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He Is Lyrics

We are standing here by the abyss
And the world is in flames
Two star-crossed lovers reaching out
To the beast with many names

He is
He is the shining and the light
Without whom I can not see
And he is insurrection
He is spite
He is the force that made me be
He is
Nostro dispater
Nostr'alma mater
He is

We are hiding here inside a dream
And all our doubts are now destroyed
The guidance of the morning star
Will lead the way into the void

He is
He is the shining and the light
Without whom I can not see
And he is insurrection
He is spite
He is the force that made me be
He is
He is the shining and the light
Without whom I can not see
And he is
The disobedience
That holds us together
He is
Nostro dispater
Nostr'alma mater
And we are falling
Over the precipice
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Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

The brilliance of this song is soooo underappreciated, it's such artful parody. The title is "He Is" and it starts with clean guitars playing a simple but sad melody, it actually sounds like a typical Christian worship song. In fact even once the triumphant chorus comes in "He is/He's the shining and the light without whom I cannot see" sounds like a line you'd hear in some white guy with an acoustic guitar worship song, but then "And he is/Insurrection, he is spite, he's the thing that makes me be" you realize the song isn't about God, it's about Satan, then the following verses get darker.

Ghost's music, as compared to other metal bands singing about Satan, feel like actual worship music and this song is the ultimate parody of it.

Outside of the base lyrics, I remember at one point hearing Tobias saying this was actually written about a friend and hero of his that committed suicide, but was able to morph it into something that fit into the Ghost umbrella

My Interpretation

@chadwick57 would u say they are a parody band in total

@chadwick57 I know this comment is 4 years old but I just had to say, this is the most accurate description of this song I have heard. It does sound like a worship song, and I think that is what they are going for but, it made me love it even more.

Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

I worked on this awhile, nostro dis pater is 'our dark father' , nost' alma mater is 'our nourishing mother'. I'm 99% sure this will be as close as it gets..

My Opinion
Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

Has someone been able to translate the line 'Nostro Dis Pater Nostr' alma mater'? I've also found lyrics in which the line is 'Nostro Dis Pater Nostra Domate'. In both cases google translate is unable to translate the last part from Latin..

@Onlyonepapa "I believe the title “Dis Pater” or “Father of Riches” originally belonged to a deity of “riches that came from below” (either referring to precious minerals or to agriculture), and when it was adapted by later contributors to the Roman Pantheon “riches” were interpreted as material temptations and “below” as the underworld. This potentially gives further significance to the title as it may refer to someone who was misconstrued as malevolent."

Nostr' alma mater

Latin: Translates to “Our tamer/breaker/dominator/conqueror”

Note the use of Nostra indicates a feminine perspective.

However, the lyrics may actually be...

@Onlyonepapa "Dis Pater" is a roman god of the Underworld. Kinda the roman equivalent of Hades. As far as i know CBR600RRon were completely correct about the "Alma Mater" line. So it translates to "Our lord of the Underworld/Satan, our Master/Conqerour" or "Our lord of the Underworld/Satan, our Mother" However "Dis Pater" can also mean "our dark father". So the line could also mean "Our dark father, our nourishing mother"

So the line means something along the lines of "Our evil ruler...

@Onlyonepapa I'm pretty sure Nostro means "us"...or the nous. Dis is similar to the french des meaning our, or the universal....Pater is obvious. Nostro Alma Mater is more individually personal like 'my old womb'....but would be everyone's womb, or where they originated from.

Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

This is a great track ... something you could imagine being on commercial radio with the catchy nature and clean vocals. I really enjoy their music, even if I don't really relate to their lyrical content (is it all part of their "act"?)

I am going out on a limb and going to assume that "He" is the Devil / Satan and in essence this song talks about the "saviour" that He is ... quite ironic considering that the saviour is generally seen as Jesus.

@sokorny Yes, it's part of the act. Catch them live if you can - they put on a killer show. The whole band concept is developed around them being sort of a polar opposite of Catholicism but the band members themselves have said its tongue-in-cheek and shouldn't be taken as true satanism.

Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

"Dīs Pater was a Roman god of the underworld, later subsumed by Pluto or Hades (Hades was Greek). Originally a chthonic god of riches, fertile agricultural land, and underground mineral wealth, he was later commonly equated with the Roman deities Pluto and Orcus, becoming an underworld deity." - Wikipedia

"Alma mater (Latin: alma "nourishing/kind", mater "mother") is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, or a song or hymn associated with that school. The phrase is variously translated as "nourishing mother", "nursing mother", or "fostering mother", suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students." - Wikipedia

Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

They do not do much to hide the song's subject matter. The Beast with Many Names, the Morning Star. He is our dark lord Satan, the Son of the Morning, the Lord of this World, the Lord of the Flies, Old Nick, the first and most beautiful, cast out but reborn...IN ME!!! I love the obvious parody of this song, it is a real praise him kind of song, for the motherfucking devil.

Song Meaning
Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

This is all I got- Our gods, the Father, of our 'alma mater.

My Interpretation
Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

"Nostro Dis Pater" and "Nostr' alma mater" are Latin phrases. The meaning of the first one is: "Our force driving father". Some of you are right about the second phrase, "mater" can be translated as "mother", but according to a Latin professor, the whole phrase could mean "Our driving force." On the other hand, the the song is about Satan: "He Is". To complement the parady nature of the song, I recommend you to watch the music video at minute 02:09, there is a frame where you can see Tony Alamo, the evangelist who sexually abused children, that actually died this year in prison.

Translation
Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

"Nostro Dispater, Nostr'alma Mater" = "Our Gods, our Father, our Nourishing Mother"

Translation
Cover art for He Is lyrics by Ghost

As a Christian, and an avid GHOST fan (been to three concerts) I am inclined to change the lyrics when I listen to them. (He IS, He is Jesus Christ, the force that lets me be). Just saying.......

@andrea1056 - I don't I've ever laughed harder at a comment.

@andrea1056

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  • Tobias is a Satanist, the rest of the band likely is, too
  • The entire song has nothing but Satanic references. You'd literally be changing the entire song.
  • Tobias is a Satanist, the rest of the band likely is, too
  • The entire song has nothing but Satanic references. You'd literally be changing the entire song.
  •