Élan

The song is written in a richly poetic way. This means it's quite difficult to work out what the song could be saying, but also you can derive your own interpretation that varies.

This is mine:

Leave the sleep and let the springtime talk In tongues from the time before man. - Wake up, literally or metaphorically. Listen to Spring (hear or see Spring). The plants, animals and biological mechanics have existed before mankind existed. Listen to a daffodil tell her tale. - Study/examine a daffodil (flower). Let the guest in. Walk out. Be the first to greet the morn. - Be welcoming. Go outside. Be the first to see the morning/sunrise.

The meadows of heaven await harvest. - Bountiful meadows need to be harvested. (I don’t know if it’s a theological reference. I know they have written a song called “Meadows of Heaven”) The cliffs unjumped, cold waters untouched. The elsewhere creatures yet unseen. - Many natural awesomeness that have not been discovered. Finally your number came up, free fall awaits the brave. - You have an opportunity. It’s terrifying but exhilarating. Perhaps speaking of leaving what someone finds comfortable?

Come, Taste the wine, - Might be a biblical reference. Might mean “taste the wine of life”. Enjoy life (the positive and wholesome). Race the blind; - I assume it’s not being nasty. Race people who cannot see (metaphorically blind, not physically blind). They will guide you from the light; - The people who cannot see (metaphorically) will mislead you. Writing noughts till the end of time. - Infinity Come, Surf the clouds, Race the dark; It feeds from the runs undone. - Lots of metaphorical running/movement. Surf and race are exciting words. I think this is meant to be positive. If they wanted to convey just running, they’d use more boring words. Meet me where the cliff greets the sea. - Cliff are a natural wonder. “Meet me where the cliff greets the sea” positive words. Meeting and greeting are almost the same thing.

The answer to the riddle before your eyes, - An enigmatic question that is right in front of you, but you cannot see it. Is in dead leaves and fleeting skies, - Fleeting = lasts very short time. The sky keeps changing rapidly. Returning swans and sedulous mice, - Swans are a bird that are associated with beatuty, graces and elegance (as long as you don’t anger them. They can break your arm with their wings). Sedulous = showing dedication. My dictionary says it links with zealous. Mice are associated with being timid and careful (because almost everything wants to kill them). Writings on the gardens book, in the minute of a lover’s look. - The lyrics in the book says “gardens” and not “garden’s”. Meaning there’s a book about gardens. If they meant “garden’s”, there’s a book that belongs to a garden. Garden can mean an actual garden, or could mean our planet. Could even mean The Garden of Eden.

There’s a lot to make sense of in that verse. So: The answer to that question that is right in front of you, but cannot see is: In dead leaves (decay/entropy?) , rapidly changing skies, returning of grace, dedicated timid people, garden thing and love. So what is the question?

Building a sandcastle close to the shore, - Children build sandcastles. Be child like? Be innocent again? If you build too close to the sea, the sea will destroy it. The sandcastle is not permanent. A house of cards from a worn out deck. - Easier to build a deck of cards from worn cards. The cards have better friction. Also implies the cards are well used. They have a long life. Deck of cards are also not permanent. A home from the fellowship, poise and calm. - Poise = balanced/equilibrium. A home from the fellowship is balanced and calm. Interesting that there's a theme of home (caste, house, home). The first two are not stable, they will one day fall. Those are build by you. The last is in balance but is given to you. Write a lyric for the song only you can understand. - I don't know.

Riding hard every shooting star, - Experience every wonder to the fullest. Come to life, open mind, have a laugh at the orthodox. - Experience life. Soften your mind and heart. Feel gratitude that you’re not restricted by strict laws (having a laugh at someone is cruel Face with stuck-out tongue and winking eye). Come, drink deep, let the dam of mind seep. - The theme of drink again. Allow your heart and mind soften. Release hold on things like pride etc.. Travel with great Élan, dance a jig at the funeral. - Travel with much energy/enthusiasm. Be unconventional. Find joy and the blessing of someone’s life at their funeral.​

Summery: Talks about go enjoy experiencing nature. But there's also some Christian themes, such as:

Tasting the Wine (of the new covenant), finally your number came up (to follow Jesus), speaking of people who are blind (they are forever listening but not hearing), the blind people will mislead you, there's a question in front of your eyes whose answer is love and the return of grace, building a home by yourself won't last forever, a home granted is safe (salvation is not something you work for, it is a gift) , critiquing those who keep the old laws but lose sight of the purpose, soften your heart and mind.

