By now, it should be understood that every single album of ‘Enigma’ describes a journey, but not many know what kind of journey it is. Some believe that it’s just the “artistic” journey of Michael Cretu and Enigma’s development as a project throughout the years. But this is one of the most predictable outcomes for an artist. Anyone who’s been involved in music industry evolves themselves.

But what is not predictable is someone’s personal journey.

The fifth album ‘Voyageur’, simply means “Traveler”, translated from French to English. And a traveler is somebody who, naturally, takes on a journey. It’s the first time where it’s explicitly showcased up-front the concept of the traveler and his journeys, as we now know that Enigma isn’t a voyage in the first meaning, but a spiritual voyage on a personal level.

The themes of travelling across Enigma’s albums simply attempt to mimic a long voyage. But lest we forget that the voyage is that of the soul who tries to be better for their beloved.

A traveler doesn’t have to travel to several countries and deserts to find himself, he can travel from one memory to another, from one trace to another, from one footprint to another, from one experience to another. Then he will understand.

The designated theme of this particular album are butterflies. If there’s anything that is more closely tied to the concept of rebirth, or ‘metamorphosis’, it is exactly the butterfly.

“Voyageur” was probably the easiest album to analyze, because it is very simple and it doesn’t contain anything extraordinary or mysterious to understand. Once you understand one album, you will begin to understand the others. Love is indeed the main thing of Enigma, but this is by far their most romantic album.

From East to West

Two opposite points of the compass. It starts from where the sun rises, and it ends where the sun sets. This is very easy to understand that this is exactly about a journey. Someone determined can take on such a long journey if it meant for them to discover themselves and realize the truth.

Voyageur

And we move on to the second track which continues the journey quite explosively. The main single of the album that also bears the same name seems to hint at an invitation for intimacy. Although the beat is quite repetitive and powerful, and the lyrics are pretty simple, the innuendo has been made clear.

“Come to my place, my traveler. I’m waiting for you” whispers Sandra, and lesbianism continues to be a common theme in Enigma’s video-clips. And as always, this mustn’t be taken exactly as ‘two lesbians engaging in intimacy away from prying eyes’, especially when it doesn’t fit the grammatic of the lyrics. We know by now that it’s not lesbianism per se, because naturally, we have to do with a ‘voyageur’, not with a ‘voyageuse’.

A voyageur who is on a journey to find himself has been whispered to very intimately. Is he being invited to sin? Or is he being invited to join the lover who has been endlessly waiting for him in sleepless nights, to return from this long and difficult journey?

Incognito

“Unknown”, translated from Latin to English, speaks about a very mysterious person that nobody knows them as well as the narrator himself does. Nobody knows who it is. Nobody knows their name. Because only the narrator understands.

This mysterious person has always haunted the narrator like a shadow and has never allowed them to live freely, because guilt gnaws him. It’s not a shadow that the narrator doesn’t want to have in his life, but a shadow that reminds him either the most beautiful moments, or the most painful day that changed everything.

Even in the quietest moments of solitude, this person is always in the narrator’s mind and appears to his sight like a hallucination. Even in the busiest day where things seem to be ordinary and monotonous, the mysterious person immediately occupies the narrator’s mind. And whenever they cross paths, the mysterious person occupies the narrator’s space like an unrecognizable thief, because, of course, nobody knows who they are.

The narrator doesn’t seem to have any choice because he is entirely at the mercy of this mysterious person, even indirectly. A ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ to anything doesn’t change the course of their lives and for the narrator this line becomes the main thought: “Like it or not, I’m their prisoner”.

Page of Cups

A very long and a pretty track dedicated to the Minor Arcana of Tarot Cards, ‘Page of Cups’. Tarot Cards in Enigma’s albums, although used quite sporadically, they carry very significant meaning to the context. We saw them used in the cover single of “Age of Loneliness”, we saw them used in the third album, hinting the death of the king via “Death” card. We also saw them mentioned quite subtly in “Silence Must Be Heard”.

This time it is also not any different. This friendly card is mostly associated with optimism for the future and the beginning of a romance that is quite similar to a youthful love. A love where you can fully live your inner child, because this card is also associated with the inner child. If we rewind our memory all the way to the song “Child In Us”, we can see why this Tarot card has been specifically used in this case. The awakening of a childlike spirit also helps in creative outlets, like music.

This Tarot card also tells you, when drawn from the deck, to not to suppress your feelings but to let them out. Which is interestingly enough also the message of the song as far as the lyrics is concerned. It is a very romantic and melancholic track, one of the most underrated tracks of Enigma, I think! And which you could also call it a wedding vow, and we’ll see that vow in one of the following tracks as well.

The narrator shows a never-ending loyalty and devotion to the lover. They’re the reason why the narrator keeps on doing what he does.

No sadness or sorrow, say what you feel and don’t bottle up your emotions. Only then can love ignite; again.

