This song is timeless, and nearly 20 years after its creation, still possesses the mystique it did the first time i heard it ~1994. To me, at first blush, all those years ago, it had some kind of homo-erotic allure. The line "so that the others may do" tells of something which must be done for others to follow suit. It felt like like some kind of roxy-glam-pop invitation to sexual liberation.
Upon further introspection I think the song may not have an intrinsic meaning, but simply represents a sort of "holding open the door" for people who otherwise might be affronted by this song/band's unusual style. I know, as a sort of armchair rock-historian, that there have been few bands so daring and so true to the sound that wanted to emerge from within, whether the creator wanted it or not. This band handled it with elegance and grace seldom, if ever, seen.
En)chained to a shadow of the past
He walks the path of life
Following the same quest, like a ghost
Silly lover, silly romance, how pathetic!
Constant, permanent, disenchantment
She will be called Moonskin
And she will have the beauty of the marble
Hair dancing like flames
Around her snow-white shape
(En)chained to the Venus spell
He left the reason behind
Defiling the garden
Forcing the passage
Going to the bottom
To steal the end
To shake, to shake death’s hand
Once again illusion fades away, once again he’s falling
As the milky stream of life goes dying
She was called Moonskin
Now she’s no more but a round bright sphere
In his night
Floating in a timeless place
(En)chained to a shadow of the past
He walks the path of life
Carrying that old story like a cross
On which he will, on which he may
Nail another star . . .
He walks the path of life
Following the same quest, like a ghost
Silly lover, silly romance, how pathetic!
Constant, permanent, disenchantment
She will be called Moonskin
And she will have the beauty of the marble
Hair dancing like flames
Around her snow-white shape
(En)chained to the Venus spell
He left the reason behind
Defiling the garden
Forcing the passage
Going to the bottom
To steal the end
To shake, to shake death’s hand
Once again illusion fades away, once again he’s falling
As the milky stream of life goes dying
She was called Moonskin
Now she’s no more but a round bright sphere
In his night
Floating in a timeless place
(En)chained to a shadow of the past
He walks the path of life
Carrying that old story like a cross
On which he will, on which he may
Nail another star . . .
Lyrics submitted by sean
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