8 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Thousand Years of Oppression Lyrics
He hung on the windswept world tree
Whose roots no one knows
For nine whole days he hung there pierced
By Gugnir, his spear
Swimming in pain he peered into the depths
And cried out in agony
Reaching out he grasped the runes
Before falling back from the abyss
He gave himself unto himself
In a world of shearing pain
Go that we all may live our lives
By the wisdom that he gained
You doubted him, and spread their lies
Across the world, with sword in hand
You raped our souls, and stole our right
All for the words of mild-mannered man
You listened to mild-mannered god
And put your faith in deceitful words
Your powertrip was paid by blood
In kindness' name you spilled our blood
I refuse to submit
To the god you say is kind
I know what's right, and it is time
It's time to fight, and free our minds
Let me die without fear
As I have lived without it
So shut your mouth and spare my ears
I'm fed up with all your bullshit
After a thousand years of oppression
Let the berserks rise again
Let the world hear these words once more
"Save us, oh lord, from the wrath of the Norsemen"
Our sprits were forged in snow and ice
To bend like steel forged over fire
We were not made to bend like reed
Or turn the other cheek
He grasped the runes, they're ours to use
Whose roots no one knows
For nine whole days he hung there pierced
By Gugnir, his spear
And cried out in agony
Reaching out he grasped the runes
Before falling back from the abyss
In a world of shearing pain
Go that we all may live our lives
By the wisdom that he gained
Across the world, with sword in hand
You raped our souls, and stole our right
All for the words of mild-mannered man
And put your faith in deceitful words
Your powertrip was paid by blood
In kindness' name you spilled our blood
To the god you say is kind
I know what's right, and it is time
It's time to fight, and free our minds
As I have lived without it
So shut your mouth and spare my ears
I'm fed up with all your bullshit
Let the berserks rise again
Let the world hear these words once more
"Save us, oh lord, from the wrath of the Norsemen"
To bend like steel forged over fire
We were not made to bend like reed
Or turn the other cheek
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
1000 years of oppression refers to the approximate length of time that Northern Europe has been under the influence of Christianity, which largely superseded the existing Pagan beliefs.
The first three versus are describing how Odin (the chief god of the Germanic peoples) hung Yggdrasil (the world tree) by his spear in order to learn the wisdom of the 9 worlds (the runes).
The next two versus deal with the spread of Christianity into Scandinavia, often forcibly, torturing and killing Pagans and such. The "mild-mannered god" refers to the Christian god, obviously. The rest of the track is even more self-explanatory, just a further rebuttal of Christianity basically. "Berserks" probably referrers to the berserkers - Norse warriors that fought in a frenzy. "We were not made to bend like reed... Or turn the other cheek" highlights the contrast in the two belief systems.
because no one could figure that out, it's SUCH uncommon knowledge
because no one could figure that out, it's SUCH uncommon knowledge
this song gives me fucking goosebumps
the best fucking song.
i agree with blutcoupdegrace, this is a fuckin kick ass song. the beat, drums and guitars are killer. im not sure who he is referring to though, which makes me sound kind of patheic though. i am gonna try to look it up, but if ya'll find out, please let me know. to me this song is about the man who was hung for nine days and is out getting his rightful revenge.
nevermind, i figured it out. dumb move to post before i did my research
If you find out the meaning, please post it instead of just commenting on a (great) song.
Im not exactly sure of what is being reffered to here, but Im pretty sure it is in refference to Odin (Woden) hanging on the tree as part of old Norse mythology. The thousand years of oppression part (You listened to mild-mannered god And put your faith in deceitful words Your powertrip was paid by blood In kidness' name you spilled our blood, etc.) is,i believe, in refference to Christianity and how it dominated the religion of the Norse peoples. Also how many wars are waged in the name of a supposedly peaceful god.
demoskratia is pretty much right. the Catholic Church obliterated all that stood in their way and the vikings were amoung thoes that stood in their way. some norse people still very much resent the christians for this
when they played this song live, it was just truly a beautiful moment. i was 100% bliss.