In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Holy Diver
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh what's becoming of me
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes but you know he's clean
Oh don't you see what I mean
Gotta get away
Holy Diver
Shiny diamonds
Like the eyes of a cat in the black and blue
Something is coming for you
Race for the morning
You can hide in the sun 'till you see the light
Oh we will pray it's all right
Gotta get away-get away
Between the velvet lies
There's a truth that's hard as steel
The vision never dies
Life's a never ending wheel
Holy Diver
You're the star of the masquerade
No need to look so afraid
Jump, jump, jump on the tiger
You can feel his heart but you know he's mean
Some light can never be seen
Holy Diver
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh what's becoming of me? No! No!
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes but you know he's clean
Oh don't you see what I mean?
Gotta get away, get away
Gotta get away, get away, yeah
Holy Diver, sole survivor
You're the one who's clean
Holy Diver, Holy Diver
There's a cat in the blue coming after you, Holy Diver
Oh Holy Diver
Yeah, alright
Get away, get away, get away
Holy Diver, Holy Diver
Oh Holy Diver
Hmmm hmm hmm
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh what's becoming of me
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes but you know he's clean
Oh don't you see what I mean
Gotta get away
Holy Diver
Shiny diamonds
Like the eyes of a cat in the black and blue
Something is coming for you
Race for the morning
You can hide in the sun 'till you see the light
Oh we will pray it's all right
Gotta get away-get away
Between the velvet lies
There's a truth that's hard as steel
The vision never dies
Life's a never ending wheel
Holy Diver
You're the star of the masquerade
No need to look so afraid
Jump, jump, jump on the tiger
You can feel his heart but you know he's mean
Some light can never be seen
Holy Diver
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh what's becoming of me? No! No!
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes but you know he's clean
Oh don't you see what I mean?
Gotta get away, get away
Gotta get away, get away, yeah
Holy Diver, sole survivor
You're the one who's clean
Holy Diver, Holy Diver
There's a cat in the blue coming after you, Holy Diver
Oh Holy Diver
Yeah, alright
Get away, get away, get away
Holy Diver, Holy Diver
Oh Holy Diver
Hmmm hmm hmm
Lyrics submitted by zekey baby, edited by SirManson
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Quoted from ronniejamesdio.com. Interesting point -
"It's simply a song about things that are not always what they appear to be. You need to look at more than what the package is, you need to look inside. The cover of the album hightlights that - Dio has said many times, why is a devil drowning a priest? well, maybe it's a priest drowning a devil! Bad people don't always look bad, many times they look normal. Also, good people may not always be the ones who are prettiest on the outside.
He's actually somewhat of a prophet - think of the more recent problems with priests misbehaving with young kids (maybe we should have Murray drown them!)
The song just uses lots of vivid fantasy metaphors. "Ride the tiger you can see his stripes but you know he's clean" - black stripes, could be dirt, but you know a cat is clean. "Jump on the tiger you can feel his heart but you know he's mean", again the tiger has a heart, but will kill you.
"Holy diver, you're the star of the masquerade" - again, a clear reference to something being different that what it appears to be.
Dio just takes a pretty old, basic proverd ("don't judge a book by it's cover") and writes a cool song, with lots of vivid metaphors, that people try to deciper."
Ronnie did an interview on this that revealed a little bit on this, so I'm going to communicate my interpretation based on what I got out of it. -KnightofhopeX
Holy Diver You've been down too long in the midnight sea Oh what's becoming of me
Ride the tiger You can see his stripes but you know he's clean Oh don't you see what I mean
Gotta get away Holy Diver
Shiny diamonds Like the eyes of a cat in the black and blue Something is coming for you
Race for the morning You can hide in the sun 'till you see the light Oh we will pray it's all right
Gotta get away-get away
Between the velvet lies There's a truth that's hard as steel The vision never dies Life's a never ending wheel
Holy Diver You're the star of the masquerade No need to look so afraid
Jump on the tiger You can feel his heart but you know he's mean Some light can never be seen
Wow, deep! And I thought I was hitting on something! I like how you took a whole nother aproach to it other than drugs, but after seeing all of these points of veiw, I must say there is no one right one, they all make sense in their own interpritation.
