| Sonata Arctica – Wildfire Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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This is a screed against the destruction of the environment for the sake of corporate profit and general greed. The narrator charges humanity, under the direction of amoral corporations, with needless, wanton destruction of our environment. The song also hints that Nature will have it's due. //You didn't come in peace, wear a flower in your hair //Didn't mean to harm anyone of us in here //You need what you take, like a candle needs a snowflake You (general you, corporation, humanity) messed up the environment, but claimed that it was accidental and were just trying to survive. That's BS, because we didn't need to cut down as many forests/drill for as much oil/etc just to live a decent life. Humanity's incessant need to exploit every facet of our environment is likened to "Waging a war to a mountain", but just because we're the top of the foodchain doesn't mean that we will always win against nature; "Know that if Mountain wants you all begone, thou wilt be gone". //You bring in the machines "fire in the hole!" //Money is the power, morals gotta go //Tomorrow comes and the law is not a problem. //Corruption. //On every standing nail a hammer is to fall //No value in the oddities, evolution's gone //Talk is cheap but the suits are not These lines continue top paint a picture of amoral, soulless corporations, represented by talking heads in expensive suits, finding ways to eke out every bit of profit from the natural environment, at the expense of not only said environment, but the beauty in unguided nature ("No value in the oddities, evolution's gone"). The methods that the corporations employ are not only amoral, but oftentimes corrupt. //Thy will be done, thou wilt be dead If we keep f--king with Nature, it's eventually gonna f--k us back. //You dig another hole in the one you´re standing in //Nothing is enough for Generation Greed //Angels die for the cause, long live the faction //If you have access, "it is fine to reave!" //You only destroy to be able to leave //This planet one day, what a perfect day! This is expanding on the totally unnecessary extent to which we've wrecked the planet. We have what we need, but humanity just has to take even more. The end goal is the destruction of a habitable planet, but the uber-wealthy don't care because they're already making plans to GTFO (Jezz Bezos and the other billionaires getting into the space travel game). //Fiat iustitia, Pereat Mundus This is classical latin for, "Let justice be done, let the world perish" //Tulkoon oikeus, tuhoutukoon maailma This is the same as above, but in the Finnish language *(Sonata Arctica is a Finnish band, after all). //Seen so many of you die, thy will be gone. Yay! Self-explanatory. Goes with the above phrases. //You are wasting your life, use a pen as a knife //Always wanna take more than you ask for //All your promises reek, gluttony makes you weak. //Our planet is ever so grateful, //Grateful when your offspring´s gone, done! Continuing to paint a picture of greedy corporations destroying the environment. "[using] a pen as a knife", meaning using regulations, corrupt laws, lobbying, and bribery to give themselves approval to frack, mine, deforest, and generally destroy our natural resources. Nature will rejoice when global climate changes wipes out our species. There are more verses that I am skipping, because further explanation would be redundant. //The Mountain still wants to believe, you can turn the page again //You lose your hope here, one by one //Listen to me, son, you've got nowhere to run There's still a chance for humanity to repair enough of the damage we have done to the environment, to save both the environment and ourselves by extension, to "turn the page again", so to speak. It's really our last hope, because we've "go nowhere to run". //Species, generations. Extinct? Evolved? //What you call progress, must be put on hold //To let you have your way is not an option Industrialization and over-consumption is literally killing the environment, and when that happens, we kill ourselves. |
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| Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – Mondo Bongo Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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My interpretation: The narrator is a low-level gangster in the Yucatan area of Mexico that does business with the some corrupt entity. One night he is working security at an illegal gambling parlor when he receives orders to massacre some people (prisoners? strikers? innocent villagers?) at a bauxite mine. He is aware that his actions are terrible, but in an unstable climate he just shrugs, accepts the job, and accepts that his country is terminally corrupt and that life is unfair. One of those killed (either intentionally or accidentally) was a young woman. A Pachinko is like a Japanese slot machine. "Nude noodle model parlor" means a bare and depressing room ("nude", "parlor") full of Japanese slot machines ("noodle model"). The "Nefarious zone" implies that the location is unsavory, like a vice den. The "hanging out with insects under ducting" refers to the concept of a place being "bugged", meaning that a phone call or other audio is being covertly recorded. Usually, bugging implies that the body doing the spying is the government, but it doesn't have to be. "The CIA