I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
From out of static time has grown
Existence formed by substance unknown
Prelude to matter, shift of disorder
Completion of bonds between chaos and order
The era of seasons, the essence of being
The continuous process awakens the living
Absorber of every flickering sun
Arranging the pieces to vivid perfection
The stream of mortality flows uncontrolled
A boundless downward spiral to prospective void
Existence takes its toll, extinction unfolds
The Colossus falls back from it´s treshold
The cosmic grip so tight. Heed the celestial call
The rise, the voyage, the fall- tangled womb of mortal soil
Universal key of inception, pulled out of the grind
The growing seed of creation and time
Complex fusion, the bond of four- the nature´s core
Universal ritual, aesthetic beauty adored
The pendulum upholds the carnal deceit
Eternal, endless, indefinite
The paradox, render and the merge is complete
Nothing but the process is infinite
Nothing but the process is infinite
Eternal, endless, indefinite
Existence formed by substance unknown
Prelude to matter, shift of disorder
Completion of bonds between chaos and order
The era of seasons, the essence of being
The continuous process awakens the living
Absorber of every flickering sun
Arranging the pieces to vivid perfection
The stream of mortality flows uncontrolled
A boundless downward spiral to prospective void
Existence takes its toll, extinction unfolds
The Colossus falls back from it´s treshold
The cosmic grip so tight. Heed the celestial call
The rise, the voyage, the fall- tangled womb of mortal soil
Universal key of inception, pulled out of the grind
The growing seed of creation and time
Complex fusion, the bond of four- the nature´s core
Universal ritual, aesthetic beauty adored
The pendulum upholds the carnal deceit
Eternal, endless, indefinite
The paradox, render and the merge is complete
Nothing but the process is infinite
Nothing but the process is infinite
Eternal, endless, indefinite
Lyrics submitted by sean
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Dreamwalker
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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I think the meaning is pretty clear. This person got really burned in a previous relationship, and because of this is unable to love and show care in his present one, even though he so badly wants to. It's lovely song, and very sad. You can really feel how defeated and frustrated he is with himself.
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Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
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This track is about is about questioning why the sky would choose to be blue if it had the choice to be anything else, “blue also meaning sad,” states frontman Aaron Pauley. “It's about comforting a loved one in a time of loss by telling them you feel blue, too.”
The lyric is obviously about the endless process of the universe, how things will die, nothing will last forever, and things will be reborn and changed by universe, nature and how beutiful and fantastic it is. When i read the lyric i kind of thing of the "colussus" as mankind, so small and pathetic, thinking they are som important, when it like everyting else will die and something new will appear instead.
Really awesome song - gives you a perspective on your own life.
It means that everything (and life) is infinite, and the cycle goes on and on and on. Like the dinosaurs, humans will go away and they will be replaced by other species.
And it goes on and on...
beautiful song
borknagar is great.
Kick ass soopah maen
3 posts and no meaning suggestions? Never mind, I don't get it either...
Borknagar still kick ass though =]
The song speaks for itself... Its the creation of earth,time,man.women,animals,air,water, and how its eternal at least thats what i get
since someone already posted what i was gonna say the song's about, i'll just say this is one of the best songs i've ever heard. the bagpipes are insta-boner.
Well there I happened to run into the explanation of the song, which goes like:
"Quintessence” was recorded in Abyss studio in Sweden, January 2000, and I remember sitting alone writing lyrics during daytime in the house we lived in there, while ICS Vortex was recording vocals on the other songs. I had absolutely no clue how the vocal melodies were but kept checking with Vortex if the text were too short or too long, and if I had written enough. The lyrics are about how the universe “starts” with the big bang, expands, then contracts into the big crunch, then starts all over again with the big bang… and it goes on forever (= Colossus)."
source: artisannorway.com/1134/the-lyrics-for-borknagars-colossus/