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Iron Maiden – When the Wild Wind Blows Lyrics 15 years ago
This is about the graphic novel of the same name, where a couple takes shelter into a refuge because of a fallout... but there's a twist at the end: in the song, they mistake an earthquake for the fallout, therefore dying (by suicide) in vain...

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Iron Maiden – The Talisman Lyrics 15 years ago
The lyrics are very detailed and tell a story - no way it's just a general metaphor for whatever, this is about an actual story, of a group of people sailing away from their homeland and arriving after a very troubled journey at sea at their destination (with the character that sings the song dying at the end).

The Mayflower trip maybe??

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Iron Maiden – Isle of Avalon Lyrics 15 years ago
Clearly rooted into the celtic and english folklore about Avalon, but I am not so knowledgeable in the matter to give a specific explanation for the lyrics.

From what I found out googling here and there, Annywn is the term for the otherworld, and the goddess referred in the lyrics may be Brigid, since there are 19 virgins, labeled "Daughters of the flame", tending to the monument made in her honour.

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Iron Maiden – The Alchemist Lyrics 15 years ago
This song is about the english mathematician and, well, alchemist John Dee:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dee

Reading this page from Wikipedia really explains all the lyrics, I guess. Much of them are anyway not grounded in reality, they talk in metaphores about many mystical things and amazing accomplishments (I have dealt in mysteries, looked into the abyss, I shame the mirror in my sight etc etc).

However, the more specific parts of the lyrics refer to historical events; for example, Dee's companion, Edward Kelley, told him that an angel appeared and told him that the two should share their respective wives (hence all the anger against Kelley in the lyrics, and the reference to sleeping with his wife), and Dee had his house with a wonderful library by Mortlake, that one day burned down.

Well, that's essentially it, lyrics about the life and works of John Dee with a lot of "magical" imaginery thrown in.

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Sonata Arctica – Juliet Lyrics 16 years ago
I agree, as I said first (The End of this Chapter) is "I found you and I'm going to kill you", then he is (Don't Say a Word) "this time I'm REALLY going to kill you" (see the lines "Unlike the last time here I now have the means and a will sincere" and "I promise you the end before the first light arrives") and then falls for the "Ok, let's die together, you first" trick??

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Sonata Arctica – Juliet Lyrics 16 years ago
I always got the idea that in The End of this Chapter / Don't Say a Word they got married, and that the deal was marriage: "Forever until death do us part"... the part of the deal she couldn't keep was that she left him so death did not part them, but her own decision. This was what made Caleb "a bit" edgy...

This however may also reflect his death wish - "It's death that must separate us, so you have to die and then I have to die too".

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Sonata Arctica – Deathaura Lyrics 16 years ago
Wow, you just rule :P now it's late and I really can't make out much off it, but I'm sure going to re-read it in the next days to finally catch up with what happens in the song ;-)

This must be some story Tony thought of, exactly like White Pearls, Black Oceans, and until he explains the story, probably there's gonna be a lot of confusion about it...

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Sonata Arctica – Juliet Lyrics 16 years ago
I find RyuheiAoi's analysis very intriguing and accurate, that may be totally it... however, didn't Tony Kakko himself confirmed that Juliet is the end in the Caleb saga?? when first hearing the song I was thinking too about Romeo and Juliet, and a rewriting in a very twisted way of the song (with the details that RyuheiAoi brilliantly explained), but we're supposed to think this all fits with the Caleb saga...

Anyway, I may like the Romeo/Juliet thing gone wrong better, 'cause as a final to the saga it shows that Caleb is a bit unstable and silly... really, the songs would go like this then:

CALEB - The boy is born and stuff happens and he turns into an emotional wreck
THE END OF THIS CHAPTER - "You left me, now I found you out, I'm going to kill you"
DON'T SAY A WORD - "Unlike last time, now I am REALLY going to kill you"
JULIET - "I changed my mind once again, let's die together by poisoning each other". "Ok, you first". "Ok..... no, wait, WTF, why are you sm......." X___X

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Sonata Arctica – Deathaura Lyrics 16 years ago
Indeed there are many characters speaking in the song... generally it's about a witch being banished from town (or hunted down and burnt at the stake) and someone who is in love with her, but the exact details of the story are a bit complicated...