(Sorry for wall of text. Thank you if you read it all)

I'd say this is just a song about enjoying the beauty of nature. It's written with so much love in it. You can really feel how Tuomas loves nature

I'm not a native English Speaker, but I'll try my best to interpret some words in my opinion by English. Regarding Race the Blind, when a man gets blind, there will be no distance between what he wants and himself because he doesn't see things and the distance through lights any more. So at this point the blind is the fastest man in this world, They travel through time by minds and thoughts so anyone cannot match them. "Free fall awaits the brave" - as what Elan means, "dash; impetuous ardor", just free yourself from all chains and go for a life full of adventure and ardor at least for a moment that a fall from cliff to sea takes.

BTW, the acoustic guitar is amazing at the end of this song. My English is bad..Don't know if you guys understand me..

Here is mine interpretation of the song. I based on a standard symbolism of the words used and learned a about it in the process. My interpretation indented:

Leave the sleep and let the springtime talk In tongues from the time before man Listen to a daffodil tell her tale Let the guest in, walk out, be the first to greet the morn Wake up from your life so far and let yourself start over. Listen to the language that predates men, and observe the cycle of life. Let the children run this world, don't hesitate to die and start a new life.

The meadows of heaven await harvest The cliffs unjumped, cold waters untouched The elsewhere creatures yet unseen Finally your number came up, freefall awaits the brave The life in the next world is rewarding, The next world has things to experience, and things to see, when it is your time to die. You will drop your restraints, but you need to be brave.

Come, taste the wine Raise the blind They will guide you from the light Writing noughts till the end of time Come, enjoy life, teach the people who refuse to see the true meaning of life. They would guide you away from good life, towards a dull way of living.

Come, surf the clouds Race the dark It feeds from the runs undone Meet me where the cliff greets the sea Come, live unconstrained, actively avoid dull life, Dull living is caused by lgiving up. Meet me at the end of your life in this world.

The answer to the riddle before your eyes Is in dead leaves and fleeting skies Returning swans and sedulous mice Writing's on the gardens book, in the minute of a lover's look The secret to the riddle of life is: the dying, capturing the good moments of life, observing repeating beauty, appreciation of dedication, your children that will be born, time spent with your loved one.

Building a sandcastle close to the shore A house of cards from a worn-out deck A home from the fellowship, poise and calm Write a lyric for the song only you can understand This life is less permanent than you think Your life is like countless lives before.

Come, taste the wine Raise the blind They will guide you from the light Writing noughts till the end of time

Come, surf the clouds Race the dark It feeds from the runs undone Meet me where the cliff greets the sea

Riding hard every shooting star Come to life, open mind, have a laugh at the orthodox Come, drink deep let the dam of mind seep Travel with great élan, dance a jig at the funeral, come! Live lucidly every opportunity in your life. Really start living, forget the old established ways and laugh at them. Taste the new way of living deeply and let the blocks in your mind dissolve. Live with great energy, even at your funeral, don't hesitate.

Taste the wine Raise the blind They will guide you from the light Writing noughts till the end of time

Ooh, come, surf the clouds Race the dark It feeds from the runs undone Meet me where the cliff greets the sea, come!

"Leave the sleep and let the springtime talk in tongues from the time before man."

Wake up and listen to the world around you. The sounds you hear are ancient. They go back long before you or any of us were born.

"Listen to a daffodil tell her tale."

Daffodils are known the world 'round as a flower of rebirth and new life. They're the first flowers that bloom in the spring. They're a sign of hope and new beginnings. An end to the suffering of winter.

"Let the guest in, walk out, be the first to greet the morn."

This is saying not to waste your precious time. It's not saying leave the guest behind, rather that neither of you have time to waste beyond some niceties. It's time to go do what you're going to do.

"The meadows of Heaven await harvest, the cliffs unjumped, cold waters untouched. The elsewhere creatures yet unseen."

