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All Souls Night Lyrics
Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides.
Figures dance around and around
to drums that pulse out echoes of darkness;
moving to the pagan sound.
Somewhere in a hidden memory
images float before my eyes
of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires,
dancing till the next sunrise.
Chorus:
I can see the lights in the distance
trembling in the dark cloak of night.
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing
a waltz on all souls night.
Figures of cornstalks bend in the shadows
held up tall as the flames leap high.
The Green Knight holds the holly bush
to mark where the old year passes by.
Chorus
Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides.
Figures dance around and around
to drums that pulse out echoes of darkness;
moving to the pagan sound.
Standing on the bridge that crosses
the river that goes out to the sea.
The wind is full of a thousand voices;
they pass by the bridge and me.
Chorus
Chorus again
Figures dance around and around
to drums that pulse out echoes of darkness;
moving to the pagan sound.
images float before my eyes
of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires,
dancing till the next sunrise.
I can see the lights in the distance
trembling in the dark cloak of night.
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing
a waltz on all souls night.
held up tall as the flames leap high.
The Green Knight holds the holly bush
to mark where the old year passes by.
Figures dance around and around
to drums that pulse out echoes of darkness;
moving to the pagan sound.
the river that goes out to the sea.
The wind is full of a thousand voices;
they pass by the bridge and me.
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Such a lovely song. I love the tune. Certainly sounds pagan :) or just Hindi-ish, but that's great too.
Such a lovely song. I love the tune. Certainly sounds pagan :) or just Hindi-ish, but that's great too.
The song's imagery is closer to Halloween's origin than that usually associated with All Soul's Day, Christianity's day for remembering and praying for the dead, usually on November 2.
Halloween originated as an ancient harvest celebration centered around the bonfire and remembrance of the dead -all included in this beautiful song. It was thought to be the transition from the 'summer' half of the year when life is above ground to the 'winter' or dark half of the year when life is beneath ground. It is when the dead pass from this world -the final lines in the song.
'The Green Knight holds the holly bush' is from the Arthurian legends. The knight is thought to refer to the green man, a pagan symbol of nature.
The album begins and ends with songs about death.
The imagery is clearly Pagan, most likely referring to Samhain, the ancient harvest festival of the Celts. Samhain began at sunset on October thirty-first, and lasted till sunset on November first. The third and final harvest of the year was completed at this time, and the light half of the year faded into the dark half. It was also a time to honor the dead, especially anyone who had died in the past year, and it was believed that the veil between the realms of the living and the dead was thinnest on this night, allowing for souls of the deceased to visit living relatives.
The Green Knight, also known as the Green Man, is a Pagan symbol of nature, and the holly bush probably resembles the death of the light, as the Holly King will be slain by his brother, the Oak King, at Yule. The Oak King will reign over the dark part of the year until the Holly King returns to defeat him and reclaim the bright part.
@devilslittlesister You actually have that backward, the Holly King rules from midsummer (Litha, summer solstice) to Yule (winter solstice). The Holly King represents the waning part of the year. When the sun gets weaker and the days get shorter. The Oak King defeats him at Winter Solstice and rules the waxing half of the year. The sun gets stronger and the days grow longer.
@devilslittlesister You actually have that backward, the Holly King rules from midsummer (Litha, summer solstice) to Yule (winter solstice). The Holly King represents the waning part of the year. When the sun gets weaker and the days get shorter. The Oak King defeats him at Winter Solstice and rules the waxing half of the year. The sun gets stronger and the days grow longer.