8 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Man Of Sorrows Lyrics
Here, in a church, a small boy is kneeling
He prays to a god he does not know, he cannot feel
All of his sins of childhood he will remember
He will not cry, tears he will not cry
Man of sorrows, I won't see your face
Man of sorrows, you left without a trace
A small boy wonders, what was it all about?
Is your journey over - has it just begun?
Vision of a new world from the ashes of the old
"Do what thou wilt!", he screams from his cursed soul
A tortured seer, a prophet of our emptiness
Wondering why, wondering why...
Man of sorrows, I won't see your face
(I won't see your face)
Man of sorrows, you left without a trace
A small boy wonders, what was it all about?
Is your journey over - has it just begun?
A man of sorrows, racked
With thoughts that dare not speak their name
Trapped inside a body, made to feel only guilt and shame
His anger all his life - "I hate myself!", he cried
"Do what thou wilt!"
"Do what thou wilt!", he cried
Man of sorrows, I won't see your face
(I won't see your face)
Man of sorrows, you left without a trace
(left without a trace)
A small boy wonders, what was it all about?
Is your journey over - has it just begun?
Man of sorrows, I won't see your face
(I won't see your face)
Man of sorrows, you left without a trace
(left without a trace)
A small boy wonders, what was it all about?
Is your journey over - has it just begun?
Has it just begun?
He prays to a god he does not know, he cannot feel
All of his sins of childhood he will remember
He will not cry, tears he will not cry
Man of sorrows, you left without a trace
A small boy wonders, what was it all about?
Is your journey over - has it just begun?
"Do what thou wilt!", he screams from his cursed soul
A tortured seer, a prophet of our emptiness
Wondering why, wondering why...
(I won't see your face)
Man of sorrows, you left without a trace
A small boy wonders, what was it all about?
Is your journey over - has it just begun?
With thoughts that dare not speak their name
Trapped inside a body, made to feel only guilt and shame
His anger all his life - "I hate myself!", he cried
"Do what thou wilt!"
"Do what thou wilt!", he cried
(I won't see your face)
Man of sorrows, you left without a trace
(left without a trace)
A small boy wonders, what was it all about?
Is your journey over - has it just begun?
(I won't see your face)
Man of sorrows, you left without a trace
(left without a trace)
A small boy wonders, what was it all about?
Is your journey over - has it just begun?
Has it just begun?
Song Info
Submitted by
bruce On Apr 26, 2002
More Bruce Dickinson
Tears Of The Dragon
Navigate The Seas Of The Sun
Born in '58
Accident Of Birth
King In Crimson
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I found this clip of info on Wikipedia, and hopefully it helps paint a bit of a clearer picture:
"In interviews, Bruce Dickinson has stated that the song's lyrics are about the occult English writer Aleister Crowley. The repeated expression "Do what thou wilt!" refers to the motto of the Abbey of Thelema, which the French Renaissance writer François Rabelais invented in his philosophical work Gargantua. In this abbey, men and women live together in peace and harmony according to the principle:
In all their rule and strictest tie of their order there was but this one clause to be observed, Do What Thou Wilt; because men that are free, well-born, well-bred, and conversant in honest companies, have naturally an instinct and spur that prompteth them unto virtuous actions, and withdraws them from vice, which is called honour.
Inspired by Rabelais' ideas, Crowley founded in 1920 a commune called the Abbey of Thelema in Sicily.
The title Man of Sorrows refers to a passage in the Bible, in the book of Isaiah, which describes a man who takes on the sins of all mankind. According to Catholic teaching, this figure foreshadows Jesus, who died for mankind to redeem them:
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted." -wiki
Wrongo Turbo Speed...
Quote (from Accident of Birth solo collection sleeve): The record's oldest song was Man of Sorrows, originally it was intended for a movie called The Chemical Wedding that Bruce had been involved with several years earlier. "It never got made, but we kept some of the orchestral bits," he explained. "It's about Aleister Crowley's childhood and what he eventually became."
Bruce said this song was written as the title track for a movie that he was involved in the making of. I can't recall the name, it might've been called Chemical Wedding actually. This was written for it, but ended up on the Accident of Birth cd.
I'm pretty sure that the movie was called The Chemical Wedding and was supposed to be about the life of Aleister Crowley. Bruce was apparently co-writing it with someone else.
This song is written about Aleister Crowley.
It's awesome.
I think it was because another website said that there was a man in the bible known as the Man Of Sorrows who declared to be the anti-Christ after losing faith. And later on, Jesus Christ has an obscure nickname as the Man Of Sorrows, which Bruce thought was ironic, so he wrote a song about it.
This song is quite amazing. It really somes up how some of us see life like. I believe it is about a man who has nothing but suffering in his life. Much like alistair crowley or edgar allen poe.
beatiful song :)