Released	October 30, 2012
Recorded	2012, Night Castle Studios, Tampa
Genre	Symphonic Progressive Metal
Length	15:00
Label	LAVA/Republic
Producer	Dave Wittman; Paul O’Neill

Released to coincide with the classically inclined, Yule-loving, progressive metal powerhouse’s 2012 performances of its multi-platinum Last Christmas Eve rock opera, Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night) represents the first new collection of holiday music from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra since 2004. The five-song EP begins appropriately with a pair of instrumentals, “Winter Palace” and the title track, both of which are muscular, meticulous, and steeped in the kind of ornate, wintry melodrama that serves as the group’s foundation. The remainder of the EP is relegated to non-instrumental cuts, including the theatrical praise-pop anthem “I Had a Memory,” and a pair of stage-ready ballads in the sentimental “Someday” and the uplifting lullaby “Time You Should Be Sleeping.” ~ James Christopher Monger

Personnel: Dave Wittman (guitar, drums); Chris Caffery, Al Pitrelli, Paul O’Neill, Angus Clark, Joel Hoekstra (guitar); Roddy Chong (violin); Nancy Chang, Lowell Adams, Karen Dumke, Eric Nordstrom, Mary Corbett, Virginia Respess, Jason Jerald, Betsy Isaak (strings); Derek Wieland, Jane Mangini, Jon Oliva, Vitalij Kuprij, Mee Eun Kim (keyboards); John O. Reilly, Jeff Plate (drums); Chloe Lowery, Erika Jerry, Jay Pierce, Phillip Brandon, Dari Mahnic (background vocals).

Recording information: Night Castle Studios, Tampa.

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Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	Winter Palace	3:40
2.	Dreams of Fireflies (On A Christmas Night)	2:30
3.	I Had a Memory	3:00
4.	Someday	3:44
5.	Time You Should Be Sleeping	2:36
Total length:		15:00

 Lyrics

[POETRY]

WHEN DOES A DANCE BECOME A BALLET
WHEN DO THE WORDS BECOME A PLAY
WHEN DOES THE DAY BECOME THE NIGHT
BEFORE OR AFTER THE LAST MOMENT OF LIGHT

FOR WHAT IS THE DAY BUT A BRIDGE TO TOMORROW
AND THE DAY BUT A BRIDGE TO THE NIGHT
THEY EXIST SIDE BY SIDE IN THEIR ETERNAL RIDE
WHILE THEY CAREFULLY KEEP EACH OTHER IN SIGHT

1. Winter Palace

INSIDE AN ARCTIC FOREST
FAR IN THE PAST OF TIME THEY BUILT A WINTER PALACE
FILLED WITH TREASURES TRULY DIVINE

SOME SAY THAT IT WAS JUST A LEGEND
OR LONG AGO FOUND AND PLUNDERED
BUT CHILDREN BELIEVE IT IS STILL THERE
AND EVEN SOME OLD FOLKS WONDERED

BUT THE WISE SAID, ANYONE THAT LOOKED FOR IT
WERE FOOLS, BY MYTHS DECEIVED
BUT IF ONE DAY SOMEONE SHOULD DISCOVER IT
THOSE WISE ONES WILL SAY,
OF COURSE, THEY ALWAYS HAD BELIEVED

2. Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night)

STARS AND DANDELIONS
LIKE COINS THROWN INTO WELLS
ARE THE THINGS THAT WE CAN WISH UPON
AND WHERE OUR DREAMS DO DWELL

BUT THE DARK IT IS THE DARKNESS
IT’S THE STARS THAT MAKE IT NIGHT
FOR THE NIGHT IS GOD’S CATHEDRAL
WHICH ONE ENTERS AT TWILIGHT

AND OCCASIONALLY WHEN NEEDED
SOME STARS WILL LEAVE THE EVENING SKIES
AND FOR A SHORT WHILE DWELL AMONGST US
IN THE DREAMS OF FIREFLIES

