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Better To Reign In Hell Lyrics
Heart in hand passed clasp of pain
In dark lowland that set bad blood in veins
Burning, like penal fires roused to strain
The jagged-toothed skyline braced with crosses
The golden dawn
Lay lost to mist where
Emboldened thorns
Made their bed with toppled stones
He closed His eyes
Sunken to dream there
Of crow-black skies
And a great white empty throne
Horror stalked the bilious fogs
That balked his visions
He licked the spittle from the cheeks of the wry
And drifted back to when His stung its target
The sneer of Michael on a glorious high
Of angel dust and Virtue by his side
Drowning in the past
That downfall seemed like yesterday
Though blurred moons passed
As enemies in high places laughed
Moved to mirrors cracked with heavy lines
He rose snowblind, through shifting sands of time
Erased the trace and taste of bitter wines
The grapes of wrath grew fat on the vine
She came to Him
A little whip of tantrums
Thrashed on velvet skins
That lines Her wishbone Henge
Her name was Sin
A warming spurt of mantras
Splashed on occult tongues
That whispered sweet revenge
For the shame of their crawl from grace
Cold and hollow as the grave
And for a rape and ruinous scourge
Spared for souls that shared God's worship
For now their throats coated notes with dirge
That poured from parapets to the pits below
Drowning in the past
A wretched scream like yesterday
Died at last
With the rising of the revenant dark
All sharpened claws and blunt discharge
"I shall bow no more to the dogs of the Lord
Tearing at my carcass heart
I shall fall to my knees only at the keyholes
Of Virtue slipping into bondage masks...
Freewill made me better to reign in hell"
And with new wings
Unfurled and spoken
He took to things
That would desecrate the world
The seduction of both woman and man
For a bastard masterplan
Drowning out the past
Fool Fates unwound cruel yesterdays
beneath the stars
That staggered from the blast
In dark lowland that set bad blood in veins
Burning, like penal fires roused to strain
The jagged-toothed skyline braced with crosses
Lay lost to mist where
Emboldened thorns
Made their bed with toppled stones
Sunken to dream there
Of crow-black skies
And a great white empty throne
Horror stalked the bilious fogs
That balked his visions
And drifted back to when His stung its target
The sneer of Michael on a glorious high
Of angel dust and Virtue by his side
That downfall seemed like yesterday
Though blurred moons passed
As enemies in high places laughed
He rose snowblind, through shifting sands of time
Erased the trace and taste of bitter wines
The grapes of wrath grew fat on the vine
A little whip of tantrums
Thrashed on velvet skins
That lines Her wishbone Henge
A warming spurt of mantras
Splashed on occult tongues
That whispered sweet revenge
Cold and hollow as the grave
Spared for souls that shared God's worship
For now their throats coated notes with dirge
That poured from parapets to the pits below
A wretched scream like yesterday
Died at last
With the rising of the revenant dark
Tearing at my carcass heart
I shall fall to my knees only at the keyholes
Of Virtue slipping into bondage masks...
Freewill made me better to reign in hell"
Unfurled and spoken
He took to things
That would desecrate the world
For a bastard masterplan
Fool Fates unwound cruel yesterdays
beneath the stars
That staggered from the blast
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I'm not totally sure about this, but it sounds to me like he is talking about some dude selling his soul to the devil.
The name of the song would certainly tie in with this, it is based on the phrase "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven", which is spoken by lucfer after he has been cast down from heaven in 'Paradise Lost' by John Milton.
I'm not totally sure, but to me, it sounds as though he is describing someone who is selling their soul to the devil.
The song title would certainly tie in with this, it is based on the phrase "Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven", which is spoken by lucfer after he is cast down from heaven in "Paradise Lost" by 'John Milton'. This makes sense, because the result of him selling his soul will be that he goes to hell.
weak...
lucifer is actually the bringer of light, not satan, this is an interesting song, but they could have gone a little more in depth with the ltrics, i think the song is missing something...
Lucifer and Satan are both names for the devil. Lucifer means "Morning star", Satan means "Conspirator" and Devil means "Slanderer", but in the bible (aswells as the dictionary) they are all used to refer to the same being.
The song makes more sense in the context of the other tracks on the album. Damnation and a Day, which this is from, "tells Satan's side of the sotry." The two songs before Better To Reign In Hell, "An Enemy Led The Tempest" and the orchestral song "Damned In ANy Language", which tell of the war in Heaven and Lucifer's downfall.
Better To Reign In Hell, then, picks up with Satan awaking in Hell. First coming to grips with his predicament, he rallies his fallen legions and they decide on a course of action - to corrupt the fledgling human race so that they, too, may be fallen in the eyes of God.
This song, imo, is just going through the course of satans rule in hell... Not being a satanist I know nothing about anything, but to me the songs talking about the war in hell, his loss in the war, being cast down to hell, him noticing theres noone to rule there, and then corrupting our human race. Its obvious that the songs based on satan. Pretty much what you guys have wrote. The end of the song is just stating that hes ruined us. Half the world no longer worships god, something we would be killed for back in the day, and everyone is sinning. Just my opinion
talking about the war in heaven** sorry
selrach has it right. this song is lucifer's decision and realization of his situation at hand after he was banished, by Michael. out of heaven.
following the coarse off the album, this song would be about satan accepting his damnation. in the instrumental piece before this song the naration discribes the devil being cast out, sothis is prob a follow up of that.