Can we ever have what we had then?
Friendship unbreakable
Love means nothing to me
Without blinking an eye
I’d fade, if so needed,
All those moments with you
If I had you beside me”

One cloudy day we both lost the game?
We drifted so far and away

Nothing is quite as cruel as a child
Sometimes we break the unbreakable, sometimes?

“And we’ll never have what we had then
Friendship unbroken
Love means nothing to me
Without blinking an eye
I’d fade, if so needed,
All those moments with you
If I had you beside me now”

I was unable to cope with what you said
Sometimes we need to be cruel to be kind
Child that I was, could not see the reason
Feelings I had were but sham and a lie

I have never forgotten your smile
Your eyes, oh, Shamandalie

Time went by, many memories died
I’m writing this down to ease my pain

You saw us always clearer than me
How we were never meant to be
Love denied meant the friendship would die
Now I have seen the light
These memories make me cry

“Can I ever have what I had then?
Friendship unbroken
Love means nothing to me
Without blinking an eye
I’d fade, if so needed,
All those moments with you
And see the world with my wide open eyes

Friendship got broken
There’s no other for me
Like the one of my childhood days
Can you forgive me?
The love got better off me,
On that one day back in old times”

© 2004 Sonata Arctica, Reckoning Night