Cadence of Her Last Breath

I think that the true interpertation of this songs lies between the "Love" and "Killer" version... A girl of amazing beauty has a relationship with a loyal boy that would die for her but she craves for adventure so she leaves the boy to follow an attractive and mysterious stranger who is a poet. She dresses up well and gets ready to meet him in his house for a romantic dinner. However he is serial killer that wants her to be his muse and thinks that her death by poison to preserve her beauty "drink for beauty" will "fill his blank page" that is inspire him to write his best poem. However she manages to escape "running for her life" and crying "the dark rain from her eyes still falls". She is beautifull but chose the dangerous stranger rather then the boy that loves her " Breathtaking butterfly chose a dark day to leave". The song has som verses with multiple meanings. "Why do i miss someone I've never met" refers to the boy and the girl. Now she is in deathly danger she undersatnds that the boy was her true love while the boy believes she was mysterious and didn't really opened herself to him. "Seawinds brought her to me A butterfly, mere one-day miracle of life And all the poetry in the world Finally makes sense to me" These lines are both for the boy and the killer. The whole story takes place on an island and she must have be born somewhere else and moved there that's way seawinds brought her there. They both need her, the killer and the boy, the boy cause he loves her desperately though she left him and the killer to inspire him to write. "Save one breth for me" This refers only to the boy. He followed the girl and sees her running and the poet chasing her and he wants to live to protect her that's why the chorus in the second verse says "Run away x4" cause he stays to fight the killer so that she can escape. "Save one death for me" This is when she left him. He thought life was meaningless and wanted to die without her by his side. "Sometimes a dream turns into a dream" the most controversial part of the song. The girl dreamt the attractive stranger but he was a killer and she found out she truly wanted the boy. The killer dreamt his breathtaking muse but she is running away and he has to face her boyfriend. The boy dreamt the girl to love him but now he is protecting her without knowing if she truly wants him. Nobody is content at this part of the song and we don't know who will win and if the girl will be saved. "A Loner longing for The cadence of her last breath" Ok this one is pretty clear the loner is both the boy and the killer but the killer wants her dead while the bopy wants her alive and happy. This song is about love true and fake and how sometimes we are unable to see what we really want. The story of the song is pretty intense and I thin it could become a movie! :-) I love this song and I thank tha users for their comments that helped me make my interpetation as I read lots of them to reach a conclusion!!! I hope this one is helpful to the others! :-)

I think this song is about a man who finds a woman dying, and is unable to help her, no matter how much he wants to. "Running for her life The dark rain from her eyes still falls"

The girl is running from her killer, crying because she dousn't want to die.

"Breathtaking butterfly Chose a dark day to live"

Butterflys don't live very long, some species only live for about 1 day. There comparing the girl to a butterfly, saying that shes beutiful, but "chose a dark day to live", in other words, to be in this place where she's going to die/ get killed.

"Save one breath for me

A Loner longing for The cadence of her last breath"

I think it means that a boy found her dying, and knows he can't save her, so instead he'll just stay there with her, to comfort her while she dies.

"Why do I miss someone I never met, with bated breath I lay Seawinds brought her to me A butterfly, mere one-day miracle of life And all the poetry in the world Finally makes sense to me"

He dousn't know this girl, but he still misses her when she dies. Again hill stay with her, or lay with her with "bated breath", hoping that she won't dye, but knowing that she will. I don't know about the seawinds part, and i'm not sure if she even sayas that, to me it sounds like "Sirens brought her to me", in which case it would mean he was drawn to her, as if by magic. Then the butterfly thing again, he thinks shes extremely beutiful, but she won't live. He thinks he loves her, "All the poetry in the world finally makes sense to me"

"Save one death for me

A Loner longing for The cadence of her last breath"

He knows she's going to die, and he wants to be there when she dies, he wants to hear the "Cadence of her last breath"

"Put to rest all that`s not life Drink for beauty and fill my blank page"

She dies, putting to rest "all that's not life." I think the "Drink for beauty" part is metaphorical, he metaphorically drinks in her beauty, in other words, by being near her as she dies, he feels like he's captured some of her beauty, her essence, in himself, and uses it for poetry, "Fill my blank page"

"Sometimes a dream turns into a dream"

This line has many interpretations, i think it means that a dream for reality, a dream that's more of a wish, or the boy's wish that the girl will live, can turn into a dream, something completely impossible, or the girl's death. Hope that helps ;)

-Breathtaking butterfly chose a dark day to live -Put to rest all that's not life/Drink [for?] beauty and feel alive again

Butterflies in Dark Passion Play seem to represent a mate ("All your love is a lie/You one-night butterfly" - Whoever Brings the Night).