was on the phone" contributes to the gritty, illegal feel of the song. For those of you who may not be aware, the CIA is the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States, and this organization has been implicated (or downright confirmed to be) part of some particularly gruesome operations, including overthrowing democratically elected governments, and illegally selling weapons and drugs to terrorists and drug cartels. Exhibit A: The Iran-Contra affair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair The music style (sort of a tango), plus references to Zapatistas, "latino caribo" implies that this story takes place somewhere in Latin America, specifically the Yucatan area of Mexico. Yes, I know the translation is "Caribbean Latino", but the south eastern side of Mexico touches the Caribbean sea. This also plays into a corrupt CIA, since this organization was infamous for causing havoc in Latin America. //Latino caribo, mondo bongo //The flower looks good in your hair //Latino caribo, mondo bongo //Nobody said it was fair, oh This goes back to the framing device: he stumbled upon the murdered body of an innocent young woman, who was either a victim of intentional violence or collateral damage. He thinks "the flower looks good in your hair" and "nobody said this was fair" as he is either pulling out the body or examining it ("There's something there"). A bongo is a pair of drums commonly used in Latin American music, but in some parts of the Americas "bongo" is also a slang term for crazy. I think this fits the story perfectly: this grotesque violence isn't just insanity, it's also so ingrained into the local culture that it's like a cultural music. //Down at the bauxite mine //You get your own uniform //Have lunchtimes off //Take a monorail to your home //Checkmate, baby //God bless us and our home //Whereever we roam This is just recounting life from the perspective of the working grunt. "Down at the bauxite mine" makes me think that the wealthy authoritarians cracked down on mine workers who were striking for better working conditions. Generally, in these Banaba Republics, when workers striked for improvement in their human and worker's rights, the wealthy mine owners would collude with local cartels, the police or sometimes even the military to have the workers massacred. Here's a sad, real-life example of a similar occurrence in Mexico: https://libcom.org/news/article.php/mexico-police-shoot-strikers-270406 The narrator is a tool of oppression; he is being used as hired muscle to squash a strike or revolt of mine workers, but he views it as a "good deal" for himself: he gets a uniform, has a lunch break, and then gets to go home. It's like, he recognizes that what he is doing is terrible, but he lives in a world of atrocities, where violence is normalized. If you live in a poor country where resource distribution is scarce and the political situation unstable, just a simple job sounds like a win, or a "checkmate, baby". So what if that job is bashing in heads of people who don't want to be treated like slaves? (note: this is the explanation; I don't agree with this sentiment, just explaining my interpretation of the narrator). "God bless us and our home" is just the narrator sarcastically acknowledging how messed up the whole situation is in his country. |
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| Cain's Offering – Oceans Of Regret Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| It's pretty straightforward: a man ruminating on the constant heartache his ex causes. | |
| Cain's Offering – Oceans Of Regret Lyrics | 2 years ago |
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Actual lyrics: A twisted sense of irony in the way your constant Lack of sympathy has turned me so hopeless, so heartless Gethsemane open for me tonight, I'll pray for the last time For you and for me and our ordinary lives, ordinary lies My pain, redefined like an unwelcome guest arrives just to remind me I'm there for you if you'd still want me to, for after all I'm yours to keep Just come to me, I'm waiting with my wounds wide open Pour your salt into these wounds and watch me crawl Tell me to take it like a man, show me my place Hurt me just because you can Though now it hurts like hell it is better to feel just something else Than live in that uncertainty, so tell me now, how was he and tell me was he worth it An ounce of peace is all I want A solemn haven for the torn and tired one, downcast wayward son Can't crawl out of my hole So I'll make it my home While wise enough to dig no more Trying to wash off the pain stain, don't fill my heart with your disdain Why can't you see, a leap without faith is what you ask of me You pour your salt into my wounds and watch me crawl Tell me to take it like a man, show me my place Hurt me just because you can Take me in then tell me you hate me Breathe with me, make love to me until I bleed How does it feel to know that you can break me? And I guess I'd forgive if I would not look weak And I knew that you'd give yourself to me Though the wound is too deep I would give everything If I could just be the object of your desire Silently you stood there before me Violently unveiling your sin and your deceit You said to me "Love is only beautiful when it bleeds" Pour your salt into these wounds and watch me crawl Tell me to take it like a man, show me my place Hurt me just because you can |
