| Sonata Arctica – The End Of This Chapter Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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The piece is called "End of This Chapter" and is arranged into chapters, notably the last one fades out. Not sure who dies in the end, and that might be the point of the name. In any case the line "I'm not all that stable" pretty much confirms the interpetation of mopi. Except that there's really no indication of violent abuse, on the contrary "this anger I handle" suggests he IS handling it. Also I'm not at all sure on coal mine being allegory for jail, it seems to be chosen for "I looked in the light". Basically he's saying "I treated you like a queen and yu treated me like dirt", but as he himself says "I am not all that stable" so he's not got the best grip on reality and we can't judge the truth on the song alone. Interestingly Chapter Three does hint that it might've been losing the girl that made him "not all that stable". Another line of interest is "You can now have all the things I could never give to you", which does suggest at least in his mind the issue between their breakup was she wanted more (material) things than he could give (together with "how could you be so vain", also might give significance to stealing her ear-ring). In any case it's safe to say he's an ex of some sort and is now forbidden from contacting her. Ultimately I'm mostly wondering what was the "promise I made so deep" he refers to near the beginning. Other than that I used to know a girl who had a creepy stalker using the title "c'est moi" so mm-hmm. Anyway, given the above I would write it (from his PoV anyway) somewhat akin to: Chapter I: We were together and I gave you my everything. Chapter II: I was left with nothing but you and then you left me. Chapter III: Living without you made me lose my mind, and I was ordered to never meet you. Chapter IV: You got together with some rich guy and are happy now. Chapter V: I'm sorry, I found you anyway and am not quite sure what I will do. Chapter VI: So YOU write the ending of this chapter... Phew... Anyway you can read pretty much what you want behind this story, but this seems to be more or less how the person in the song perceives it, and that's all we have to go by. That being the case I think the idea is to take it at face value and identify with the person in the song. The "c'est moi" growl, "I'm not all that stable" and "you are mine" among others ofcourse speak against him, but they're a neccessary dramatic tool to represent things from both sides. So I wonder if that makes any sense... |
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| Sonata Arctica – San Sebastian Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I'll add that whatever "way too hot for me" exactly refers to, it's obivious continuation of the sun-metaphor. Likewise "Married to the moon" doesn't neccessarily have to mean he has been married, it's just another metaphorical rephrasing for "Every single day, for the rest of my way, I live without my love, my God, I have to stay in shade" - ie. he's never going to get together with this girl. Quite beautiful. | |
| Sonata Arctica – San Sebastian Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Zughiaq's interpretation is very close to what I always got out of it. However San Sebastian obiviously doesn't refer to a place, as such. "Look what I have done to my San Sebastian. I wasted all my childhood dreams by staring at sun" It could be a metaphor for a whole lot of things, but I'm going to go with the metaphorical narrator's childhood here for simplicity. A place called childhood which he must leave ("oh why I cannot stay"). In particular the song notes "eighteen years old today". This leaves a number of possibilities why it didn't work out, though the rest of the song hints at some possibilities. In particular "Back in time with a dream of mine" suggests it may have been unreciprocated childhood fantasy. This in turn leaves open the option that "way too hot for me" hasn't got anything to do with promisciousness. I prefer to see it just as a rationalization for the unreciprocated love that the narrator tries to convince themselves of, as that makes for quite beautiful love-song. |
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| Sonata Arctica – Draw Me Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Quite amazing tale and it would match many lines from the song, but I'm suffering from same problem as Grim here. I can't find any articles on a painter called Andre Marcellin (with or without accents on characters) or painters whose models keep dying - and you can be sure such a case would be recorded for posterity on many sites on unusual phenomenon. Additionally there's the problem the lyrics contain both "Should you draw me?" and "Should I draw me?" That said, I found many of the tracks on Winterheart's Guild quite mysterious, perhaps more so than any other Sonata Arctica album, and this one of the tracks whose meaning simply didn't open to me. I did note that "Gravenimage", "(Playwright's) Misery" and "Draw Me" are seemingly about three fine arts - musical, written and visual, in that order. There is also a heavy relationship-influence going on here, so I prefer to see the three as a grand artistic loveletter. There's probably more going on than that, though. |
