"Oh, God of Earth and Altar
Bow down and hear our cry
Our earthly rulers falter
Our people drift and die
The walls of gold entomb us
The swords of scorn divide
Take not thy thunder from us
Take away our pride"

Just a babe in a black abyss
No reason for a place like this
The walls are cold and souls cry out in pain
An easy way for the blind to go
A clever path for the fools who know
The secret of the Hanged Man, the smile on his lips

The light of the blind
You'll see
The venom tears my spine
The Eyes of the Nile are opening
You'll see

She came to me with a serpent's kiss
As the Eye of the Sun rose on her lips
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry
So we lay in a black embrace
And the seed is sown in a holy place
And I watched, and I waited for the dawn

The light of the blind
You'll see
The venom that tears my spine
The Eyes of the Nile are opening
You'll see

Go

Bind all of us together
Ablaze with hope and free
No storm or heavy weather
Will rock the boat you'll see
The time has come to close your eyes
And still the wind and rain
For the one who will be king
Is the watcher in the ring

It is You, oh
It is You


Lyrics submitted by numb

Revelations Lyrics as written by Bruce Dickinson

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

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Revelations song meanings
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  • +2
    General Comment

    AofSin has done an adequate job of describing what this song means to me, so I will not bother restating those points, as he has done a great job.

    I would like to point out though, that there is no "right way" to listen to songs like this. When I was a teenager, this was my favorite maiden song - I of course had no clue what it meant, but somehow it was still capable of achieving an awakened state by simply letting the lyrics wash over me. There is no reason to think analytically about the meaning of a song and proclaim its one "true" meaning. The irony for me is that this song is about spiritual enlightenment, and the goal is achieved by simply listening to the words and feeling them in that moment.

    another thing that attests to the brilliance of this song, is that the lyrics are two-fold, in terms of how they may be interpreted. With each verse, there is obvious imagery (which I saw when I was younger), and more significant imagery below the surface (which I see now). For example, "she came to me with a serpents kiss....and the seed is sown in a holy place...i waited for the dawn" this whole verse paints a picture of adam and eve sinning together (that is obvious), but the deeper meaning depicts the kundalini energy which remains coiled and dormant at the base of the spine, and the enlightened state achieved by its awakening ("the venom tears my spine" only confirms this). the verse "bind all of us together....no storm or heavy weather will rock the boat" again, there's what's obvious, and what's not so obvious. Bring all of us together, catalyzed by this enlightened state which has been achieved by the one whose boat does not rock in the storm/heavy weather.....whose mind is not clouded by the wind and rain and noise of this world. And finally, as somebody else has already said, this depiction of a king, or supremely enlightened being could be anyone. anyone is capable of achieving this state. Even you.

    as I re-read my comments on this i once again have to giggle at how silly it is to offer a "definition" of what this song really means, and waste one's breath. the song is brilliant, and it is open to interpretation. we are using words to define other words, which were initially posed to evoke feelings...just listen to the song and let it do that.

    staratsxon April 05, 2012   Link

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