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| Blind Guardian – Lionheart Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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Robsturr was correct, this is about Roland's journey beneath Lud to save Jake in "the Wastelands" (book 3 in Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series). It does reference the Greek mythological hero Ulysses, but I think the comparison is that Roland is on a very long quest filled with hazards, pitfalls, and unexpected tragedies (Roland's eternal search for the Dark Tower, versus Ulysses's misadventures in trying to return to Ithaca after the Trojan War). In order for an analysis of this song to make sense, you need some background of the book. In "The Wastelands", Roland and his Ka-tet (a group of 3 people he is bound to by fate) are crossing a dilapidated bridge when a rogue known as usher kidnaps Jake to take him to a psychopathic warlord known as the Tick-Tock Man. The city they are in is just a shell of an old, technologically advanced city. A thousand years previously, a civil war broke out and over the eons the city fell into ruins. The Tick-Tock Man's lair is beneath the city, under tons of booby-trapped rubble. As Jake was being kidnapped by Gusher, his billybumbler pet Oy silently followed and was able to remember the location. Oy went back to Roland and got him to follow his lead to rescue Jake. //Speak to me //It all would be easier //I want to talk to you This can be a reference to Roland wishing he could communicate more easily with Oy, but I think it's actually referencing Roland not being able to reach Jake with his Ka. Since they are bound in a Ka-tet, Roland normally has mild telepathic abilities with Jake, but Jake is so shaken up and afraid that his mind is closed and Roland can't pick up very much from him. //Who is that? //Do I hear a whisper? //Or do I hear a cry? Roland is having a hard time reading Jake's mind, but he gets some snippets and worries that Jake is being harmed. Jake is taken to a room with double iron doors, and eventually ropalnd is able to make out Jake's voice from elsewhere in the tunnels. //Across the brown land //The stumps of time This is referncing a concept in the series, that time and distance are no longer standard, but are getting more and more distorted as the Dark Tower is in a more precarious position. In the book, Jake has a Seiko sports watch. Once he crosses over his his reality into Roland's world, his watch stops working correctly. It reads impossile times, like 90'oclock on both Friday and Saturday, an example of how time is breaking down in Roland's world. //Since moonlights fade //I'm empty - heal me Roland views Jake as a surrogate son, and his kidnapping has left the Gunslinger upset and worred. //I'm in search of the Lion heart //I am ashamed //I myself can't make it Jake is the lionheart in this instance. Even though he is a kid, Roland see's the braveness in him. Roland can generally get himself out of almost any bad situation, but in this case there was no way he could have navigated the rigged tunnels without Oy. //Drown Ulysses //Drown here in the silence //Cause down to Hades I've gone //But I cannot get out The boob-trapped and rubble stren tunnels of the ruined city are like hell (or Hades) to Roland. Physically, since it's literally an underworld, and metaphorically, because of the danger and the heartache Roland is in as he worres avout Jake. The "drowning in the slience" I think is the trepidation Roland feels in not being able to extend his ka and give Jake a message, or receive one from him. //"Tic Tac" is the message //And the lunatic fears //He is no more Again, Jake is in the hands of the Tick-Tock Man, and Roland wonders if he has already killed Jake. //I'm in search of the Lion heart //Nobody else //But the pure can save me Roland sees Jake as a form of redemption. As a Gunslinger, he oftentimes has to be unemotional and harm people. Roland finds Jake's childish purity a form of salvation for his soul. |
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| Demons & Wizards – Crimson King Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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As others have already pointed out, this is about "The Man in Black" (aka Randall Flagg, aka Walter O'Dim) in Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series. As has also been pointed out, the title is a bid misleading, as Flagg is actually a minion of the actual Crimson King. I think the title should have been the same as the album, "Touched By the Crimson king", as that would make more sense. Anyway, for people who haven't read through the whole series, please skip the rest of my comments, and they will include spoilers. For those who have but may be confused about the lyrics, here's my interpretation: //My right hands, my servants //My soldiers, my tools //Spread out the good news //Find my children and gather them all //We'll take all low men //All the hatred, evil souls //We share one desire //A wicked one as you may know Flagg (The Man in Black) is a right hand man for the Crimson King. He is a force of pure evil and chaos, and draws all "evil" people to him to do his bidding, which isactually the bidding of the Crimson King. The Dark Tower is a physical manifestation of the lynch pin of reality, but also all that is good in the multiverse. The CK seeks to destroy it to become a god,and part of the process os throwing different worlds in strife and disarray, which is why Flagg