THE PREMONITION
The witch recalls the encounter with the protagonist, which is possibly the young boy RyuehiAoi was talking about... they met one day, she told her she is different and that it's not worth falling in love with her, anyway that happens, and later this girl is found (by people looking for her with torches) and the guy is not safe anymore as well, because at this point the mob knows they're together...

THE WITCH-HUNT
The mob are whining "bohooo she is a witch, she makes everything go bad, bhuahaaaaa" including the feeding cakes and ale to the innocent boy - probably RyuheiAoi is right in thinking this is the same one in love with the witch... and definitively there's someone of the mob speaking when it goes "oh come with me father, I'm to expose a heathen"

ENVY
The way I see it, this is against the boy who is in love with the witch - in the Witch Hunt people are complaining about bad things happening to the town, so the "your crops are all florishing" may be referring to "hey, we're all in deep sh@t and you're doing fine, how so? I know it, I know it, they will find out you TOO" (which means, to me, they already know they're after the witch, and the one talking in this part is saying "we will find out that you're plotting with the witch TOO")

FEAR
More whining from the mob...

THE GRUDGE
This is whear I lose it... "In the ages of burning times" obviously refers to the times of witch-hunting and the inquisition, but what's the part of the "cunning man"? anyway, this is where the witch confesses to the boy in love with her that, after all, she is REALLY a witch plaguing the town ("though it hurts I must tell you - I am truly the one behind it all")

THE CURSE
ehm.... help?

THE FLAMES
This seems to paint a scenery of the witch being burned, but why is she singing again "unless morning finds all of them somehow hexed", like if it isn't really over yet and the town is in for some deep trouble?

ENDLESS INQUISITION
Solo :P

TOGETHER, TODAY, FOR ALL ETERNITY
Out of the blue comes a seemingly happy ending: the couple recalls their first meeting, like if somehow, after all, they escaped the stake... but why "they paid someone to say their torment has a name"? and are they together in the afterlife or in the "normal" life 'cause they weren't burned after all?

Anyway, awesome song, it should be made into a short movie :P

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Heaven & Hell – Breaking into Heaven Lyrics 16 years ago
Ah, thanks for the explanation about the "cursed to wander with man" part - it must surely be the way you say it, after all it's not the first time I hear about this now that I recall, so that most definitively is the reason of that talk about men - demons having to corrupt men to do their deeds.

And while the Great Tribulation thing surely seems to fit with the overall theme, the feel I get from the lyrics (call it a prejudice because of the press release, or a sensation that this is something that Dio totally could write), is that the angels in heaven just didn't see it coming. The fallen angels themselves seem to not believe it: "Does hopeless means maybe we can", like, "uh, we can really go??", also the second bridge "now we're back again we want it all, and NO ONE SEEMED TO KNOW THAT EVIL CAME TO CALL".... and also "we just found the key".... all of this gives me the idea that the attack to Heaven is something totally unexpected and not foretold in any prophecy.

But I have to agree that "someone told that it's time and we must go" may tie in nicely with the Great Tribulation concept: "as foretold, here we come to open the gates of hell, get out you demons and fight".... but I dunno, I really get the feel from the lyrics and from Dio's style that the lyrics seem to talk of a cunning plan that the angels in heaven just didn't see coming, rather than a big final battle well foretold in a prophecy.

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Heaven & Hell – Breaking into Heaven Lyrics 16 years ago
Yeah, while I didn't read the Bible (I just know the general storyline), what is not clear to me is how the song does not appear to be clearly referring entirely to the return of the demons to heaven, once you know the song is about this.

If you check the basically official site of Black Sabbath, at http://www.black-sabbath.com/discog/thedevilyouknow.html you'll find a press release that says that "[...] Butler and Appice slow the pace while ramping up the intensity on "Follow The Tears" and "Double The Pain" and "Breaking Into Heaven," the latter diverging from its glacial procession for Dio's majestic chorus about fallen angels planning an attack on paradise. "

So, with that set in mind, why shouldn't the song be about the fallen angels coming back with a vengeance?

