Egypt (The Chains Are On)

HELL !! how come no1 said nothing abt this song? its awesome...got some gr8 guitar riffs and the lyrics r just so true... am egyptian, i can feel this song, its like he meant that egypt one day was so poweful until its kings became dictators and put chains on theirs ppl....n thats whats happenin in egypt right now...ppl r enslaved... DIO RULES !

I first wanted to mention how similiar this is to another song that was released later (and possibly inspired by Dio's) by Bruce Dickinson called "Taking the Queen." Dio talks about how the "Queen lies dark and cold".. same with Dickinson. Obviousyl there is some correlation. "When the stars dont shine then the story is told." Basically, Dio and Dickinson know the tale.. they are occultists and very wise.. but many don't. The Queen... the feminine principle.. the inner self, the astral plane, dream world where we are all linked together.. its taken from us. Now, "Their chains are on"... humans ruled over by the 4 elements, instead of spiritual supremecy. "Chains" is a broad term here.. anything binding you and holding you down from whatever it is you are TRULY supposed to do.

"the strange ones" are the fallen angels, check out the lyrics from don't talk to strangers.

It was the fallen angels who actually built the pyramids, therefore the name:

Egypt (the Chains are on).

Meaning that mankind's suffering started there, on a far remote past.

Every time I hear the part : You've seen them walking on the water You've seen them flying through the sky They were frightening in the darkness They had rainbows in their eyes

I always think of aliens because the people called them the strange ones because they have never seen anything like them before. Plus the magic they mentioned could be advanced technology the primitive people of earth had no knowledge of at the time. The aliens could have easily have enslaved Egypt. Using the people tirelessly explains why they prayed just to end each day so they wouldn't die of being worked to death. It mentions the sand whispering, so due to their being worked to death they probably started to hallucinate coming to sail on my golden sea probably means to die and be free from their alien slavers.

Not sure how many on here have read The Vampire Lestat, but this song reminds me of the story of Akasha and her King and how the vampires came into existence. I have always been fascinated by Ronnie's lyrics.

I think its about people who are enlaved and held back from what they really want to do, reminds me of stargazer.

I think it is mainly about the Jewish people in a way. Because I recall in the bible something about a land of MILK AND HONEY, or the jewish promise land. They were enslaved countless times from the point they first became a civilization of nomads(I believe thats the right term).

when the song said "they had rainbows in their eyes" that means they had hope.

"Each day you hear the sand as it moves and whispers Come and sail on my golden sea Maybe one day you'll be just like me...and that's free" I believe that it means that it is tempting to run away and become a people of nomads, because the jewish people were nomads for years and years, and almost never had a home(until they got isreal...then got it stolen away from them, correct me if im wrong)

But I could also be wrong, I think it might also have to do with what old rocker4ever said.

i mainly agree with what lawofthetrapezoid said about the broad meaning of the word chains in this song. on a simpler point of view chains could be about the slaves the ancient egyptians had, that were a great number. other parts of the song could be about the false impression that the pharaos were gods. ppl worshiped them as gods. they were rich and powerful. (although this might be completely wrong, but it is what came into my mind when i heard the song)