wants the command of all the terrible people. In the first book of the series, Roland (the Gunslinger) chases the MiB. He knows in his heart, thanks to a mystical force called "Ka", that Flagg holds answers that can help him reach The Dark Tower("I am the key, I am the door"). Flagg does have truth but within that truth is deep sadness for Roland ("I am holding truth release your sadness"). I won't spoil what that is, but it has a significant impact on Roland's character development and the plot as a whole. *cough Jake cough* I think the following verses all reference the palaver that Roland held with the MiB at the end of book 1. During their chat, he MiB tried to break Rolan'd mind by showing him the size and expanse of the universe, and in doing so, showing Roland how infinitesimal and unimportant he was. These verses also reference another concept in the series, that Roland's journey is pre-ordained and infinite, and the MiB's fate is bound to the Gunslinger's ("Prophecies were made of you and I"). //The universe is void //Just you and I //Let there be light //The stars will rise //Then fall again //Climbing to the top //An empty room //Is all there is //Oh I fear it is //Prophecies were made of you and I /The vision's strong //But meanwhile keep on falling //Oh what a miracle is life //An even bigger one is size //It's just the way it is //I fear it is //It's just the way it is //"Life's a wheel nothing more //It goes round and around and a…" If you reached the end of book 7 and kept reading past the warning, then you know that Roland's quest to reach the top of The Dark Tower to sing out the names of all of his lost loved ones has happened before...many, many times before, and may happen endlessly. When Roland reaches the top of the tower and goes through the door, he goes back to where he started in the very firsts sentence of the first book, literally. His whole existence is a wheel of endlessly questing for the tower, attaining it, and then starting again, with no memory. |
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| Dark Moor – The City of Peace Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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I think this song is about the city of Córdoba, in the Andalusia region of Spain (FYI, Dark Moor is also a Spanish band), and about how it was viewed as one of the rare cities in the Middle Ages where Islam, Christianity, and Judaism managed to coexist peacefully, more or less. //In the Middle Ages //In its last stages //It's flourishing a new paradigm //In this place, three cultures //From cots to sepultures //Have come out to a convivial time In the late Middles Ages (1250-1500 AD), many Muslim-conquered Spanish cities, especially Córdoba, had a concept known as "La Convivencia" or "the Coexistence" ("a convival time"). Under some caliphates, Islam Judaism, and Christianity ("three cultures") coexisted peacefully in all facets of life "from cots to sepultures" (i.e. from birth to death). Contrary to modern interpretations of Islam, which includes a strict Wahabist element that can be construed as fundamentally opposed to Western values, Islamic culture at the time was a powerhouse of learning and cultural exchange, which had deep pockets of multiculturalism and respect for and tolerance of opposing viewpoints and religion. In many much of the Western world, Christianity was the default religion, but merely being Christian wasn't enough. Wars were fought over the "correct" kind of Christianity, so that any Christian sect that had been considered to stray too far from the edicts of the Roman catholic Church were persecuted. That idea that you could have three different religions coexisting would have been a "new paradigm". //It's shining high the oldish star //Near by the moon //Over the cross These are the symbols of the three religions. The Star of David for Judaism, the star and crescent moon for Islam, and the cross for Christianity. //The example and its echoes are //Astounding, soon //The world across Many people don't realize that the Islamic "age of learning" in the late Middle Ages was a significant contributor to the European Renaissance. Many of the literary and scientific works by old Mesopotamian, Greek and Roman scholars were lost in Europe, but copies of the works, and the ideas they entailed, survived in the academic Muslim world. The European rediscovery of these works, along with new content produced by Muslim scholars, played apart on the growing movement of rationality and scientific objectivity that was a cornerstone of the Renaissance. //The moon, the cross //And so, the star //Are all the forms of the same God who is so far Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all Abrahamic religions, which means they technically exist in a "shared universe" and believe in the same god and many of the same mythos. For example, the story of Isaac and Ishmael is a central one of Judaism, and Jewish theology believes that god's promise to Abraham that his descendants (through his son Isaac) would be as numerous as the stars is part of their identity. Meanwhile, Muslims believe that Ishmael (Abraham's other son) was a prophet of god and ancestor of their highest prophet, Muhammad. another example of how they share some of the same beliefs is that both Christianity and Islam revere Jesus as a holy prophet, although Christianity sees him as a messiah (Judaism, in contrast, doesn't believe the coming of their prophet has happened yet). //City of peace //Divine caprice ////You are the city of faiths' intercross //O, you //City of peace //Of moon, star //And cross... This just reiterates the main points about three religions intersecting. |
