Wildfire

the speaking part is a really interesting addition to this song.. and the other singer and opera type part is really a novelty in sonata arctica's music, cause it's usually just him singing. beautiful song.

I may be wrong, but I think this song is about a man who is always blamed for everything that happens at the town. He never puts up a fight, therefore losing his pride. Eventually it all builds up, and so he burns down the town. However in his madness he killed his family, so he then runs away into the mountains (or perhaps it was a mountain town??) And yea, suicide? perhaps? I don't know, I'm probably wrong btu that's what I got from it

Sounds reasonable to me, cap'n. I got the burning down a town then running away part. Anyway great song with a great solo and, um, great lyrics. The talking/manic laughter at the beginning adds the general coolness.

i think this song is more about.. a level of government who is highly unfair. and, this guy taking it into his own hands, by blowing up the government? or something like that. "I hereby declare a martial law And you all, we all are forced to obey... hey!"

Amazing song. One of my favorites from Sonata Arctica. It's about this guy who has a son who has committed crimes ("The father ain't always like the son") and so people in the town blame him for random crimes. And so he burns the town down, and then flees. Or something like that.

Love the beginning. It's pretty cool. Kinda reminded me of Gollum from Lord of the Rings, like he's speaking to himself. Well, the evil part of himself. Maybe that's what the song is about. A guy whose "evil side" is making him to horrible things that he doesn't think he did. But I doubt it. Just maybe.

Anyway, this is an AMAZING song.

in my opinion, this song isnt to be taken literally, but i get that the person bottles up his anger for too long and he either did, or imagined that he blew up at someone, maybe even killed someone in his anger built up over a long period of time. in a way it kind of reminds me of a school shootig and i dont know why. "i hereby declare a martial law" he is saying that theyre lives are in his hands and he has control over them. the "animal" in the spoken part is his fire. he took all kinds of abuse and blame for things he never done. he then blames it on them "when the anger within Builds up for too long... Takes us over... And we all are forced to obey" he says that he wont stop "'Til the rules are the same for us all" or that they 'know his pain' "Bells toll all over town, burn, burn until it's all gone Game over, what was a bad joke is now a reality show..." yay cool lines! and i think the line "With years of abuse" helps reinforce my points, i could be wrong but thats my take on it. it doesnt help that i just finished a book with a school shooting in it, good book "every fear" by rick mofina. i digress anyways go to this site cause its a great idea www.lost.eu/cc00 lat0r!

I think it's about a man, probably a son of a thief or a murderer, who is trying to prove that he is not like his father. Ultimately failing and indeed becoming like him, by burning his home town and then escaping to the mountains

I generally agree with every comment that talks of how this person was always getting blamed for everything that went wrong (he was the towns Scapegoat). He finally had enough and blew up basically. He didnt deserve to be blamed constantly but he blames everyone in the end : "And every man gets what no man deserves"

i'd also like to ask if this song is suppossed to be followed by "White Pearl, Black Ocean" because of the ocean sound at the very end. It would be a good contrast (one person is blamed by everyone in wildfire, One person blames themself in ocean)

Most of the things about this song that I've thought of have been discussed pretty thoroughly... I have a couple of things to add however.

I agree with jason65 in that the song shouldn't necessarily be taken so literally... the symbolism is laid on pretty thick.

I think that it's pretty significant that the town is up on a mountain. When I think of a mountain, I think of something up high. Being up high can be associated with being overly self-righteous-- using the narrator as a scapegoat.

On that note... I thought of the "Our beloved kin..." etc. verses could possibly be referencing some sort of lower class (or race) that is oppressed by a ruling class.

evilMoW: Yes, the song following this one on the Reckoning Night album is White Pearl, Black Ocean.

I may be way off, but then again, this is power metal. I think that it's about the end of Lord of the Rings, when whats-his-face is back with saruman to take over the shire (book, not movie) But then again, I'm probably full of shit.