The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Real Puppet

I had to create an account to this website because i had to set the record straight with what is, in my opinion, a very inaccurate interpretation of the song that is shared by the consensus here.

Too many are either interpreting the story wrong or trying to insert a hidden meaning behind it, when quite simply its a dark fairytale. And this is consistent with Sonata Arctica and a lot of power metal bands, because bands like them love tales and stories and retelling them or telling their own. Sure there may be some symbolism or meanings, which I'll get into with my interpretation, but it's pretty straightforward a fairytale, and I wonder if it's based on an actual fairytale or its just an original story by the band as a reverse-Pinocchio.

Heres the summary of the story:

A BOY (not a man, no idea why people refused to look at this literally), probably an urchin or in a poorer house, is obsessed with a street puppet show and a particular puppet and watches every night. He's probably been earning and finding money whenever he can and saving up to try to buy the puppet. One night he finally has enough money in his mind and he works up the courage to ask to buy the puppet. Of course the puppet master refuses, no matter how much the child assures him he can pay. Having been turned away, and being a child, he can't accept no for an answer, so he plans to follow the puppet master to his home to kill him. However, before he can do the deed, he is caught (not sure how people assumed the puppet master was successfully killed), and the puppet master reveals himself to be a magician/warlock/wizard/witch (whatever you wanna call it). It's then that the puppet master, in his own mind, sees the greed of the boy and gives him just punishment, using witchcraft to construct a new doll with the boy's soul, killing the boy and trapping him in the new puppet. So the boy is essentially a golem/thrall and is forced to follow the puppet master's command. We're lead to think this is the boy getting what he deserves, but as the boy goes on performing show after show for a length of time, he begs the puppet master to free his soul of these shackles so he can either be resurrected or pass on to the afterlife. This is where the twist happens: the puppet master denies this wish, and smiles as he pushes the boy on to perform more and more. That's the moment where the boy and you realize that the puppet master has done this throughout, kidnapping boys and turning them into puppets, and the boy is just the latest one, the previous puppet being another unfortunate boy killed and trapped inside a puppet, the golden heart being the focus of the magic (or the fetish if we talk voodoo terms).

The evidence is in the lyrics:

"So many years ago, many more than I'd Even care to bear in my mind From the darkest of all places I found you

All the limbs in their right places And a heart made of real gold Sell me your little doll, oh sir, I ask you kind

Every night I returned to watch them The master and the puppet in the show He said: 'Oh, no, I cannot sell him... Priceless he is, masterpiece of mine'"

-The timing that's mentioned here is a bit difficult to interpret, true, but in context it makes sense if the boy saw the puppet show first and became a fan and made sure to watch the performance every night in the street. I'm pretty sure this wasn't a one-time occurrence finding the puppet in a store window

"Please, sell me your puppet, sir Name your price, oh please, Whatever you may ask, Tenfold the price I pay

'Did I not make it clear? This debate is over I will never part from this puppet, my son...'"

-Pretty straightforward, but note that this is a boy who probably doesn't have that money. His offer for tenfold whatever the puppet master asks is a desperate bid to get the puppet regardless whether he'll pay later or not. Of course the puppet master refuses (for the reasons I listed above with what the puppet master truly is

"'No, sir, to sell is not my will!' The doll is mine, even if I have to kill..."

-The first quote in separate quotations makes this intriguing. This verse can have two meanings. Either the boy is acknowledging to the puppet master who he is confronting that he won't resell the puppet and just wants to have it by any means necessary, or... This take: the boy hasn't reached the puppetmaster yet and the first quote is the boy mocking the puppetmaster's unwillingness to make a profit, and then saying to himself that he's willing to do whatever it takes to get the puppet.

-both interpretations have merit, but this song is so poetic in dialogue, and the timeline from the boy stalking to what is supposed to be the attempted murder is so hidden in ambiguity that I think it lends a more sinister tone if the boy is going insane over his obsession as he's envisioning what he'll do.

"So it shall be... if this is what it takes 'Greed is truly blinder than me...' 'Heart of gold is what you wish for?' 'So, this little boy... wants to be... a puppet, for real...'"

-the alternating quotations and lack of quotation in the first line of the verse are all meant to misdirect. While others interpreted this as the "man" aka the boy being successful in the kill, in actually, without all the details, this is where the puppetmaster catches the boy in the attempt, and the quotations are the puppetmaster alternating between talking to the boy and his internal thoughts.