First stanza - "Someone said there's a lost horizon / We must find a way to the throne / Take his gold and the bed he lies on / No mercy from hearts made of stone" ... this is quite clear: the fallen angels rebel once more, they are determined to take God's throne.

Second stanza - "Before the fall we were only dancers / Angels gliding over the floor [...] " ... this talks of what was going in heaven before the rebellion, they were all angels (and so Lucifer, the brighest of all"

Now, the first bridge: as you said, the fallen angels give in to temptation and are being cast out of heaven as a result - "then he closed the door, we can't come back again".

Another verse - "Before today it was a dark tomorrow / Chained and cursed to wander with man / But we've been told that it's time and we must go / Does hopeless mean maybe we can" ... here the fallen angels lament being away from heaven, and being stuck on earth - with men!!! it sucks for them to hang around with men... so someone (the leader of the rebellion?) tells them "hey, guys, it's time, let's get back up in the clouds and kick some ass!!!"

And therefore, the second bridge, with the minor differences, becomes quite clear: "Now we're back again we want it all, and no one seems to know that evil's come to call and we will bring temptation and you'll sin, then we'll slam the door, you can't come back again" ... this has nothing to do with men, this is all about the fallen angels coming back (they're BACK AGAIN, they WANT IT ALL... what? heaven!!! the throne of gold!!! the arps!!! the clouds!! everything!!!), with heaven not even knowing about it (they just didn't see it coming, ha!), and then the fallen angel will kick heaven's current angels out and SLAM the door. God CLOSED the door on them, they will SLAM the door on God and his angels. Great move from Dio to underline how the fallen angels are royally pissed and planning utter vengeance!!!"

And then the chorus... the title says it all, "Breaking into heaven", "get ready for war"... the fallen angels are back and they want to take over heaven kicking out all of the angels... just like THEYT were kicked out back in the day!!! "We just found the key and we're breaking into heaven"... how the concept of man fit into this?

Regardless of what is actually described in the Bible, this song is entirely from the point of view of fallen angels, from time to finish - it goes "we were angels, we got tempted, we got kicked out of heaven, we spent all this time out of heaven, we found a way to come back, we ARE coming back and we're gonna kick your ass". Something totally in line, also, with what Dio would write.

I hope I didn't come off as arrogant or naive in this 'cause neither was my intention :-)

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Dream Theater – The Count of Tuscany Lyrics 16 years ago
Cyberbully, you're surely over-reading if you think DT are going to split up, in an interview Mike Portnoy says that he already knows when DT will record their next album ;-)

About the song, I still don't get (even though the lyrics are simple and at times just bad) the exact story, but I can assure you that this has nothing to do with Pietro Pacciani. I'm italian, I'm not from Tuscany but I know the region, and the whole "vibe" I get from the song couldn't be further away from Pacciani. I know this may look like I'm talking about just my "gut" feelings, but hey, I can assume that, if there was a song written about Paris, someone who actually lives there could have a better feeling of the specific subject of the song, isn't it? ;-)

The reason why I tell that Pacciani has nothing to do with this is because Pacciani (be him actually guilty or not, there will be mysteries around the "Florence monster" forever) was an old, ignorant, violent and rough peasant, unable (as far as I remember) to read or even speak proper italian rather than the dialect... and this has nothing to do with a story where we ear of counts, historians, estates, castles, and such... they just don't match, Pacciani was a rough ignorant man, and also a poor one (well, definitively he wasn't rich), so to an italian that has been several times in Tuscany and knows it, this connection sounds totally out of place, to the point I just "know" it's wrong. To return to my example of before - someone from Paris should just "feel" if a theory about a song or a story set there is plausible or not, right? ;-)

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Heaven & Hell – Follow the Tears Lyrics 16 years ago
I think it may be about some non-human entity (the devil, if you want), responsable for all the suffering of mankind - so, since you can't see the devil, wanna know where to find him? it's easy, follow the tears - he is behind the pain, the suffering, the woes, and so on, because he wanted to cause them.

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Heaven & Hell – Eating the Cannibals Lyrics 16 years ago
In a press release this song was described as "doing more than just biting the hands that feeds", what that could mean?