Boum-Boum

One of the most common things to happen when you’re in love are the quick heartbeats of your heart that try to override the logic in you. The feeling is so strong that it totally consumes you. But more dangerous is the loneliness and the stress that comes. And all it’s left is a vision of your beloved.

We know now the narrator has a muse which has inspired Enigma; this band with so many fans and loyal listeners that have been captivated by the music, and who have always wondered what this is about for such a long time… That’s why it is an enigma, right? The deliberately unsolvable enigma where the author communicates with the only language he knows, the music.

We know that this muse is the source of inspiration and the source of life for the narrator. But the problem is that they’re not near him, no matter the huge emotions that stir inside.

There’s too much confusion of emotions, but how to evaluate this love?

The simplest thing you can do is to totally decide at this point that you want to return to your lover and let the night consume (or damn) you both. But then, such thing is not so easy when you have a mission to accomplish. So, it indeed becomes a tragedy. You want to continue this journey, which is painful and a necessity, but not standing close to your lover could also be just as painful. Indeed, it’s hard to find that balance when you’re in love…

But this is the reality, and this reality drives the author insane. So insane that the loneliness and longing, so interlinked with each other, become monotonous, a normality.

And all it’s left for the narrator is a photograph of the beloved they’re holding in their hand which they always look at it with longing and admiration. Holding a photograph of them is not the same as having that person in front of you. Having a piece of that memory with you will not make you stronger all the time.

A fantasy of them is a passing phase, but does not fill the void in your soul. Having the person in front of you and being able to touch them is what brings them happiness.

Hence, the author acknowledges that their lonely days and life are always illuminated by this person. This muse is the narrator’s true enlightenment. The drive and the purpose of everything.

Total Eclipse of the Moon

This beautiful ballad is a great nod to Bonnie Tyler’s (May her soul rest in peace) ‘Total Eclipse of the HEART”, the only thing is that they’re just completely different songs. But somehow I had to mention it due to its similarity of the title and because these songs both speak about destruction. One song speaks about the breaking of a heart that couldn’t survive too much in the dark, while the other song speaks of total obscurity of the light that is supposed to guide the narrator through the dark.

Although the Lunar eclipse is a passing phase, the obscurity of this light is fatal for the narrator as they’re totally lost in their journey. For this, we need to be mindful that the Moon here might not necessarily mean the actual light of the Moon, concretely voyagers did use Moon as the guide at night, but for an artist who needs a muse this can have another personification. To understand the lyrics, we should look at the Moon on different lens, and come to the conclusion that the Moon is the narrator’s lover.

While the Moon’s light shines in the night, the author sees their beloved in it. He sees the beloved as the light of their life (“Only light inside my gloom”). This person is the reason why the author is doing all of this, and everything he can, even going beyond the extremes of the health just to take on this journey. The purpose of their actions is always tied to the beloved. This person is the author’s muse and the reason why it makes the gloomy life worth living. The enlightenment we’ve spoken so much about across all the albums, is exactly the beloved personified.

But as we said we needed to give the Moon a label in order to understand the lyrics; the author addresses the beloved as “Total Eclipse of the Moon” because they’ve totally closed themselves off or simply have shown refusal and indifference, for whatever reason. And the gloom returns again. No light to guide you in the darkness. And really, you can’t just tell yourself to stop loving the Moon-personified human, it’s like asking God to destroy the Moon so the darkness covers the earth at night. And how you’re going to walk at night? Darkness is not always a good friend.

This is also why the tone seems rather dejected and melancholic because he is totally confused about the lover’s immature behavior, as perceived.

It is reasoned here and many other times that the distance between each other is vital for the total success of the journey, for it is the only way for them to be together.

Try to put your place in the shoes of the author and think that it is never an easy decision to depart from your better half. There’s nothing that the author desires and wishes more than to sleep beside his beloved every day of the week and for the rest of the lives. But this was however necessary. He chose “Mind” over “Heart”.

But there’s always the promise of crossing paths again.

Look of Today

On obvious critic of today’s materialistic society which lacks soul, heart and empathy. There’s no originality or authenticity but simply a whole circus where everybody follows one another like a herd of sheep.

Why be like the others when you can just be yourself? And why should you be forced to be like the others?

In the Shadow, In the Light

One might as well also call this one a wedding vow. “In good and in bad times, I’ll be with you”, in any shape or form. But there’s once again a ‘small’ problem: One of the most important advices here is ‘to understand’. So to understand why this is happening. Why you have to take on this journey of purification.

Because if they don’t understand the purpose of the journey it will become a destructive cycle. “Hell is happy, Heaven is sad” is a line that says that this is exactly the kind of people that Hell wants to have in its dungeon: selfish, egotistical people, full of hatred, lust and anger. While Heaven is “starving” for innocence, childlike purity, soulful love that doesn’t require an all-encompassing desire to exist. Because desire is not enough, such it becomes possessive and selfish.