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| Sonata Arctica – False News Travel Fast Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Not quite but close, with the lines "Colour of the jealousy that hangs over thee. Why don´t you believe, You still do not know me." and "Standing on the station, watching your train slowly disappear. I´m only shell of a man, I thought you knew who I am..." it's clearly about a relationship broken over baseless accusations. I pointed to this song in comments about their "4th Commandment" song, so I might as well note the two have very similiar theme. This one if FAR more regretful with lines like "And I´m still your man, and for you I do all I can" and "It´s a real shame the false news travel fast". If you want to link the two, 4th could be about the rumor-spreaders and this one about someone who's too easily taken by rumors. |
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| Sonata Arctica – 8th Commandment Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| The line "Remember to pray, and what the Bible says and you will live thru eternity" suggests it may be more about hypocricy, but that enters into the domain of personal meaning. "You haven't heard of this?" right after it can be interpreted several ways after all. For myself, I always figured this song had perhaps more to do with hypocricy in accusing others. I am particularily struck by the fire & brimstone language and partially want to think it's about how people who accuse of everybody else ending up in Hell are most likely to end up there themselves, but who knows. (Again "False News Travel Fast" suggests it's likely to be much more mundane). | |
| Sonata Arctica – 8th Commandment Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| The state religion of Finland is Evangelic-Lutheran. Luther's interpretation of the 8th Commandment actually seemed to be more along the lines of not spreading damaging rumors or betraying someone's trust, whether true or false. On the surface that's exactly what this song is about. In "False News Travel Fast" they touch on the very same subject but without religious overtones. I'm not sure SA would go out with plain out religious song, but in any case it certainly seems very simple. | |
| Kamelot – March Of Mephisto Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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After going over Epica again I'm going to have to admit HazardPS got it right. The liner-notes are quite explicit that in Kamelot's version Helena drowns herself with their unborn child. This can also be heard in "Helena's Theme" as the river-spirit declares "Bless the unborn child tonight". This, ofcourse, ruins any point Goethe was trying to make in the original, but as said Kamelot's taing poetic license and the results are great. I think the original story fits the actual music better, so it's POSSIBLE they're paying homage to the original there. But since they wrote in the liner-notes that she drowned herself, that's the Kamelot story and the "sin" is either suicide, premarital sex or murder of unborn child, take your pick. In any case in Black Halo, Mephisto is goading Ariel along, being generally sarcastic and making light of his grief, moving on to Ariel's acceptance of Mephisto's direction in When the Lights Are Down with "Into the void as one, marching on". In the liner notes the band explains it mostly as "lyrically it describes the peak of Mephisto's influence on Ariel in the story". |
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| Kamelot – March Of Mephisto Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Okay, so what if I told you none of the above stories are quite correct? The answer lies partly in Goethe's Faust which Kamelot are re-telling in their epic, with generous helpings of poetic license naturally. In Faust, Helena is driven "a bit" crazy by Faust (Ariel) leaving her, and drown the newborn child in a river (One might presume because she no longer has the means to support the child and it reminds her of her lost love). Knowing this you can easily follow the same story in Epica, Kamelot's first part of the epic, in particular in Interlude IV (Dawn): "The lady Helena has committed a sin. Now death lies on her, like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field..." She is consequently executed before Faust/Ariel can intervene. None of this, ofcourse, changes the otherwise great analysis above. | |
| Nightwish – Wish I Had an Angel Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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The lyrics writeout on this site is really horrible, the correct parts are: Prepare to hate me fall when I may (Curiously Tarja holds a pause between "me" and "fall"; the lyrics do not indicate any break there, giving rise to two different interpretations) I wish I had your angel, Your Virgin Mary undone I'm going down so frail 'n cruel Drunken disguise changes all the rules And "Marco's indistinct shouting": Greatest thrill, not to kill, but to have the prize of the night Hypocrite, wannabe friend, 13th disciple who betrayed me for nothing! The above section is also the ONLY part of the lyrics that is not sung by Tarja (while Marco does join in "I wish I had an angel..." refrain later on). While the lyrics are written by Tuomas, who sometimes lets Tarja sing his or other male viewpoint, in light of the lyrical content I don't think it's possible to view the female as passive participant in this song as Krissychan suggests. Though it's possible to interpret the song as a male fantasy, I can't see any reason or suggestion in the song itself to make that interpretation over, say, that it's the female sides fantasy. Of course, the beauty of music is everybody gets to interpret it as they wish, but I am personally partial to see it as something of a mutual thing. |