-The "so it shall be... If this is what it takes" line means "if this is what I have to do to stop you, then it'll be done". The puppetmaster realizes he's gonna have to kill this boy to get privacy and to prevent anyone from learning his secret

-The line "greed is truly blinder than me" just doesn't make sense coming from the boy. There's no literary reason for him to say it in the context. It stands to reason, then, that this line is to be an ironic line. The puppetmaster is expressing the irony of how the greed has made the boy blinder than a literal blind man

-"heart of gold is what you wish for" is the puppetmaster basically saying either "are you wanting the puppet or the gold heart" emphasizing the true power of the golden heart and questioning the boy's intention, or is saying "so you want the puppet so bad, huh? Fine, I'll MAKE a puppet just as valuable for you" with a sinister hint of what is to come.

-the last line, "so this little boy, wants to be a puppet, for real" is the puppetmaster reveling in the punishment he's about to give to the boy. He's realized he can make the boy suffer a fate worse than just death. In the quote, you could say the puppetmaster is going a little mad himself. This is the first line of evidence of his evil

"So I have the golden heart Now only needing the voice of the master Never feel hunger, never grow older My dream was to be a star in a real puppet show"

-this is the witchcraft and alchemy/transmutation process narrated. The puppetmaster, showing his true power, transfers the boy's soul into the new vessel, the new puppet. The golden heart either carries the soul or fuels the magic that binds the soul to the puppet. After the heart is transferred, the puppetmaster only needs to say the spell/incantation to bring the new puppet to life. With the boy (as the puppet), saying how he'll never hunger or age, and how he feels he's always wanted to be in a puppet show... This is the spell taking effect and the boy becoming a thrall, forced to obey the puppetmaster's commands

"It's so hard to remember my life The times before the show Can I ever cut off the strings?"

-this indicates that it's been a long time since that fateful night, and the boy is growing wearing and despairing over his current situation, and wonders if he can ever be freed.

"Would you turn to a child again? 'No, never, I am your Guide' You can see a small grin on the face Of the master, when the puppet's in his place"

-this is where the twist in the story happens. First the boy begs to be released from this prison and to be a boy again, or at least to be able for his soul to cross over. The puppetmaster refuses, saying that this is how things are, that he's the boy's master and that's how it will be. The line "You can see a small grin on the face Of the master, when the puppet's in his place" describes malevolent glee, the puppetmaster revealing his true nature and goal. He has his perfect puppet at his command, just as he's always had with other children. The boy is just the latest victim, and one day he'll destroy the boy completely when he creates a new puppet out of another child, like he did before.

"Be careful what you wish for Wishes might come alive The twines are pulling me every day and night... The show, the glitter and all the fame I'd give away for a life"

-the boy is obviously regretting the greed that took over his heart and got him to this point. And he got more than he bargained for in the worst way. The twines represents the hold the puppetmaster has on his soul constantly, and he wishes he could have his life back and would give up all his previous aspirations if he could have that life back. He's telling us not to do what he did.

"Some things can end with a word, they say This only ends with a sharp knife (Knife!)"

-the first line, of things ending with a word according to some, is probably a symbolic meaning for the puppetmaster or other magicians the boy knew of saying that only the puppetmaster can will the boy's soul free with a spell. But the boy knows now the puppetmaster will never let him go, so now the boy knows to be free he has to break his new body, and the way to do it, as hinted by all the mentions of the puppet strings, is to cut the strings and his soul will be free. This song ends there as does the story, with us wondering if the boy is able to do this or not

So in conclusion, this is a dark reverse-Pinocchio story, but has influences of Grimm's Fairytales, especially stories like Hansel and Gretel, where children are tricked or trapped into being killed or enslaved by witches, and the puppetmaster is one such witch (or whatever you wanna call him). I would have to guess this story would take place in Italy or another region of southern Europe, based on the popularity of street puppet shows in those regions. It also makes sense its Italy or another Southern European country because the puppetmaster seems to present himself as a traveling showman and a gypsy. The fact that he's blind adds to that mystique. Oftentimes gypsies were associated with black magic during late medieval and early Renaissance periods, so there's another connection.

It's definitely one of my favorite songs by the band because of the dark nature of it and the emotion it draws from it through the boy's journey