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| Sonata Arctica – My Land Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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Now that I think of if, it also sort of reminds me of The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is drafted into the Trojan War. he tries to act crazy so that he won't go, but that throw his infant sin in front of a plow he is driving, and Odysseus can't bring himself to hurt his child, so his crazy act ends. He's away at the Trojan War for 20 years, and when he returns to Ithaca he finds that a lot of pushy suitors have invaded his home. They are harassing his wife to marry them and disrespecting his teenage son Telemachus. He teams up with his won Telemachus to kill all the suitors and reclaim his estate. |
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| Sonata Arctica – My Land Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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There are a lot of interpretations about love, but I think it has a more literal meaning: someone took his land, and he has come to reclaim it. //My own land has closed its gates on me //All alone in world, it's scaring me //I am here to prove you wrong //I'm accused of something I live for In the past he was thrown out of his homeland and spent time elsewhere. He returns to prove his innocence. //In my dreamland, there's some who understands //A friendly soul, trusting life in my hands //Yes, I gave it all I can //Now it's invaded by a stranger Even though he was exiled, he still held an idealistic view of his land ("my dreamland"), and held the belief that not everyone thought he was guilty. However, when he returns to his homeland and seeks this person, he sees that someone else has taken over. In this case, the "friendly soul" was his wife or a woman he loved, and he returns to see that someone else has taken over his role as the man of the house. //Keep in mind what you have heard today //You might find that you're not so brave //Are you man enough, carry the load all alone //When other have your home This seems like the narrator talking to younger man. He remembers when he was a hotheaded youth who thought that he could win any fight, but he has gained wisdom in exile and is telling the younger person that it's easy to be a tough guy in theory, but things are different when you're placed in the reality of the situation. //I'm a true patriot, you are my land, //you have my soul, you have all I had //Now I am here, and I want it all back This makes me think that the crime he was exiled for was actually a war crime, or was seen as a crime but he viewed it as a necessary action to protect his homeland. perhaps he was a soldier in a losing war, and had to leave the country after his military lost, to spare his life, while his lover remained behind. Enough time has passed that he would be unrecognizable as a former soldier to most people, so he venture back home to see how everything has changed. //In my dreams, I climb the hills I see //and let a gentle breeze lead me to //plains I once have seen and //Clear blue sky, I swim in lakes I find //I build a house right there //that you can't take away //I am here to claim my land //you can't keep me away, forever, ever He still has an idolized view of what his country was like, before the war, and is determined to reclaim his land both in the sense of becoming a citizen again, and more literally in that his old home was razed and burned to the ground, and now strangers occupy the land. |
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| Sonata Arctica – My Land Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| @[craniifer:26423] Nope, that's my interpretation as well. He was exiled from his homeland for a crime he did not commit ("My own land has closed it's gates on me/I am here to prove you wrong/I'm accused of something I live for") and he returns from exile to find that the usurpers who framed him have ruined the place. | |
| Sonata Arctica – Shamandalie Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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This is a song about a person examining the regret of a friendship lost of unrequited romantic love. //In good old times, remember my friend //Moon was so bright and so close to us, sometimes //We were still blind and deaf, what a bliss? //Painting the world of our own, for our own eyes, now? The narrator was really good friends with someone in their childhood. As children they were "deaf and blind", alluding to the ignorance ("ignorance is bliss"-->"what a bliss") and simplcitly of youth. I take this to mean that then the friendship was genuinely platonic because they were blind and dead to romantic love, being too young to care about such things. //Can we ever have what we had then? //Friendship unbreakable //Love means nothing to me He wants the friendship he had then. He doesn't care about romantic love ("love means nothing to me"), he just wants to have a strong bond with that person. //Without blinking an eye //I'd fade, if so needed He's hurt that he could form such a strong bond with someone, and have that person appear to just cut him off from their life. Where once he was an important