Dark Waltz

I had the odd feeling this song was about death? I may be completly off though. "We are the lucky ones" as if they have survived something or are proud to be alive. "Dance me into the night Underneath the full moon shining so bright Turning me into the light" As if she is taking about the way she wants it to be when she finally has to die. "Turning me into the light" Some people say the dying see a bright white light when they die.

"Time dancers whirling past I gaze through the looking glass And feel just beyond my grasp is heaven" Time - Age. She mentions heaven which is pretty literal I guess. "Sacred geometry Where movement is poetry Visions of you and me forever" Not forgetting that special someone when they/you die. "Let the dark waltz begin" Accepting death. Dark - melencholy.

Ok, So thats how I enterperated the song - like I said I may be wrong but its a guess :) Lovely song.

I'd like to offer my interpretation:

The song identifies "We are the lucky ones..." as not just being independent and alive, but able to find one another and completely fall in love "...as our colors run together."

and this discovered personal happiness makes for commitment, "I'll keep you company... "

"Time dancers whirling..." hints she feels the fleeting moments of these limited intimate encounters

and nothing competes - heaven is only made more conceivable by her heavenly contentment here on earth with him.

"Sacred geometry where movement is..." expresses her physical fulfillment in the arms of her lover.

"Dance me into the..." describes the beautiful and emotional transformation that she experiences with him.

But then, why the title, "The Dark Waltz?" It makes sense if you assume something else is at play. Could she be the other woman, or is she a Hatfield and he's a McCoy, or is she a Muslim and he a Westerner, or they are in some other similar predicament? Then things start making more sense. It is a clandestine and dark waltz (engagement) because certain facts that are an intricate part of their lives preclude disclosure of their love. Yet, in spite of what is wrong, she proclaims that "We are the lucky ones," because of what has happened between them. Obviously, love between two individuals does not cure all outside ills so the untenable dark side looms in the form of the institution of marriage, family feud, religious dogma, or whatever it is that is considered beyond resolution.

Haley Westenra beautifully and clearly sings these lyrics in a manner that I noted as hauntingly seductive and as perhaps an apt description of this not so uncommon relationship dilemma.

No comments geez this is a fabulous song that makes me shiver when i hear it

This is a darkly beautiful song. It makes you want to close your eyes and imagine.

Hayley westenra rocks. Period. Song is hauntingly beautiful. Makes me wish i could waltz in a forest while listening to this.

Actually, I'm always thinking that this song is more about vampires than anything else when I hear it. Makes me think of a Castlevania movie or the like.

"We are the lucky ones We shine like a thousand suns When all the colors run together"

Kind of hints at the whole immortality mind set. Also, it brings the idea of seduction through imagery.

"I'll keep you company In one glorious harmony Waltzing with destiny forever"

Again, this brings to mind the idea of seduction and immortality, as if things are never going to end.

"Dance me into the night Underneath the full moon shining so bright Turning me into the light"

More than anything, this is what makes me think of a vampiristic nature in the song. The notion of dancing in the night underneath a full moon is the biggest reasoning for my thoughts when hearing the song. The full moon not only signifies the idea that the "Dark Waltz" is something attractive, but oddly sinister as well.

"Time dances whirling past I gaze through the looking glass And feel just beyond my grasp is heaven"

Another part of the song which makes me heavily lean towards a vampiristic nature in the song. The never ending passing of time and the inability, no matter how hard you try, to reach Heaven suggests an undead state.

"Sacred geometry Where movement is poetry Visions of you and me forever"

This is more a reference to the movements of the dance, but the latter part hints once again at immortality or a never ending state.

"Dance me into the night Underneath the full moon shining so bright Let the dark waltz begin Oh let me wheel - let me spin Let it take me again Turning me into the light"

All in all, I believe the song to lean at something sinister yet attractive at the same time. I'm not into the whole "vampire scene", whatever it is called, but that is the vision I get when I listen to the song.

I think of a person's love who has been turned into a vampire, without their knowledge, and they stumble upon them in a ballroom. Not knowing what has happened, the person embraces their love, who begins to sing this song seductively, almost as a hint, and they begin to dance. At the end, they are both now vampires.

The lyrics remind me strongly me of the black and white circa 1950 horror movie, "Carnival of Souls." In this movie, Candice Hillgloss and two of her friends drag race with a car of young men, only to plunge into a moonlit river. Candice alone emerges from the river, not dead, yet not fully alive. On a road trip the next night to take her first job as church organist, a ghoulish male figure begins to haunt her. Eventually, the figure lures her to a mesmerizing merry-go-round in a long defunct theme park. The merry-go-round becomes alive with ghoulish revelers. Ultimately, she joins the revelers in a whirling waltz with the male ghoul, dying, and leaving only her footprints behind.

This one has always struck me as a very 'Phantom of the Opera' reminiscent piece -- oddly, with shades of 'Alice in Wonderland' thrown in, given 'I gaze through the looking glass', (though, it could simply be the feel of Victoriana).

The narrator is opening herself up to what is most definitely a seduction with a darker undercurrent. Hades and Persephone, in a sense.

Hauntingly beautiful.

DARK WALTZ [I think the title of the song can be translated as: "A romantic dance of life with the one I love".