Heaven does not mean Heaven in the Abrahamic religion sense. It means here. Earth. The one place we have that gives us the ability to live. This piece of writing means be adventurous, there are things to do nobody has ever done, things to be seen nobody has ever seen.

"Finally your number came up, freefall awaits the brave."

And you got your chance. And not just "in life." but you got THE CHANCE at life at all. Jump and enjoy the long fall.

"Come, taste the wine."

Live your life. Take risks, and you might just have fun.

"Raise the blind. They will guide you from the light."

Raise the blind does not mean specifically "raise blind people up" or "raise them spiritually" in this context directly. In this case, the symbolic blind is the kind you put on a window. The blind reflects those who would block out the light of the world from your window. It's telling you to raise them up out of your way. Put them out of your thoughts. Look through your own window with your eyes. The people who would block it will only prevent you from seeing the beauty of everything.

"Writing noughts 'til the end of time."

A nought is a 0 for those who grew up in the US. Writing noughts means doing nothing. Leaving no trace of yourself. This is the doom of being guided from the light of the world. If this world doesn't matter to you, then you will likely do nothing.

"Come, surf the clouds."

This is telling you to try to do amazing things with your life.

"Race the dark, it feeds from the runs undone."

The dark as stated above is the waste of life. Stay ahead of it, continue to grow and enjoy life because you will eventually regret the time you spent doing meaningless things when you could have been doing something you enjoy.

"Meet me where the cliff greets the sea."

This brings it back to "the cliffs unjumped" you've found your unjumped cliff, now will you be so brave as to jump into a freefall?

"The answer to the riddle before your eyes is in dead leaves and fleeting skies. Returning swans and sedulous mice. Writings on the garden's book in the minute of a lover's look. Building a sandcastle close to the shore. A house of cards from a worn out deck. A home from the fellowship, poise, and calm. Write a lyric for the song only you can understand."

I put this as all 1 big section because it has one big message. Everything you know, everything you love, and everything you ever do will eventually be gone. It could be tomorrow, it could be 50 billion years from now, but it will all eventually be gone. The riddle in this case is "what's the meaning of my existence?" and the answer is simple, to be here for now. Humans just do things to do them from time to time, that's kinda just how your life is. It is to be. You'll be gone when your time is up, but that's okay! You had your time in the sun, and that makes you lucky.

"Riding hard every shooting star."

A shooting star is something you make a wish on. This is telling you to cling to those wishes and make them happen!

"Come to life, open mind, have a laugh at the orthodox."

Orthodoxy is strict adherence to specific rules or ways of life. It usually allows for little to no interpretation of any kind. They're stuck in their way of mind, this is telling you to have an open mind and laugh at the inability of others to change their ways.

"Come drink deep, let the dam of mind seep."

This means drink deep from the well of knowledge and wisdom and spread what you learn to others who are willing to listen. Don't keep your knowledge or wisdom to yourself.

"Travel with great elan, dance a jig at the funeral."

Move quickly in life because there's simply not enough of it for you to waste. Don't be sad at the death of those you love, rather celebrate their life. Celebrate the way they enriched your existence.

On http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/nightwish-elan-video-released/ you can read the following:

Regarding "Élan", Holopainen said: "'Oh, while I live to be the ruler of life, Not a slave. To meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me will ever take command of me.' This beautiful quote from my hero Uncle Walt [Walt Whitman] was the starting point for writing 'Élan'.

"The underlying theme of the song is nothing less than the meaning of life, which can be something different for all of us.

"It's important to surrender yourself to the occasional 'free fall' and not to fear the path less travelled by."

However, I think this song allows you to give it your own interpretation.

Judging by the video and the lyrics, it comes across to me as them saying 'just because you're old doesn't mean you can't make anything new or have fun' in the second and last verses.

'The meadows of heaven await harvest The cliffs unjumped, cold waters untouched The elsewhere creatures yet unseen Finally your number came up, free fall awaits the brave' Fairly obvious it's talking about the afterlife here. I'm unsure if it's metaphorical or not, but it sounds fairly literal, saying that heaven awaits you. The final line 'finally your number came up, free fall awaits the brave' sounds like they're saying (putting it bluntly) 'you're facing death. Face it with bravery and you'll be rewarded with the afterlife' or something to that effect.

