| Nightwish – The Carpenter Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Seriously, I have to stop making so long interpretations... | |
| Nightwish – The Carpenter Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I do think this song is about Jesus or at least uses him as an allegory. I think that what Tuomas means, when he says it is not about Jesus Christ or the Christ or whatever, is that it is about the mortal man Jesus, not the god (or son of a god, depending on your view on the whole holy trinity thing) Jesus. Also the song only uses Jesus as an allegory, so technically it is not about Jesus in any case. I think the song is a critique of Christianity and other similar religions. In the first verse he denies Jesus as a god by simply saying "Who are you?", as in I don't recognize you. The shiny and salvation stuff is to make us aware that it is Jesus. The grail stuff is about why God cannot just inspire good in us all in the way the Holy Grail is supposed to (I say "inspire", because "force" would go against free will). I will interpret the refrain completely: "The carpenter" - This is Jesus as others have already explained "carved his anchor" - Based his strength/power/might/influence "on the dying souls of mankind" - On the misfortunes of others "On the tomb of this unknown soldier lay the tools of the one who for us had died" - He used the misfortunes of others as his tools. The unknown soldier is NOT Jesus, but someone who has suffered misfortune. "Tools of the carpenter" - The tools of Jesus Meaning that Jesus used the suffering of other people as his source of power. We continue: "The one they lick" "The one" is Jesus or any representative for the religion or the religion itself. "They" are religious people. To "lick" is here to be a bootlicker. "The same old sick dream of their precious savior" This states that the "dream" of Jesus is "old and sick" and not really good, rather it is a perversion. "Kiss them deep and make them weep over promises of eternal peace" This is about how Jesus and especially the church influence people. It is implied throughout the song that these are false promises. "Kiss" is probably like a blessing and kisses are a very used symbol both by Jesus and the church. The last part tells of an alternative to the perverted and power-hungry religions, probably Tuomas's own opinion. "I hear you through the symphonic voices of nature -the purity I could never doubt" This is about a much more basic god, or spirit. I am inclined to believe that what he refers to is the so called "spirit in Nature" which was a very popular belief in the Romantic age (NOT the Roman age!). "They tell me to lie on the grass and observe my saviour The one crucified to the chirping of birds" The "voices of nature" tells him to behold the real savior. Who this savior is, I cannot say for certain... But I am pretty sure that it is the sun. The sun because of the "crucified to the chirping of birds", when the sun sets, the birds are singing. Also, it is not uncommon to watch the sunset, and doing so lying in the grass does not make it less beautiful at all! So all in all I think this song is a critique of all religions that intend to tell us what to do or to gain influence through our belief. Jesus is just an algorithm used. A powerful one, because Jesus is normally seen like a 100% pure and peaceful guy who wants only to save us all. But seen from this songs perspective, even he is just another person making his way, thriving on the misfortunes of others. |
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| Nightwish – Sacrament Of Wilderness Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think the song is about the angel being transformed into a wolf. The angel is a symbol of innocence when talking Nightwish. The wolf is a symbol of the beast which represents bestial freedom and some other things. Also note "the beauty of the beast" often used by Nightwish. This might help to understand the full symbolic meaning of the beast as it is a little hard for me to put into words. The transformation from angel to wolf might represent growing up in the "right way" as Nightwish sees it. |
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| Nightwish – Stargazers Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Here is my interpretation: "A grand oasis in the vastness of gloom" Earth in the vastness of the dark universe. "Child of dew-spangled cobweb, Mother to the Moon" The cobweb is our solar-system. Dewdrops = the planets. Mother to the Moon = Earth. "Constellations beholders of the 3rd vagrant" Star constellations. 3rd vagrant = 3rd planet from the Sun = Earth. The constellations are the audience to the play of life. "Theater for the play of life" Earth is where life unfolds. "Tragedienne of heavens" Tragedienne can also mean the writer of tragedies, and the Earth is full of tragedies, especially when we are talking Nightwish. So the tragedienne of heavens is also the Earth. Fits with the theater nicely "Watching the eyes of the night" Eyes of the night = stars. It can be both the Earth and/or the astronomers (stargazers) watching the stars. I believe it is both. "Sailing the virgin oceans" Earth moving in the universe. AND astronomers/navigators sailing the seas and navigating by the stars. "A Planetride for Mother and Child" The Earth and the Moon moving. AND the people of Earth riding around the universe on the Earth. "Floating upon the quiet hydrogen lakes" Hydrogen is the basic material of the universe. AND hydrogen is part of the water molecule, the hydrogen lakes are thus also the oceans of earth. It is Earth and the sailors/navigators/astronomers floating. "In this ambrosial merry-go-round they will gaze" The Earth is spinning. The astronomers/navigators gazing at the sky as they move around the world and the Earth moves around. "Ephemeral life touched by a billion-year-show" Humans' short lives compared to the age of the universe "Separating the poet from the woe" The knowledge of the age of the universe is comforting to the poet. "Oracle of the Delfian Domine" Astrologists using the sky and Earth to foresee events, they are the Delfian Domine. The Earth is the Oracle. "Witness of Adam's