part of this person's life, he instead "faded" "without blinking an eye". //All those moments with you //If I had you beside me Again, he no longer cares about the romantic aspect. he just wants to get those pure moments of friendship back. //I was unable to cope with what you said //Sometimes we need to be cruel to be kind //Child that I was, could not see the reason //Feelings I had were but sham and a lie? //You saw us always clearer than me //How we were never meant to be //Love denied meant the friendship would die //Now I have seen the light //These memories make me cry As they grew older, his platonic love morphed into romantic love. He wanted more than mere friendship. However, the other person denied their advances, which hurt him deeply. He reflects that while it was painful, in the end it was correct, but in his youth and pain he could not understand this. The object of his affection understood that they could not work as a romantic item. At the time though, he felt rejected and wondered if any of the emotions they had were genuine; was it just "a sham and a lie"? //I have never forgotten your smile //Your eyes, oh, Shamandalie //Time went by, many memories died //I'm writing this down to ease my pain It's been a very long time since the friendship ended due to the awkwardness of unrequited love, but ht still remembers and regret that it faded. //Friendship got broken //There's no other for me //Like the one of my childhood days //Can you forgive me? //The love got better off me, //On that day back in old times" The implication that I get from "love got the better of me" and "I was unable to cope with what you said" is that he lashed out in pain and anger when his advances were denied, and in doing so said very hurtful things that in the end ruined the friendship. He has never had such a deep and meaningful friendship since, and wishes he could apologize for breaking it apart. |
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| Kent – Stoppa Mig Juni (lilla Ego) Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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This is a rumination on his thoughts and actions after a break up. I will be using the English translation (as opposed to the English version). //Someone had said I was a coward //Shame on you little ego //That I always stood in the back and agreed //The truth hurts //I've shadowed you in the cold //to return the excuse //that I stole //I take bus no.2 and sit alone in the back //Little Ego, sit still //I've traced your steps all day //to Hagnesta Hill //the first snow has fallen, everything is slippery //and I left my scarf //at a bus stop outside of town A man has broken up with his girlfriend. She has moved out and did not give him her new address. During the breakup, his girlfriend called him a coward. This made him extremely upset and bruised his ego, because deep down he knows it is true. He reflects on how someone has called him a coward before, when he was young, because he would go along with anything and never stand up or have his own opinions. In context of later lines ("I was cruel as a child"), it is implied that he was either a bully, or passively let other be bullied and did nothing. He is reflecting on all of this, as he is taking a bus to follow his ex ("I've traced your steps all day to Hagnesta Hill") and apologize ("I've shadowed you in the cold to return the excuse that I stole"). //I gather all my courage by the alley //Little Ego has fled //I screamed with an adolescent voice "I hate you all" //I was cruel as a child //This feeling I have isn't mine //It lingered, is it yours? //It tastes like you He sees her go to her new apartment, and tries to steel himself to knock on the door and apologize. However, he looses courage. He realizes again that he is a coward and gets angry at himself and screams in rage. He did this sort of jerk thing when he was an adolescent, wronging people and then being angry about the shame of it, and too cowardly to apologize, and realizes that not much has changed. He is still blaming people for his actions, he is still unable to take responsibility. He realizes that he hasn't matured emotionally. He has a complex mixture of shame, anger, and regret and wonders where it is coming from. He normally doesn't feel so disturbed, perhaps because his "little ego" always has a way of making him believe that he has done nothing wrong and the problem doesn't lie with him. But now he can't ignore the consequences of his actions, and wonders where these feelings are coming from. //It's tears /Is it possible to cry like a man? //Please forgive me, I forgot who I was //Please stop listening //Porget all I've said //I'm fine //You have to leave me be //I don't need any help //Want to help? Help yourself //I don't need any help //So leave me be //leave me be He is still in the alley/on the street near his ex's apartment, and is having a breakdown. He can't run from the emotions anymore. His scream has attracted people, who are asking what is wrong, and he realizes with shock that he is crying. He tries to regain his composure because his ego tells him that real men don't cry. He turns to leave, because he just wants to be left alone and doesn't want anyone to see his shame. It's kind of sad because he tries to have emotional growth (to apologize), but in the end he just can't do it. His ego gets the best of him; he really is a coward. |