'Come to life, open mind, have a laugh at the orthodox Come, drink deep let the dam of mind seep Travel with great élan, dance a jig at the funeral'

The first line sounds like they're saying 'Let go of your traditions' Second sounds like they're saying 'Feel free to tell your stories' Third sounds like they're saying 'Go out and live, and when you or someone you know dies, don't be sad'

There's a fairly strong vibe or implication of the afterlife in the song, certainly.

what I want to know is wth "race the blind" means

I\'d like to take a crack at this and share my own thoughts.\n\n"Leave the sleep and let the springtime talk\nIn tongues from the time before man\nListen to a daffodil tell her tale"\n\nThe implication here is that you should get up early in the morning in the spring. You can interpret the song in a mythic and esoteric sense, but I prefer to see \'letting the springtime talk\' as a poetic way to say \'get up before dawn and enjoy the spring wilderness, meditate and take in nature in a way you are usually too busy and preoccupied to enjoy\'.\n\n"Let the guest in, walk out, be the first to greet the morn"\n\nI think the \'guest\' is the light of day...in other words, open up your curtains, let the sunlight seep into the darkness, embrace the start of your day and all the possibilities it offers you.\n\n"The meadows of heaven await harvest\nThe cliffs unjumped, cold waters untouched\nThe elsewhere creatures yet unseen"\n\nA heavenly meadow awaiting harvest implies great fields all around you filled with fruits and vegetables no one has tasted or picked. Cliff unjumped and cold waters untouched imply excitement and refreshment no one is enjoying yet. Elsewhere creatures again hint at something mythic and esoteric but can also imply animals who are wondrous and beautiful that are not normally seen by people. All of this conveys the general idea that there is a world waiting right outside waiting for you to experience.\n\n"Finally your number came up, freefall awaits the brave"\n\nAnd this wraps up the opening thesis of the song- there is a vast, wondrous world out there waiting to be experienced, and this is your chance to see it. Be brave and embrace it.\n\n"Come, taste the wine"\n\nFairly straight forward, wine is a heady alcohol that often as a deep, unique taste that varies on the brand. The line is both an invitation to revel and celebrate and to savor the flavor of something pleasurable and soporific.\n\n"Raise the blind\nThey will guide you from the light"\n\nUnsure if the line is meant to be \'raise\' or \'race\'. If the former it implies perhaps to lift them up and help them walk. Either way the metaphor is clear- the blind experience the world in a way other people can see, and once again the song is urging us to seek out those novel experiences for ourselves.\n\n"Writing noughts till the end of time"\n\nA \'nought\' in this context I believe is a cipher, a secret code. This gets developed more in the next part of the song, but my interpretation is that the song is encourage us to not only experience the wonders of life for ourselves but to write them down as songs or poems to inspire others to seek out those experiences in turn. In a cyclic sense, the song is encouraging us to do what it is doing, couching itself in mysterious and poetic language that must be deconstructed. It wants us to be inspired and continue to inspire other people.\n\n"Come, surf the clouds\nRace the dark\nIt feeds from the runs undone"\n\nMuch like the line about freefall this imagery speaks to flying in the sky. Most likely in a metaphorical sense, e.g. \'letting your imagination soar\'. The line about racing the dark and runs undone is rather strange. My interpretation is that darkness thrives on all the times you avoid inspiration and exploration, so confront it and race it with energy and enthusiasm- race the darkness because otherwise it will feed from your refusal to run around and experience the world.\n\n"Meet me where the cliff greets the sea"\n\nA few way to interpret that line. First, we return to the notion of flight, freefall, and the \'cliffs unjumped\'. In other words, you will find whoever is singing the song in the moment of excitement you experience diving into the sea. More mythically, the shore is a liminal space that exists between land and ocean, and such space have a rich meaning in metaphor and esoteric circles. The singer, the person inviting you to experience all these things, is never stated. It could be the personification of life, or the source of your inspiration. Whoever or whatever it is strongly calls on you to meet it and experience life by its side.\n\n"The answer to the riddle before your eyes\nIs in dead leaves and fleeting skies\nReturning swans and sedulous mice\nWriting\'s on the gardens book, in the minute of a lover\'s look\nBuilding a sandcastle close to the shore\nA house of cards from a worn-out deck\nA home from the fellowship, poise and calm"\n\nAgain we see the theme of writing naughts until the end of time, perhaps more blatantly than ever. The song seems to want us not merely to experience wonders, but to record them and find personal meaning in the small moments that happen all around us that we often ignore. Seemingly normal things like a house of cards take on a deeper, almost magical meaning when approached from a certain mindset.\n\n"Write a lyric for the song only you can understand"\n\nGiven the heavy amount of poetry throughout the song, I feel like this is the writer winking at the listener. \'Yes, I wrote this and filled it with imagery that speaks personally to me. Go out and do the same.\'\n\n\n"Riding hard every shooting star"\n\nReturning again to flying and freefalling and racing in the darkness. The tempo also picks up here, as if the singer is experiencing the thrills and wonders as she sing about them.\n\n"Come to life, open mind, have a laugh at the orthodox\nCome, drink deep let the dam of mind seep\nTravel with great élan, dance a jig at the funeral, come!"\n\nSums up the thesis of the song very well. Leap into the wonders of life, and by experiencing all the incredible things with love and enthusiasm feel your imagination awaken and inspire you. And when your done, take a look back at the \'orthodox\' people, the ones who chose to sleep rather than rise up and experience the springtime, and laugh at them and the fact that you might have missed out on all the wonders described if you\'d chosen to be one of them. Elan, the title of the song, means to have great enthusiasm. Dancing a jig at the funeral implies enjoying life rather than being preoccupied with death, because doing otherwise is just wasting a chance at seeing wonder and beauty that will never come again. Life is an invitation to enjoy yourself. Come!