Holy Diver is about Jesus Christ's descent into Hades after being crucified.
1.Holy Diver= Jesus Christ descending into Hades, the realm of the wicked not the holy.
2.You've been down too long in the midnight sea= Midnight sea is Hades, the absence of God, God is light so this place is void of it.
3.Oh what's becoming of me= What are you doing here? You don't belong here, this is the realm of the wicked, you are holy, what are you planning to do to me(us)
4.Ride the tiger= tiger is a symbol for a couple things mainly Jesus Christ, but also followers of Buddha ride tigers to show their supernatural ability to overcome evil, Shiva the destroyer rode a tiger, and also Islam believes tigers punish sinners for God.
5.You can see his stripes but you know he's clean, Oh don't you see what I mean= Jesus Christ again, by his stripes we are healed, by his blood we are cleansed. Also they(those in hades) can see his stripes(his marks of crucifixion), the marks of a sinner, even though they all know he is clean(innocent)
6.Gotta get away Holy Diver= You need to leave this place, you don't belong here. You are innocent this is the realm of the wicked.
7.Shiny diamonds, like the eyes of a cat in the black and blue, something is coming for you= Jesus is a beacon of light in Hades, everyone can see him coming. Cats are a symbol of power and warfare, the black and blue is the absence of light and all encompassing pain. It stands for Hades.
8.Race for the morning= Run to Jesus Christ he is the morning star, Rev 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
9.You can hide in the sun 'till you see the light, Oh we will pray it's all right= Hide in the son(Jesus Christ) until you see the light.(God the Father is the Light) we'll put our faith in Jesus that he will take us out of this place(hades) and to the light(God)
10.Gotta get away-get away= we have to get out of here, this place sucks
11.Between the velvet lies= velvet is gentleness or caution, often concealing strength or determination and a profit or gain beyond what is expected or due. Jesus is the velvet lie. His intentions are not clear. Satan has been fooled, he thought he had won when he had Jesus crucified, in fact he has sealed his own fate. Jesus is here to claim what's his. All the souls of the fallen that will but believe in him can now be saved from Adam until now. Remember all fell short of the glory of God but one(Jesus), this means that all the prophets of the Old Testament were not reaching heaven. Not yet, but they are now.
12.There's a truth that's hard as steel= Truth is the word of God. Steel is the sword of Jesus's mouth Rev 2:16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
13.The vision never dies= The vision is the law, Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law. The law will never die because Jesus has finally fulfilled the law, allowing us to have eternal life with God through him.
14.Life's a never ending wheel= Death has been defeated. 1st Corinthians 15:56 "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." Romans *:2 "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
15.Holy Diver, You're the star of the masquerade, No need to look so afraid= Jesus played the part of the sacrificial lamb, allowing himself to be crucified for our sins. He was humiliated, mocked, beaten, and crucified when in reality he was God in the flesh, the lion, and could have called down the wrath of the heavens on his enemies. He didn't, he played the part of the masquerade(fooling Satan) allowing himself to fulfill the law and save mankind.
16.Jump on the tiger= take a leap of faith and believe in Jesus Christ.
17.You can feel his heart but you know he's mean= Jesus is the Lamb(Love and Forgiveness) be he is also the Lion(he will judge and punish the nonbelievers)
19.Holy Diver, sole survivor, your honor's clean= Jesus Christ the only man to not fall short of the law but instead has fulfilled it. You are innocent, your honor is restored. The resurrection of Jesus Christ and all the souls who believe in him.
wow, amazing job. are there religious meanings in more Dio songs?
Sorry, but I'm going to have to call bullshyt on this. Why would someone who wasn't even a Christian write such religiously profound lyrics into a song? The answer? He wouldn't. <br /> <br /> The truth is that you are a Christian and you want others to believe as you do, so you come up with something like this to lure people in. And apparently, some people are naïve enough to believe it. Personally, I would take offense at someone lying to me to draw me in, no matter how good their intentions might be, especially since that Bible that you love says "Thou shalt not bear false witness", and "all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire".