The author possesses an admirable patience, loyalty and devotion, because not many would choose to wake up one day and decide that it’s time to embark on a journey to “self-purification”. Some either choose to stay in a destructive cycle, or they simply sever the ties if they’re brave enough. But rarely would simply conclude, that this love is possible and perfect in theory but it just so happened that there was too much pressure.

So the author takes on a role of strategist who intellectualizes his emotions and believes that this situation requires a tactical plan. Love becomes a strategic game where he has to play the pieces on the chessboard right. To sacrifice a pawn to gain an advantage later, that’s Gambit.

It is evident that he lives, breathes and writes only for and about his beloved. Someone who happens to very depressed and dejected all the time, exactly because of this separation and distance, because they can feel just as much loneliness and longing as the author does. That can be seen in the line “even when the tide is high”. Which is why this loyalty and patience is so admirable. He always believed in this love, and it will be his salvation.

Weightless

This experimental track holds too much meaning and proves to be very fitting for the metaphor with the high tide that washes you away while feeling helpless, succumbed in the waves….

This is how the author feels when he looks at his beloved, someone pure and innocent who needs care and protection to have his worries and troubles being put away. A head on the shoulder or on the lap and all your troubles go away.

You feel weightless, floating in a dream, because you’re in the arms of your lover.

The Piano

If ‘Camera Obscura’ was the first camera in history, then ‘The Piano’ is the origin of music. The origins of a musical piece always stemmed from the piano. Throughout history, musicians and composers always composed their pieces on a piano, be they classical musicians, pop musicians, or even church musicians. The origins of a musical piece always came from an instrument with ivory keys.

But the piano could also be a piece of memory from the narrator he shared with his beloved.

Following The Sun

Sometimes the sun can be blinding, but sometimes the sun can also be related to the expression “finally seeing a bright day in your life”. We need to take into account that the light and the darkness are two nouns with double meanings because you always need to see both sides of the coin. The light can not only illuminate you, but also blind you. While the dark can give you peace and solitude, but also give you sadness and depression.

To follow the sun means to chase the eternal light, not only within yourself but also the light that makes your life turn from gloomy to bright. The real reason that gives meaning to a life once dark and melancholic. But to avoid this darkness, to be hopeful for your life and love, and to be happy, you can’t follow the sun that rises from the east and sets in the west. Instead you follow the sun that never sets, which we know as the Midnight Sun.

This is a great metaphor to signify the longing for brighter days in your life. What makes it sad and beautiful at the same time, it’s because this is a rare phenomenon that happens only in the Arctic and to reach that light remains a wish and a desire. It is once again filled with double meanings because such journey is also very long and difficult, like the inner journey to reach that light within yourself is also just as long and difficult.

It is a wish and desire to change not only for yourself, but also for your lover who’s waiting for you. The starry sky that the author also sees, is the sky of the past and what once used to be. Looking to the sky with stars is a metaphor for melancholy and sadness because they represent a past which you gladly remember fondly or try to reminisce that period. The longing becomes intense.

And, last but not least, there’s a particularly interesting detail in the cover of this single; it was very cleverly hidden that you would think that the circle in red is the Sun so the only logical conclusion would be that it should fit the title of the track. But in reality no!

In fact, it’s a highly saturated image of a Solar eclipse! The circle in red is the Moon who is covering the light of the Sun. It’s a partial Solar Eclipse but the riddle here is found in the title itself: “Following the Sun”. So the cover has been designed in such a way that it beautifully hints the Moon ‘touching’ or ‘following’ the Sun.

And we know that the Moon and the Sun are two important archetypes of human psyche, or simply representing two opposite people / energies of the Yin and Yang, and most importantly, they’re the oldest known lovers in ancient folklore who couldn’t be together due to distance and space. The only time they would meet, even for a few minutes, was an eclipse. Well, quite fitting…

Conclusion

This was indeed the easiest album to analyze because it somewhat abandons the complicated topics of metaphysics where considerable knowledge is needed. Naturally, ‘Enigma’ is indeed a romance-inspired project, but it has never been expressed so blatantly and explicitly like here in this album, because the tracks are pre-dominantly romantic and they deliver the message quite beautifully to whomever is aimed.

And speaking of delivering a message, I wouldn’t say that I am mind-blown by the fact that you can quite make the connection to the messenger of Gods, Hermes, the Greek deity of journeys and voyages. The “Voyageur” did a marvelous job in delivering the message.

And with this end of the voyage on earth that culminated with ‘Following the Sun’, the traveler takes up in the atmosphere to complete a journey to the stars. The traveler takes on a journey to the space which holds the past and tries to see the world from a different corner of the universe. He will have to reflect on everything that has happened throughout his life, and this time, his guide will be a wise fox…