This is not a love song. The title says this song is about Byzantium... its not some generic pop love song like many seem to be interpreting it. Love songs are a dime a dozen, but this is something different. To understand its meaning you have to understand what Byzantium was. It wasn't someone's lover, it was an empire.
In 1453 Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, who made it their capitol and changed the name of the city to Istanbul. This was the final death knell for the 1000 year Byzantine empire. Many citizens of Constantinople fled to other parts of Europe, namely Italy, and this flood of well educated Byzantines helped culminate in the Renaissance which finally lifted Western Europe out of the Dark Ages.
So in my opinion, this song here is from the perspective of one of the refugees from Constantinople after its conquering by the Turks.
Look at the lyrics.
"I ran away to a room here on the bay."
This line seems to reference the flight from Byzantium. The author "ran away" to someplace still safely in Christian hands. Here they found a "room here on the bay" which would have been an apartment or something similar.
"Interrupted life again, another new beginning"
Life was indeed interrupted by the Turkish conquest, but a "new beginning" refers to the new life in the West.
"Where the silence echoes "you're no longer with me.""
Byzantium ceased to exist, therefore it is "no longer with me". Pretty self explanatory.
"Here and now, I feel that I'm embracing freedom
Even though I may be alone, but that's okay."
The Byzantine citizens who did not flee from the Turks faced a bleak existence of persecution and unspeakable atrocities. Fleeing to the still Christian West meant "embracing freedom". Yet, these refugees were still foreigners in a strange and therefore may have felt "alone, but that's okay".
"Through the darkness I would walk in the streets."
The streets of medieval Europe were poorly lit, but the darkness mentioned here is probably a reference to the darkness of the "Dark ages" where superstition and illiteracy were rampant. To a refugee fleeing from enlightened Byzantium, this darkness would have been a shock.
"Confessions never seemed to provide me with a release.
Held me down and tried to cure me, tried to give me reason.
But nothing could separate this burdened mind from me."
This "burdened mind" may refer to a feeling of guilt the refugee has for fleeing his/her homeland at its moment of greatest need. Perhaps this individual wishes they had remained behind and fought to the death alongside his/her comrades rather than abandoning them. "Confessions" could not release this guilt.
"I do not seek and do not intend to find
A calmer ocean or a sun that never will rise.
My world will never change and time will bring you to my thoughts, and
I'll move on and then forget you all over again."
The narrator seems intent on remaining in their new home rather than finding some other place. They do not intend to seek the "calmer ocean" of greener pastures, nor the "sun that will never rise" which refers to Byzantium which will sadly never rise again. The author's "world will never change" from this point on, but "time will bring" Byzantium back to their thoughts over and over again.
"Moving on, I can forgive you all over again."
Might refer either to forgiving the Turks who ravaged the narrator's homeland, or it could refer to the nations of Western Europe, which did not lift a finger to aid their Christian brothers in fending off the Turkish advance in Byzantium's darkest hour.
The bottom line is this is not a romantic love song between two lovers. It is a song about Byzantium from the perspective of one who had lived there.
This is not a love song. The title says this song is about Byzantium... its not some generic pop love song like many seem to be interpreting it. Love songs are a dime a dozen, but this is something different. To understand its meaning you have to understand what Byzantium was. It wasn't someone's lover, it was an empire.
In 1453 Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, who made it their capitol and changed the name of the city to Istanbul. This was the final death knell for the 1000 year Byzantine empire. Many citizens of Constantinople fled to other parts of Europe, namely Italy, and this flood of well educated Byzantines helped culminate in the Renaissance which finally lifted Western Europe out of the Dark Ages.
So in my opinion, this song here is from the perspective of one of the refugees from Constantinople after its conquering by the Turks.
Look at the lyrics.
"I ran away to a room here on the bay."
This line seems to reference the flight from Byzantium. The author "ran away" to someplace still safely in Christian hands. Here they found a "room here on the bay" which would have been an apartment or something similar.
"Interrupted life again, another new beginning"
Life was indeed interrupted by the Turkish conquest, but a "new beginning" refers to the new life in the West.
"Where the silence echoes "you're no longer with me.""
Byzantium ceased to exist, therefore it is "no longer with me". Pretty self explanatory.
"Here and now, I feel that I'm embracing freedom Even though I may be alone, but that's okay."
The Byzantine citizens who did not flee from the Turks faced a bleak existence of persecution and unspeakable atrocities. Fleeing to the still Christian West meant "embracing freedom". Yet, these refugees were still foreigners in a strange and therefore may have felt "alone, but that's okay".
"Through the darkness I would walk in the streets."
The streets of medieval Europe were poorly lit, but the darkness mentioned here is probably a reference to the darkness of the "Dark ages" where superstition and illiteracy were rampant. To a refugee fleeing from enlightened Byzantium, this darkness would have been a shock.
"Confessions never seemed to provide me with a release. Held me down and tried to cure me, tried to give me reason. But nothing could separate this burdened mind from me."
This "burdened mind" may refer to a feeling of guilt the refugee has for fleeing his/her homeland at its moment of greatest need. Perhaps this individual wishes they had remained behind and fought to the death alongside his/her comrades rather than abandoning them. "Confessions" could not release this guilt.
"I do not seek and do not intend to find A calmer ocean or a sun that never will rise. My world will never change and time will bring you to my thoughts, and I'll move on and then forget you all over again."
The narrator seems intent on remaining in their new home rather than finding some other place. They do not intend to seek the "calmer ocean" of greener pastures, nor the "sun that will never rise" which refers to Byzantium which will sadly never rise again. The author's "world will never change" from this point on, but "time will bring" Byzantium back to their thoughts over and over again.
"Moving on, I can forgive you all over again."
Might refer either to forgiving the Turks who ravaged the narrator's homeland, or it could refer to the nations of Western Europe, which did not lift a finger to aid their Christian brothers in fending off the Turkish advance in Byzantium's darkest hour.
The bottom line is this is not a romantic love song between two lovers. It is a song about Byzantium from the perspective of one who had lived there.