I don't think Nightrain50 is trying to lure people into Christianity. I think he/she is a Christian and sees Christianity in the song. I don't think he/she are trying to convert people. Truthfully I am a Christian but I don't think this song is about Jesus but I think Ronnie did make it vague on purpose to draw these types of debates about his song. I agree with ItsMeDave, why would he make this ONE song so religious? I don't believe he would.<br /> <br /> I think the song is about Herion and the effects it has on whomever(him) uses it. And he uses "vivid fantasies" to describe how Herion users feel and what they think when under the influence.<br /> <br /> I honestly don't know either way but I know this is a EPIC song to me.
@Nightrain50 Ronnie did say in an interview that the song is about Jesus Christ. He was raised Catholic and was very interested in spiritual things. Ronnie also said that "Man on the Silver Mountain" (with Rainbow) was about God. Both portray God and/or Jesus in a positive light. Ronnie didn't have a problem with God; but didn't like abusive religion. Tbh, I don't think God likes abusive religion either. "Temple of the King" (also with Rainbow) seems to be a spiritual song too; may also be about Jesus going to the Temple shortly before his crucifixion. Was "in the year of the fox," and Jesus called King Herod the "fox." The temple at the time was also known as Herod's temple. <br /> <br /> So for the guy who called "B.S." on this being a song with Christian themes, Ronnie did lots of songs with Christian themes. Not sure if all the detail in this interpretation fits what Ronnie had in mind, but the meaning of art to some extent is always in the eye of the beholder.
@Nightrain50 Sorry, but you are reading WAY too far into this. Dio himself has already stated that it simply means to not judge a book by its cover. Pretty simple, and nothing to do with Christian garbage.
I think the song has a meaning, just not to anyone except Ronnie himself...
you're telling me holy diver is Not about a drowned scuba enthusiast partially consumed by fish?
Hey, its better than Creed. Oh Yeah!
killswitch engage did an amazing cover of this song. i love them so much. i mean the cover is mind blowing. limewire it for the love of god if u havent yet.
About the meaning of the song.
Quoted from ronniejamesdio.com. Interesting point -
"It's simply a song about things that are not always what they appear to be. You need to look at more than what the package is, you need to look inside. The cover of the album hightlights that - Dio has said many times, why is a devil drowning a priest? well, maybe it's a priest drowning a devil! Bad people don't always look bad, many times they look normal. Also, good people may not always be the ones who are prettiest on the outside.
He's actually somewhat of a prophet - think of the more recent problems with priests misbehaving with young kids (maybe we should have Murray drown them!)
The song just uses lots of vivid fantasy metaphors. "Ride the tiger you can see his stripes but you know he's clean" - black stripes, could be dirt, but you know a cat is clean. "Jump on the tiger you can feel his heart but you know he's mean", again the tiger has a heart, but will kill you.
"Holy diver, you're the star of the masquerade" - again, a clear reference to something being different that what it appears to be.
Dio just takes a pretty old, basic proverd ("don't judge a book by it's cover") and writes a cool song, with lots of vivid metaphors, that people try to deciper."
songfacts.com/detail.php
Here are song facts for this particular song and album. This song has nothing to do with addiction, but here we go again...people trying to link lyrics with addiction where they shouldn't be linked.
this song is about christ like figure but not where you would really expect it. Ronnie James dio said it himself in a interview on the Metal : a headbanger's journey double dvds set. It's not a violent song.
On the album you can see a priest who is bond in chain about t drown and you can see a monster holding a broken piece of chain sugesting that he killed the priest. But who is to say that the moster is not a priest and the priest is not a monster. The song Holy diver had been banned after the 9/11 event because it was deemed to be inapropriate to sing at the time. It was also saw as a violent song.Which really pissed off dio.
Killswitch engage did a badass cover of this song at one of their concerts i was at. it was fucking awesome.
i'm not sure if i like the killswitch version or the dio version more, they're both awesome.