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The Lady Wore Black Lyrics

On a lonely walk this morning
A light mist in the air
Dark clouds laughing at me in silence
Casting shadows through my hair

In the distance I saw a woman
Dressed in black with eyes of grey
She wore her pain like a shackled spirit
Eternal life was her debt to pay

The lady wore black
It's the sign of the prisoners lives
The lady wore black
See the years through the tears in her eyes
The lady wore black
Her mystic power calls to me
The lady wore black
Her love can set me free

The wind song whispered a warning
Telling me to beware
Of the quiet shadowed woman
And of the sadness I would share

We sat together for sometime together in silence
Never speaking in words
Of all her thoughts she spoke with her eyes
And I listened remembering all I heard

The lady wore black
It's the sign of the prisoners lives
The lady wore black
See the years through the tears in her eyes
The lady wore black
Her mystic power calls to me
The lady wore black
Her love can set me free

The words she spoke were of forgotten lives
And of all knowledge gained
Mem'ries I had and didn't know why
With a smile she explained
I should have listened to the wind's cold warning
And walked the other way
I touched her soul and now I bear her sentence
But for her love I'll gladly pay

The lady wore black
It's the sign of the prisoners lives
The lady wore black
See the years through the tears in her eyes
The lady wore black
Her mystic power calls to me
The lady wore black
Her love can set me free
6 Meanings
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Its about a lady who wore black

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If we follow the logic that this album is in fact a concept album (hinted by the video for Queen of the Reich), then this song goes as follow:

it is about said Queen, after the rebels were successful in their attack and got rid of her. Probably this song takes place in the near future. An unnamed narrator meets said Queen, and tells of this encounter.

To support my argument, look at the following quotes: "Dressed in black with eyes of grey She wore her pain like a shackled spirit Eternal life was her debt to pay" -> the rebels couldn't kill her either by choice or by mistake, yet she can do no harm anymore (why? We don't know. It seems she has magic powers so maybe they got rid of them?). This line also makes it clear we are talking about a specific lady, thus it's no stretch to think she is the ex-Queen.

"The lady wore black It's the sign of the prisoners lives" -> in the very first song of the album, we are told she can snatch you away in the dead of the night. Being abducted by the Queen is in fact the major theme of said song.

"The lady wore black Her mystic power calls to me" -> she has magic powers (which I think are a part of the video for Queen of the Reich). Otherwise, it's a metaphor for a woman so intriguing and hypnotizing she might as well have cast a spell on our narrator.

"The wind song whispered a warning Telling me to beware Of the quiet shadowed woman And of the sadness I would share" -> she is still the evil tyrannical Queen, after all :)

"The words she spoke were of forgotten lives And of all knowledge gained Mem'ries I had and didn't know why" -> she is talking to him about the time when she was Queen. Since we are in the near future, our narrator or their direct parents' have lived in that dictatorship and they all remember vividly what it was like.

Finally, there are a few parts about love. I think this is a metaphor for a cunning woman - she tricked the narrator into listening to her, and possibly into loving her.

Reading even deeper, we could ask the question: did her actions in the past warrant a fate so cruel? A fate that has her wander eternally around the world without ever a chance of someone having pity, even ten thousand years from now? Thus, who is the real evil? The Queen, or the freedom fighters?

@Dereck But how does "Nightrider" fit into it?

I do like your take on it though.

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It could have several meanings including the fantasy aspect of "Queen of the Reich" but I think it is about a lost love that is forever in your mind that is haunting you but means no harm and brings back bittersweet memories.She is gone but not forgotten and "her love sets you free."

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whats this about?

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Ha Ha. Good one, antekman. It seems like some kind of dark love song or maybe it's about a one-night stand.

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This is almost certainly about a vampire. The black, the night, the eternal life, the warning that he should leave, him sharing her sentence... Yeah, vampire :)

A vampire who wore black, of course :)

@KickinFamily Could very well be, because Queensryche have said around this time, that they were into Anne Rice books. Interesting take.

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