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Heaven & Hell – Double the Pain Lyrics 16 years ago
Could it be that it's a masochistic metaphor for gambling addiction? in the sense, that it's not about "double the pain because he likes pain and he's a masochist", but more like "since he likes to play knowing fully he can lose money, what the hell, make him play and lose and ruin his life, he likes it anyway". The line "you never said no to just another spin and losing is one step away" may be the key... another spin of what? of the wheel at the gambling table?

Also, "He's fallen from grace and slammed to the ground and begs for some more of the same" - can it be a reference to how after losing a lot of money still someone wants to play with fortune?

Taken at face value, the lyrics are about someone who enjoys pain (Double the pain, I'm sure I saw him smile) - the key to the song is what stands for "pain" and why the dude enjoys it anyway... gambling could be a solution...

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Heaven & Hell – Atom & Evil Lyrics 16 years ago
It may be, "Atom" in the title is definitively a giveaway about nuclear power, for the rest I can't really decipher the lyrics so your explanation may be most likely right...

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Heaven & Hell – Breaking into Heaven Lyrics 16 years ago
It is?? I think that the Bible tells about the angels rebellion, and Lucifer and his demons being cast out of heaven (High above the world we had it all, so no one seemed to care when evil came to call and soon we knew temptation and we sinned, then he closed the door, we can't come back again), but this is the "sequel" - the demons are coming back to invade heaven :PP

"Now we're back again we want it all, and no one seems to know that evil's come to call and we will bring temptation and you'll sin, then we'll slam the door, you can't come back again" (btw, I like how the first bridge says "then he closed the door", and then the second "then we'll SLAM the door, more evil :P)

Furthermore, the chorus is kinda obvious under this point of view... and in one of the press releases of the album the song was described like that... so this is not about the demons being cast out of heaven, but it's about the demons coming back to kick the angels' asses!! (no offense intended).

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Black Sabbath – The Devil Cried Lyrics 16 years ago
Neon Knight is the one who gost mostly right - in an interview Dio said that it's about a way to get out of hell, if you say something that makes the devil cry, he lets you go. So far only one achieved it and "was sent back to glory", it is implied that it was Jesus; now the protagonist approaches the devil and manages to make him cry... still, and Dio didn't explicitly tell this, I can't understand who is the "you" of the final line "then I told him that I love you"... was it God, because he was still loving God after a life of suffering? usually when shit happens you turn away from God... and the devil was about to smile because he was expecting something like "My life has been shit so I'm glad to serve you oh Satan", and instead he got a "I've got this horrible life, and still I love God" and then cried... because his attempt to corrupt a soul with all evil things proved useless...

"Someone lied so well" could fit with this theory - why this guy would be in hell if he loved God all his life through? he didn't, he lie, but he fooled the devil and made him cry...

Or, could it be that he loved the devil?? kinda like "Listen, I had this horrible life because of this and that, and for that, I thank you", making the devil cry because he wants people to suffer, not to enjoy suffering?

Any other theories about "then I told him that I love you"?

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Black Sabbath – Ear In The Wall Lyrics 16 years ago
Sorry Stephan, but Stargazer didn't get it right ;-)
In an interview, if you people want I'll look up for it, Dio talked extensively about the song, it's about a paranoid nutter. He sees things that are not there (the ear in the wall), and he's done time and again, to the point nobody believes him anymore (This time I could prove it, but you've heard this all before, cry wolf and you're moving to a special kind of danger zone). This time he calls a friend (Hello can you hear me, I might not be alone, don't see anyone near me, but I just might go home again), and asks him to come over his house (let's meet in the morning, I just can't speak tonight) because there's an ear in the wall. The friend arrives and obviously there's nothing in the wall, to the dismay of the protagonist (There it is in the corner, you must be going blind, what's wrong; were you born before your god invented eyes), anyway it's late and it's growing dark so the dude suggests to turn on the light (It's growing so dark and you can't see it all, I'll turn on some lights so you're sure not to fall), and next to where you turn on the light there's an EYE - and that's how nuts the guy is, there was not only an ear, but also an eye in the wall. He's a complete delusional nutter that sees things that are not there, and this is what the song is about (even though the wiretapping idea was not that farfetched).

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