The Twisted Nails of Faith

Cradle of Filth

"Mirror, mirror on the wall
Shouldst not grave pleasures be my all?
For if I shall see thy Will be done
Grant Me the Witchcraft of thy tongue"

Three moondials froze in the shadow of six
As another soul passed to the grasping Styx
Clutching their trinket crucifix
Bats blew from caves in a dissonant surge
Omens of corruption from within the church
A fetid, dank oasis still clung to fool rebirth

Alone as a stone cold altar
The castle and its keep
Like faerytale dominion rose
A widow to the snow peaks
Wherein reclined the Countess
Limbs purring from the kill
Bathed in virgin white and like the night
Alive and young and unfulfilled

Was it the cry of a wolf
That broke the silver thread of enchanted thoughts?
Of Her life as a mere reflection
(As the moon's in narrow windows caught)
That opened like dark eyelids on
The sigh of the woods that the wind fell upon

Like a Siren weaving song
From the lilt of choirs choking
Where the vengeful dead
Belong...

To the Sorceress and Her charnel arts
She swept from ebon towers at the hour of Mars
'Neath a star-inwoven sky latticed by scars
To unbind knotted reins that kept in canter, despair
Shod on melancholy, fleet to sanctuary there,
In netherglades tethered where onyx idols stared

Was it the Kiss of the mist
That peopled the air with the prowess of absinthe?
Lost souls begging resurrection
From Gods upon their forest plinths
Whose epitaphs read of re-ascending to win
Remission from despair through a holocaust of sin

In a tongue hilted in invective rectums
Over signs and seals the sorceress prayed
To Death, to rend the slender veil
That Ancient Ones might rise again

As shadows swelled
The Countess fell
To masturbating with Her dagger
As the Witch gabbled spells
Cumming heavy roses all the way to Hell
As sudden thunder's grue harangue
Announced two pincered worlds

Exuding bane, something came
With the stench of necrophiled graves
To these clandestines
Who shrank from glimpsing horror
That the growls of mating houls inclined...

Resplendent
In pendants
(Natal trophies torn from bellies of desanctified nuns)
A demons, bewinged, bedight
In scum, prowled their circle seeking entry to run
An arctic tongue upon Her vulva
Where rubies smeared to alabaster thighs
Glittered like a contract in the purse of a whore
Receiving sole communion from the body of christ

"If blood is what thou carves, foul fiend
I will yield this witch to thee
If thou wouldst draw a veil for Me
O'er lengthening scars of age and grief"

As the Demon slavered foetid vows
And bore His prey away
In talons itching to perpetrate
The nausea of eternal rape
The Sorceress screaming in His grasp
Spat a final curse to stain
The Countess with the promise
That Her lord at war would be cruelly slain

And She would rot.
Alone
Insane.
On the twisted nails of faith.


Lyrics submitted by sean, edited by jaughn1150

The Twisted Nails of Faith Lyrics as written by Gianpiero Guiseppe Piras Dani Davey

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing

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The Twisted Nails of Faith song meanings
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10 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment
    Yeah, sure. This song starts off with a general lamentation of the horrible condition of the world. It goes into depicting Elizabeth Bathory with "limbs purring from the kill", which is fitting as it is the song that follows the slaughter fest "Desire in Violent Overture", and is as if she is resting from the activities described in that song. Something snaps her from her lethargic state, (was it the cry of the wolf? haha) and she seeks out the Sorceress. They begin some sort of Satanic ritual that involves raising the dead by reading ancient chants. This seance spins into chaos, and they succeed in bringing the dead back to life: a demon has entered the room. It seems like he is about to rape Elizabeth, but she offers the Sorceress to him, under one condition: he gives her eternal life. The demon agrees, and the Witch curses Elizabeth as she is dragged away. This song is at the point where Elizabeth's sin starts having adverse effects on her life: her vanity is so intense that her friend (the Sorceress) is killed because of it. I believe that this whole concept album is a moral tale, in part, about the dangers of embracing one's lustful or wild side. This is very interesting, coming from Dani who has written about indulgent, sometimes Satanic rituals and/or lifestyles in many of his songs. It could be taken as a caution about how far we embrace our appetites, coming from someone who knows. Best line on the whole album: "As the Demon slavered foetid vows And bore His prey away In talons itching to perpetrate The nausea of eternal rape The Sorceress screaming in His grasp Spat a final curse to stain The Countess with the promise That Her lord at war would be cruelly slain"
    fadetoflasheson January 12, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    can any one write the meaning of this sing please?
    Lunastaron December 31, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    This whole album is definitely a moral tale... It shows how some things can cosume you, like vanity, and gives caution to anyone willing to give in and be indulgent. Kind of also shows that once you become this indulgent, the effects can be dangerous and impossible to reverse.
    mrsdanifilth73on May 21, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    i'm not really a huge cradle of filth fan, and dani has written some god awful lyrics, but his work on this song and this album is simply amazing. i don't believe that dani always writes about what he believes, but rather re-tells stories in his own perspective (ie. damnation and a day from Paradise Lost) i think this song and entire album is an example
    Corpse_Grindon January 04, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    i think that the sourceres cursed erzebet because she sort of pushed the sourceres to the demon so then she was all like "bitch, im going to curse you now"
    down right fuckedon January 04, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    This song is so bloody awesome. one of my favourite song by CoF. I think it's about how an evil women does immoral conjuring to be beautiful and powerful but in the end is busted and executed
    River Wolfon February 01, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Fuck. this is awsome song, thats all i have to say since fadetoflashes already did a good job explaining it : )
    unholy_apparitionon May 06, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    This song's the shit.
    Brenster56on July 09, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I'm pretty sure this one is about bathory being crucified. For example the last line: "And she would rot alone insane on the twisted nails of faith" And the next song on the album (Bathory Aria) starts off with the line: "Snuffed tapers sighed As death left impressing His crest of cold tears on the Countess Benighted like ill fated usher The house of bathory shroud neath despairs dark facade" So it's clear shes dead, cuz death is impressing his crest of cold tears on her (wtf?). One of cradles best CD's, I love this song, and I LOVE the remake of Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" on the bonus disc.
    jyrki6969on July 15, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Should be "bats flew from eaves..." Not caves. Eaves being the part of the church where the roof extends past the walls.
    skywiseon February 19, 2019   Link

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