3. I Had A Memory

I HAD A MEMORY
I SOMEHOW LOST IN THE PAST

CHRISTMAS BUT GLITTERING
AND I’VE BEEN WONDERING
DO YOU HEAR THE ECHOES IT CAST

HALLELUJAH
HALLELUJAH
HALLELUJAH, LORD

TIME IT WOULD NOT DIVIDE
WHAT THE HEART KEEPS INSIDE
WORDS THAT DON’T TRY TO
DECEIVE

AND ON THIS CHRISTMAS NIGHT
BETTER BY CANDLELIGHT
TO TRUST LIKE A YOUNG CHILD
BELIEVES

HALLELUJAH
HALLELUJAH
HALLELUJAH, LORD
BELIEVE

TIME IT WOULD NOT DIVIDE
WHAT THE HEART KEEPS INSIDE
WORDS THAT DON’T TRY TO DECEIVE

REMOVED SORROW
DREAMS TO FOLLOW
APPEAR ON THIS DAY

BELIEVE
BELIEVE
BELIEVE
OH LORD

TIME, COULD YOU PLEASE HELP ME
I HAD A MEMORY
I SOMEHOW LOST IN THE PAST

4. Someday

HE WON THE WAR, IN A FOREIGN LAND
THAT WAS NO HERO, THAT WAS MY OLD MAN
AND HE CAME BACK HOME, WHERE HE MET HIS WIFE
AND HE RAISED HIS KIDS, WHILE HE MADE A LIFE

NOW HE NEVER PREACHED, THOUGH HE ALWAYS KNEW
AND WE WATCHED HIM CLOSE, JUST TO PICK UP CLUES
AND SOMETIMES LATE, IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT
I CAN SEE HIM THERE, IN THE PALE MOON LIGHT

I AM TRYING
AND I DON’T KNOW HOW
AND I DON’T KNOW WHEN
BUT I’LL HAVE TO TELL HIM SOMEDAY

AND AS FOR THIS WOMAN, MY FATHER WED
WE KNEW WE WERE LOVED, WITH THE WORDS UNSAID
AND WHEN WE WERE YOUNG SHE TAUGHT US ALL TO READ
AND THEN ONE BY ONE, SHE WOULD WATCH US LEAVE

NEVER SAW HER CRY, FOR SHE HID HER TEARS
AS ONE BY ONE, WE WOULD DISAPPEAR
BUT OF COURSE WE’D WRITE, AND OF COURSE WE’D CALL
JUST TO HEAR HER VOICE, WHENEVER WE WOULD FALL

I AM TRYING
AND I DON’T KNOW HOW
AND I DON’T KNOW WHEN
BUT I’LL HAVE TO TELL HER SOMEDAY

SO I WROTE THESE WORDS, AND I HOPE THEY LAST
FOR THE YEARS HAVE COME, AND THE YEARS HAVE PAST
THINK OF ALL THEY GAVE, THINK OF ALL THE DEBT
BUT CAN’T FIND A WAY, TO REPAY THEM YET

FOR THE DAYS STILL COME, AND THE DEBT STILL MOUNT
AND DO WORDS UNSAID, EVER REALLY COUNT
BUT SOMETIMES STILL, IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT
I CAN SEE THEM THERE, IN THE PALE MOON LIGHT

I AM TRYING
AND I DON’T KNOW HOW
AND I DON’T KNOW WHEN
BUT I’LL HAVE TO TELL THEM SOMEDAY

5. Time You Should Be Sleeping

TIME YOU SHOULD BE SLEEPING
EVERYONE AROUND YOU
IS ALREADY DREAMING
AND CLOSELY BY

STARS ARE LOOKING DOWNWARD
GLAD THAT THEY HAVE FOUND YOU
WATCHING AND PROTECTING
SO YOU SHOULD TRY

TO CLOSE YOUR EYES UNTIL TOMORROW
CHILDHOOD DREAMS ARE ALWAYS NEW
AND WHEN YOU ARE THERE I’LL FOLLOW
AND BELIEVE THAT MY WHOLE LIFE IS…

I CAN SEE YOU BREATHING
KNOW THAT I AM NEAR YOU
FEEL THE EVENING WHISPER
IN GENTLE SIGHS

TO CLOSE YOUR EYES UNTIL TOMORROW
CHILDHOOD DREAMS ARE ALWAYS NEW
AND WHEN YOU ARE THERE I’LL FOLLOW
AND BELIEVE THAT MY WHOLE LIFE IS…
YOU