Agalloch – Not Unlike the Waves

General CommentAmazonis nailed what I was thinking. Here's an alternative interpretation: perhaps this is in relation to the fact that places like Norway (yes I know these guys are from Oregon) have periods in their winter where the sun does not rise at all due to their placement of the Earth. The scream of "Solstafir!!!" could actually be a yearning for the Sun to come back, though it does not despite this wish.

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  @Aniland

General CommentNot an explanation of what the song means, but to clear up a few of the references:
Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn;
Sol is the Norse goddess of the sun;
Heidrun is a goat in Norse mythology who makes mead; and
Solstafir is the Icelandir word for radiating rays of sunlight (crepuscular rays)

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  @Delirium

General Commentlyrics are also missing a line:

Heidrun bleeds the golden nectar for the rising sun and the moon
The midnight wolves who watch over the dawn, the golden dawn
Solstafir!

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  @uuuuuuuu

General CommentThe only problem with the rising of the sun interpretation is the incredibly cold and beak music video... Although I guess the "rising of the sun" could be more symbolic of a return to living with nature, in all of its cold, dark and somber glory. The problem with the lyrics is that they don't directly relate to the feel of the music as well as they do throughout the rest of the album. For example, whereas Limbs conjures up images of cold, temperate forests, as in accordance with the lyrics ("It's hymn resonates from tree to tree, through every sullen bough it sings"), the last thing I think about when I listen to this song is the rising of the sun. Still fucking awesome though.

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  @Amazonis

General CommentThis song produces such a beautiful atmosphere.

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  @Aniland

General CommentI agree it does produce a beautiful aymosphere. I have NO idea what this song is about but I really like those lyrics. They're so vague.

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  @AnotherBrick

General CommentQuite obviously about the aurora borealis, i.e. northern lights.

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  @uuuuuuuu

General CommentI first thought it was talking about the aurora borealis aswell, but I think this song is simply about sunrise, especially after reading Delirium's list of references. It says in this line that the title is referring to sunrays:

Amber streams from Sol
are not unlike the waves of the sea

I feel this song is a collection of mythological figures and ideas that all tie in to the subject of the rising of the sun - dawn.

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  @catsquared

General CommentFor me this song is all about The Universe. Comparing the sunrise, oceans and plains of ice in such poetic language makes me feel great awe and by saying that they are "not unlike" each other they are saying that they are fundamentally the same and are merely facets of a greater whole which is The Universe.

I'm sure what the lines "Heidrun bleeds the golden nectar for the rising sun and the moon
The midnight wolves who watch over the dawn, the golden dawn" are about. Perhaps it's just a part of Norse mythology that the band finds particularly inspiring. Regardless it sits quite well in the song.

This song is deeply powerful and leaves me feeling insignificant within The Universe yet awed and inspired that I am part of such a thing.

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  @skogenshamnd

General CommentThe song is full of beautiful imagery and mythological references. The names of various deities seem to be used in the stead of a common noun, such as Aurora, or Sol, in place of "the sun".

I believe if taken at face value the song literally describes a sunrise, and/or sunset. "emerald fire scars the night sky " - The sun creeping over the horizon, its rays piercing the surrounding dark... etc.

But in a deeper way, using the gods in the place of other language, it suggests that the old gods do in fact exist, not necessarily in a literal, incarnate sense... but in those rays of light, in the very beauty of the simple, natural progression of the sunrise. So hence you have the more upbeat "feeling" of the song, it's not a sombre reflection of nature or the wilderness, it's more of a celebration of the divine existing in a larger sense all around us.

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  @sieda666