Actual lyrics:

Running for her life The dark rain from her eyes still falls Breathtaking butterfly Chose a dark day to live

Save one breath for me

A Loner longing for The cadence of her last breath

Why do I miss someone I never met, with bated breath I lay Seawinds brought her to me A butterfly, mere one-day miracle of life And all the poetry in the world Finally makes sense to me

Save one death for me

A Loner longing for The cadence of her last breath

Put to rest all that`s not life Drink for beauty and fill my blank page

Sometimes a dream turns into a dream

A Loner longing for The cadence of her last breath

I came up with another interpretation the other day. I was thinking about how a lot of their songs are really Tuomas's point of view - naturally, since he writes the lyrics - despite the fact that a woman is singing. When looking at it from his perspective, the song stops being about a suicide and turns into something like a homicide. It's more like he, the obsessor, becomes infatuated with this woman from a distance, and harbors some possible violent tendencies toward her; he is "the loner" who is "longing for the cadence of her last breath." Lot of support for this interpretation, like the "missing someone I never met" line, and the bit about her being brought on seawinds implies that the singer may not be talking about herself.

I don't know, I still feel suicidal vibes from this track, but this seems like a nifty alternative view.

Firstly, I'd like to address some of the lyrics above that I believe to be incorrect.

-The taking butterfly chose a dark day to live -Why do I miss someone I never met? Heart beating without me -Drink her beauty, feel her last breath -Sometimes a dream turns into a greed

Anyway, the song seems to reflect an obvious sentiment. By being "alone and longing for the cadence of her last breath" it sounds like a woman wanting to die. It sounds like maybe she isn't quite ready to stop living yet though. The butterfly references seem to reflect a desire for a great change, like she wants to realize some great truth: "A butterfly may one day, miracle of life, and all the poetry in the world finally makes sense to me." She's also asking for someone to save one breath/death for her, like maybe she can't decide which she wants more, to live or die. It could be, too, that someone or something in particular that is stopping her. She asks why she misses someone she never met. Also, the line, "Sometimes a dream turns into a greed" may mean someone is trying to help her and she's being selfish by wanting to take her own life. That's what I feel when I hear this song anyway.

I agree with Krissychan...you explained that very good...and...i think that the most of the songs on new album are about tarja...so this may be about tarja too...=)

I think when she says that she misses someone she never met, she is talking about that if she decides to kill herself or spend each day waiting for death then she'll miss out on meeting someone that may help her through her depression - to me it shows that she feels as though there is nothing more to her life but is still hopeful that something will refresh it.

I think this song is also about seeing the beauty in someone who maybe cant see it in themselves. To her, she is ugly. but to him she is beautiful. I think this is written from tuomas's persective. The first verse and the chorus he is writing about her (3rd person) and her beauty (breathtaking butterfly) but also her problems. Then in the second verse he is writing about himself(1st person). How he longs for her. He has never met her, but knows she's out there somewhere "Why do I miss someone I never met" "Seawinds brought her to me."

The Chorus: A cadence is a music term. It is basically a series of notes that end off a song. If you think of life as a play or a poem/song like tuomas does in his other songs, this will make sense. The cadence ending off the song, and the cadence of her last breath ending off her life.

Also with the line "Save one death for me," tuomas writes about wanting to die a specific way. He doesnt want to just die, he wants to be able to choose how he dies. in the poet & the pendulum he says "I just wish the tide would catch me first and give me a death I always longed for". he wants a beautiful death.

i totally agree with krissychan on the homicide theory. but i think that what he wants is to die with her. so its suicide from him and homicide for her. just think about the first verse "running for her life"!! if she wanted suicide, why would she do that? I think that hes a "loner" poet in lack of inspiration, of beauty nd he thinks their death could save him and fill his pages.