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| Darkseed – My Burden Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Trying to guess at the german bits (Some native german OR english speaker would be good, I guess:) It is what one wants or does not understand. This will never end. We are spoiled. Second german section: Shamework, crying night. Bloodloss, it keeps sucking. Deep boredom, deep in the flesh. You are refreshed with the fall. The last sentence is obiviously just repeat of the english one. Anybody want to correct the translation? My favorite song from the album, although the use of German in particular makes it quite reminiscent of Rammstein - not generally a bad thing. |
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| Sonata Arctica – The Power Of One Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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"The Power of One" book is about a boy growing up in racially torn WWII South Africa trying to fulfill the role of Rainmaker, prohphesized to unify the tribes. It goes without saying the song is about the book, although there's also a movie based on the book. The sudden throw into Jewish myth at the spoken end-text is slightly jarring, but it does seem cast the song in a larger context than simply paying tribute to the book. |
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| Sonata Arctica – White Pearl, Black Oceans Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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The part: "Flaming eyes I must confront before I am stated free Defining innocence is hell, after all that has past..." I think fairly clearly established that he was found innocent and hence I can't interpret him simply falling asleep or passing out. Equally as pointed out: "I never had a chance to stop what hit me... What broke my bones and mauled me..." ...is quite clear that we're dealing with some sort of an "accident". Until I chanced on this site I was perplexed about what really happened to him, but now that I read supernancy's explanation it does all makes sense. The lighthouse keeper's reaction when he sees the family name tells he hadn't seen the man before, which actually explains why the stanza about his accident is so vague - he didn't see who hit him. There is a kind of reprise in "Although I never saw the face" and it would certainly justify "Love can be like poetry of demons, or maybe God loves complex irony?" This would ALSO explain his lovers sudden flight from the town that very night. The alternative would be that the story just doesn't tell what caused it ("what hit me, what broke my bones and mauled me") which seems unlikely in this story. Also the "Forever... for that one night" is quite clear as mud that it was one-night stand. The only story that seems to make sense (to me, at least) is that the husband caught them fooling around, gave him a good trashing and she boarded the ship to escape his anger. (Obiviously neither of them knowing the lighthouse was now keeperless). |
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| Sonata Arctica – Abandoned, Pleased, Brainwashed, Exploited Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I have to agree to disagree with the original poster, the line "A Child guides a child guided child" makes it quite clear child is meant in a figurative sense in this song, ie. we're all children. Since this album was released on the eve of the Iraq War II it was hard not to try read a political meaning into this song. Mesopotamia, nowadays known as Iraq (In part) if often known as the "Cradle of Life". To me it gave a lot of meaning to the symbolism of the song though it's likely a co-incidence. "My only world filled with fear" = terrorism, "The grave is open" = war, "Empty the cradle" = various armageddon prophecies. This is not a foreign theme to their first albums! |
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| Nightwish – Wish I Had an Angel Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| Nightwish's songs are probably one of the heaviest in self-referral I've seen, so it's not particularily unthinkable to link Marco's line "Gretaest thrill not to kill..." into 10th Man Down and "Beauty always comes with dark thoughts" into the Beauty & The Beast motif they've had going on through the albums. "13th disciple who betrayed me for nothing" is obiviously reference to Maria Magdalene as popularized by "Da Vinci Code" and "Passion of Christ" and contrast nicely with "Virgin Mary" without spelling it out. I think what we're looking at is Nightwish's revision of "Nymphomaniac Fantasia" ("Old love lies deep, you said") from the first album only here she has her revenge by getting drunk and laid. The man's part is not quite clear, I understand it as "Greatest thrill not to kill..." and "Hypocrite, wannabe friend..." as being rival guys, although the vocals certainly don't give it out. | |
| Nightwish – Dead Boy's Poem (feat. Sam Hardwick) Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| The same boy sings the boy's part sings in Century Child's "Beauty of The Beast" last sub-section, Christabel, but now older. In a way, the boy represents the songwriter in him to me, his inspiration, not Tuomas in person. | |
| Nightwish – Dead Boy's Poem (feat. Sam Hardwick) Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Early on in their career Tuomas' said they didn't tell what the songs were about because they wanted each listener to form their own meaning. I rather preferred it that way. That said, most of Nightwish's songs arise from Tumas' experiences, and many of them are directly about him. This causes a curious sort of disconnect when most people naturally associate them with the singer, Tarja. The "Wrote about the eclipse..." part directly refers to some of his best known songs, and his using "Ocean Soul" to refer to himself is also easy to catch. This obiviously shouldn't make the song any less, in fact the text can be much more powerful when he's writing about his own experiences. |