And what if the song isn't at all an invitation to do something (enjoying life etc.) but a story, a point of view on human history described in first person and present time. It makes sense if you consider the context: a wonderful album that's all about evolution, natural history from the Big Bang up to the philosophical thinking and technological dociety. From this pov Elan says human being started his very beginning deeply related with Nature (tongues before man, the daffodil that tell a tale are the skills of first humans to read the Nature). Then evolved into something more complex and has been the first to greet the mourn (the first species to share things - let the guest in - and to be amazed by the beauty of a sunrise in the morning). Try to read the text with this key and you'll see many things fits: The meadows of heaven await harvest The cliffs unjumped, cold waters untouched The elsewhere creatures yet unseen

This part is about the epic journey of humans exploring the world until they became the dominant specie (finally your number came up). Come, taste the wine Raise the blind They will guide you from the light Writing noughts till the end of time Come, surf the clouds Race the dark It feeds from the runs undone Meet me where the cliff greets the sea

The refrain is about what humans do: they enjoy life (taste the wine), follows blind leaders, writes nonsense stuffs. The needs of humans for exploring the unknown (the clouds- the dark) till the limit (where the cliffs greets the sea is clearly a border point within land and water).

The final part: The answer to the riddle before your eyes Is in dead leaves and fleeting skies Returning swans and sedulous mice Writing's on the gardens book, in the minute of a lover's look Building a sandcastle close to the shore A house of cards from a worn-out deck A home from the fellowship, poise and calm Write a lyric for the song only you can understand

This is about the sense of human being existence and is deeply present in other songs of the album. Humans are here to last very shortly (a minute of a lovers look). During this quick time - in the comparison of huge space-time dimensions) humans try to understand a sense of it all (writing on the garden's book - where garden is Mother Nature) but all their material achievements (civilizations - technologies etc.) are just sandcastles close to the shore or house of cards that will be quickly cancelled forever. So the answer to the great riddle (the meaning of life and of the universe) is in dead leaves and fleeting skies: everithing is going to decompose (like dead leaves) or to change quickly like clouds in the sky. There's also the great lonelyness of human being that can understand many but there'snt any other living form to share that understanding (a lyric of a song only you can undrstand). Even in that lonely and fragile main condition, humans live their existence with great Elàn. In that sense yes, being the answer to the great riddle to live life with Elàn, it could be an invitation to that as well.

Does it makes sense to someone else but me? 😂 Sergio from Italy