frailty" Earth saw the dawn of mankind. "Seer of the master prophecy" Master prophecy = end of the Earth, or = end of the universe, or = the entire history of the universe. The Earth is the seer. "The stellar world her betrothed" Earth will eventually be destroyed and the matter from which it is made will rejoin all the matter in the universe and take a new form. "Wanderers in cosmic caravan" The nearest stars are part of our galaxy which is the cosmic caravan. "Universal bond - The Starborn" Univeral bond = gravity and the unity of the universe. Starborn = The Earth, born from the stars. Perhaps the starborn are also the stargazers. "A son in search for the truth" The Earth is the son. The son is also a stargazer(an astronomer/astrologist/navigator and so on). "Following the pages of Almagest" Almagest being a series of ancient books about the movement of celestial bodies. The Earth is following its patch. The stargazers are using/following the knowledge of Almagest. "Discovering the origin of dreams" Now moving on to dealing only with the stargazers. They discover the origin of dreams which I read as a metaphor for obtaining the knowledge of The Riddler, which is the knowledge of the answer to the universe and the meaning of life. "Stargazers ride through the ancient realms" Might be the notion of building spacecrafts capable of interstellar travel. Might be the Earth moving in space. Might be riding in the ancient knowledge. Might be all three! Well that ended up being long… |
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| Nightwish – The Riddler Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The Riddler is the one with the answers to all the unanswerable questions in the world. That makes him the one who knows what the world is really about. Meaning of life stuff. That is the knowledge we should all search for, even though we won't find the answers. People who know a lot about how things work and are (scientists fx.) are not wise in comparrison with The Riddler, because The Riddler knows why things work and exist. Socrates is a good example of a person who comes close to the nature of The Riddler. In general The Riddler is a philosopher. The whole subject of the interaction and incompatibility between science and philosophy (including religion) is accepted by most scientists, including Albert Einstein. Science can explain how but not why. Whereas philosophy can (try to) explain why but not how. |
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| Nightwish – Planet Hell Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think this song, like many others by Nightwish, refers to the injustice of this world. It is special in the way that children in this one actually does mean children. The first verse is about poor children fighting and dying to survive and especially about the children soldiers in some 3. world countries. And about the hopeless situation they are in. The song focuses on children but refers to all humans in this world who rejects unity. From the perspective of the song, just about everybody rejects unity. Second verse ads power and feeling to the theme of the first verse. third verse is a desire to be able to leave this world and its injustice and pain. fourth verse: fighting continues, another war starts. fifth verse: It is hopeless to challenge the gods (destiny) and hope/fight for a better world. The wanderer, who is one of the ideals in Nigthwish terminalogy, is a fool and is fighting for a lost cause. sixth verse: It is everybody for himself, egoism rules the world, even love is too weak to fight it. The world is not worth preserving. "Mankind works in mysterious ways" refers to the meaninglessness of the world and the people in it at its current state. This song is very special because it shows no hint of hope for this world. Nightwish songs almost always are about hope in some way or another, but this song is about pure despair. I do not belive that religion has any place in this or just about any of the songs by Nightwish. Many of the songs use religious and mystical symbols and metaphors but are not themselves about religion. This has been confirmed by Nightwish upon many occasions. |
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| Nightwish – 10th Man Down (feat. Tapio Wilska) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This is unrelated to the lyrics of the song, it is just a little correction of some historical facts. Finland was hardly an Axis defender. It was more like an informal Axis occupation. (no I am not Finnish :) ) |
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| Nightwish – Escapist Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song is not too hard to interpret I think. It is easiest to split it up into the verses. The title Escapist has already been explained many times above. 1) The opening of the song. I believe the song is about a person waking up in the middle of the night. Then he goes for a walk (In a forest I imagine but that's open), while he is thinking about the injustice of the world (all the dying children). He might also be dreaming instead of taking a walk in physical sense. 2) It is winter and the landscape is covered with virgin (new and very white) snow. White being the color of innocence. Then he starts thinking about a tale, ergo he dreams himself into another world (escapist again). 3) He will keep searching for a better world no matter what. Clayborne = a search that starts from the "earth" (this world) but is not bound by it and its limitations. 4) The entire chorus is a direct reference to the fairytale by H. C. Anderson called The Nightingale. The tale is about the artificial vs. authentic and about freedom. (a very good story by the way) 5) The person is returning from his journey (be it dream or nightwalk). He is called home by a dolphin. Dolphins are often mentioned in connection with the dreamtime from the original Australian culture. He will no longer hide his search from the people around him or try to pretend to be something else than what he is. The tower is a symbol of firmness and resolution. All in all a story about an escapist. (surprise!) |
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