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| Nightwish – Dead Boy's Poem (feat. Sam Hardwick) Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| Very early on in their career Tuomas said he doesn't tell what the songs mean because he wants listeners to come up with their own meanints. It's quite shame he has broken this rule with this song; that said it's quite obivious Nightwish songs have to arise from Tuomas' experiences and many of them are specifically about him (Leading to curious kind of disconnect when people try to naturally connect them to the singer, Tarja). In this song it's quite obivious, and the "Wrote for the eclipse..." section refers directly to some of his most famous songs. His reference to himself as "Ocean Soul" is also easy to catch. It shouldn't, ofcourse, make the song any less touching, probably the opposite due to the text arising from the writers own experiences. | |
| Kamelot – Lost and Damned Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| There are several meanings that can be attached to each song, one arises from what the writer intended, one from the sources they drew from and one from how the listener relates it to their experience. Since Epica and Black Halo are a retelling of the classic tale of Faust, the significance of the background story can't be ignored. The most important point for this song is that in all of the versions of Faust, Helena is granted to him as part of his deal with the Devil (ie. her will is altered). When he sings "Although you hold me close, I feel retention arise..." he may be referring to this rather than the more straight interpretation that Helena just senses something wrong in him. It is possible even Ariel doesn't know which is the case for sure. In any case this is where the seeds to seek redemption are planted as he reflects himself through the "angelic" Helena, a theme that is further emphasized in "Ways to Epica". | |
| Kamelot – Lost and Damned Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| The interpretation is largely correct, but there's the omnious passage "Love means nothign to me if there is a higher place". Luckily or not some bands tend to take the guesswork out of it by offering their own meanings to the songs in the liner notes. The full liner notes are now released on Kamelot's website, and abridged version for this song reads "Ariel is convinced that the deal he has with Mephisto will cause her too much pain and suffering. He is anyway seeking a higher goal than love. At least that is what he believes at this point in the story." The lyrical content of the song concentrates on his convincing Ariel she is saving her, but I think there is a very strong undertone of Ariel actually seeking to save himself by his actions. | |
| Kamelot – March Of Mephisto Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| Note since this is "Marhc of Mephisto" the Latin is obiviously meant to be read in the most sinister/twisted way possible, ie. "Fortune smiles upon our first effort = Give the devil your little finger etc.", "Voice of the people, voice of a god = I'm all for human desires, follow me" and so forth. I'm slightly confused why "To the greater glory of god" is in there, I suppose that's why he's called Prince of Lies, but it'd made more sense without. I imagine like most artists Latin is used mostly for effect, and not the actual meaning. | |
| Kamelot – March Of Mephisto Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Don't know who to credit for the translation. ASPIRAT PRIMO FORTUNA LABORI (Fortune smiles upon our first effort) ME DUCE TUTUS ERIS (Under my leasdership you are safe) VOX POPULI VOX DEI (Voice of the people, voice of a God) AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM... (To the greater glory of God) AD INFINITUM (To Infinity) |
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| Iced Earth – A Question Of Heaven Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| It's a concept-album on Spawn (the comic-book hero) who literally can't die. Spawn ofcourse is just a retelling of the classic tale of Faust. A retelling closer to the roots appears in Kamelot's Epica+The Black Halo which might be easier to relate to because the guy isn't actually immortal with super-powers. Nevertheless, most songwriters urge the listeners to find their own meaning, and this song is VERY powerful and easy to relate with. | |
| Iced Earth – Damien Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| "Disciples of the Watch", the name of Damien's thug-mob in the movie, is also the name of songs recorded by at least Testament and The Insiders. Iced Earth liked the theme so much it makes another appearance in "Something Wicked This Way Comes". It is also the name of a Satanic coven that's reputedly existed from 1564 to today. I have a recollection the name originates from the apocrypha, but I can't find a confirmation right now. It seems a clear reference to the 12 disciples of Jesus in New Testament, though it might contain a hidden reference to "disciples of watch-maker god" in philosophy. | |
| Iced Earth – Damien Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| The song is indeed about Omen's Damien Thorne, quite faithful at that. Rock Hawk, Iced Earth were asked exactly that at http://www.icedearth.com/wwwbb_msg.php?m=4 and they said that the Latin chant is simply random doomsday-phrases from Latin dictionary with some made up bits tossed in. The Latin is sung forward, but there is also quiet voice chanting in english that was originally recorded backwards Twin Peaks style. I can not make out more than occasional words, either. | |
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