• We are the lucky ones [They are lucky because they will change after death and be able to love one another more purely (heaven or w/e)]
• We shine like a thousand suns [great spiritual love]
• When all of the color runs together [The colors of the rainbow make up a beam of light - physics 101. She is saying that when her hope is fulfilled she will experience a great love (after death).]

[Basically when they die they will feel a love that surpasses the love they have now - she is dreaming of the afterlife together with a guy she likes]

2.

• I'll keep you company [She is imagining being with the one she loves after death. He will not be lonely because she will be there to keep him company.]
• In one glorious harmony [beauty, love and peace after death]
• Waltzing with destiny forever [immortality - being together with her loved one for eternity]

[She is basically envisioning the afterlife with the one she is in love with still]

3.

• Dance me into the night [physical world, she doesn't want to be left alone and is asking him to be with her in this life on Earth]
• Underneath the moon shining so bright [moon might represent the love of this world - she loves him basically, but it's a dim love compared to what awaits them after death. Also a very romantic and idealized love]
• Turning me into the light [Death (the turn) brings a great spiritual love for her. The dance of life will end in death basically and that will lead to the light]

[She is in the earthly world now. The first two verses were only dreams. Now she wishes to perform the "dark waltz of life" with the one she loves. She is asking him whether he will accept her as his "dancing partner" (lover). Either that, or she is talking to herself and is not courageous enough to confess to him.]

4.

• Time dancers whirling past [ as opposed to timeless dancers => life is short on earth]
• I gaze through the looking glass [looking glass - an abstract or unusual way of thinking - she is being a philosopher now and she is probably fantasizing in a dreamy sort of way]
• And feel just beyond my grasp is heaven [She is stuck in the physical world. Heaven is so near, yet so far from her. She believes that death will release her from the darkness of the night. She is probably saying something like: "Should I commit suicide? No. I'll wait for my lover to rescue me" or something to that effect.]

[She is envisioning her death now as well as her romance with the one she loves.]

5.

• Sacred geometry [Consciousness theories - This is basically the beautiful order of the universe, etc]
• Where movement is poetry [The structure of life is full of beauty, hidden meanings and vibrant expressions just like poetry]
• Visions of you and me forever [She is now gaining spiritual insight through the beauty of the universe into the immortality that awaits her - she can live with the one she loves forever one day in perfect love and peace]

[She is taking comfort in nature because it seems to suggest that there really is an afterlife and that it must be wonderful.]

Chorus

6.

• Dance me into the night [She is asking him again to share his life with her]
• Underneath the full moon shining so bright [FULL moon => Her romantic feelings and love for him are growing (very passionate)]
• Let the dark waltz begin [Their earthly romance in fact hasn't even started yet even though she has been harping on about it for so long. Yes. I was also shocked. How long has she been singing about this guy and they haven't even started dancing yet! She has already been dreaming about her eternal love for him after death. She sounds depressed and possibly suicidal at this point so I doubt she is actually talking to this guy. Probably just sitting in a dark forest singing to herself like some emo maiden. Don't get me wrong. I love this song, else i wouldn't be writing about it, but you must admit that this girl needs to get off her butt and go confess already and then book herself into therapy.]

7.

• Oh let me wheel, let me spin [impatience, she wants him to be with her, she wants to be free of her body as well (physical) - she is wanting to die methinks. She can't decide. She's losing herself in her passion for death and love.]
• Let it take me again [it = love, romance and possibly death (she wishes to go back to her spiritual form and also she want to lose herself in her earthly passion - sort of the same thing according to her)]
• Turning me into the light [After the dance of life she will become a part of the pure love of the universe and will be able to love fully]

//There is a few spiritual enlightenment metaphors in this song. The song seems to dwell on the burdens of the physical world. The woman is feeling hope that through death she will find the pure love and peace that she seeks. She also wishes to experience the love and passion of this world with someone so that she does not succumb to loneliness possibly and she looks forward to the greater love she can share with this person after death. She seems to jump the gun though as she hasn't even confessed to him it seems (unless this song counts as a confession, but why should she say it so often unless he refused her and she is having a mental breakdown). Perhaps she is just a dreamer. Shame :)

I think this song is about denial and how lovely the world can be when you avoid the daylight. "We are the lucky ones... all our colors run together" implies to me the groupthink that happens in dysfunctional families and the false sense of connection and comradery. Throughout the whole song, there is little mention of why the waltz is 'dark' and why the melody is so sad. The whole thing escalates towards more longing to be "turning into the light" - a light far superior to daylight. Just like in Phantom this person is under the enchantment of denial whispering that the dark can be treated as "light" and fulfill the same purpose. The phrase "turning into the light" is emphasized more than once. There is only one stanza that hints at why the song is sad and dark - "Time dancers moving past, I look through the looking glass" and she finds heaven (or fulfillment) is out of reach. Alice's looking glass was a mirror (quite symbolically a dream). Dreams are the mirrors to the soul and when people are in denial they never really "look in the mirror" or address the truth about them and the dance they are dancing. I love that the song is sang sweetly and lovingly and yet has this undercurrent of sorrow. To me that is what it is to be in denial, unable to find truth and healing, yet dancing on as if everything were normal.

That's my take :)