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| Live – All Over You Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I agree with everyone who mentions that the "love" in question is the infatuation he has with prostitutes. //Our love is like water //Pinned down and abused //For being strange In most countries, there is still a stigma against prostitution. //Our love is no other //Than me alone //For me all day Th speaker seems aware that the "love" is not a real one, because it is selfish. It's not a mutual relationship of trust and love, but the one person taking a completely selfish gratification without little regard for the other person. You know, like when men visit prostitutes. //All over you all over me //The sun the fields the sky //I've often tried to hold the sea //The sun the fields the tide The speaker visits prostitutes and finds a lot of mental and emotional satisfaction from it. Since he has already shown that he is aware that it is a selfish "love", I think he is saying that he enjoys that for the amount of time he is with the prostitute, her total attention is focused entirely on him. He makes her the center of his universe for the time they are together, and maintains the illusion that he is hers. //Pay me now lay me down The idea of reducing his "love" a monetary transaction. Pay money-->get laid. However, unlike a lot of other songs that contain an element of shame, this one is refreshing because the speaker is totally aware of the reality if the situation, yet is now ashamed and can take legitimate fulfillment from the experience. I think this is a good thematic compliment to Lakini's Juice. |
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| Sonata Arctica – Paid in Full Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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"But as time went on, he realized that it was not his fault but the other person's fault. " Actually, it seems that he comes out of it not blaming anyone, really. |
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| Iron Maiden – Lord of Light Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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This is a song regarding Lucifer's role in God's plan. The first stanza is Lucifer ruminating on a conversation he had with God, as he is trying to understand his place in Creation: //There are secrets that you keep //There are secrets that you keep //There are secrets that you tell to me alone God keeps His own council, although he oftentimes tells Lucifer far more than he tells the other angels, since Lucifer is the first among Angels. //I can't reach things I can't see //You don't see this strange world //Quite the same as me //Don't deny me what I am //Nothing hidden still you fail to see the truth //These are things you can't reveal Lucifer is frustrated by how opaque and hard to understand God's plans can be at times. God counters that he has hidden nothing, that "Nothing [is]' hidden", Lucifer just hasn't reached that level of enlightenment yet. Lucifer reflects that perhaps he is just incapable of understanding God's plan (These are things you can't reveal"). The speaker has changed from Lucifer to an unknown third party. This narrator is reflecting on how God's strange plan is for Lucifer to be the bad guy. Over the eons, Lucifer's confusion and insecurity over the role that God ordained for him turned into anger, as he felt that he was unfairly set up to be evil. In the Old Testament, there is no Lucifer, but there is a Satan, and Satan isn't actually a bad guy. His job is to test the faithfulness and righteousness of man, and report back to God. You can see this in the book of Job. Old Testamenet Satan isn't evil, he is playing a role ordained by God to try to cull the truly faithful from the wicked. As time goes on, Satan sees that humans consistently fail, and he is angered and frustrated; why pick on humans, and why make *him* do it? Satan morphs from a lawyer-like character into "the devil". Now he no longer tests humans on God's commands, but intentionally leads them to damnation as revenge against the role God forced him into: //We are part of some strange plan //Why the slaughter of the brotherhood of man //Infernal sacrifice of hell //Fire breathing lead the way //Mounds of bodies as they all burn into one Lucifer no longer wants to be the devil, and seeks once more to regain his original nature, that of a Being of Knowledge: //Revenge is living in the past //Time to look into a new millennium The narrator continue to discuss how Lucifer became "the devil". //Spiral path leads through the maze //Down into the fiery underworld below //Fire breathing lead the way //Lucifer was just an angel led astray This hints at the idea that Lucifer may not actually be all that bad, or if he currently is, can still be redeemed ("Lucifer was just an angel led astray"). I like to think that the implied story is that Lucifer initially tempted man on God's orders, and as time passed sought to tempt them with knowledge and free thought. Lucifer didn't like the games that God was playing, and felt that humans should be truly free. He started off trying to do a good thing, but as more time passed he grew as disillusioned with man as he did with God, because when humans took the offer of intellectual and spiritual freedom, they simply chose to do bad things. It's this disgust of God's authoritarian, dictatorial ways, and mankind's flawed ways that caused Lucifer to basically say "Fuck it. Fuck all of you" and turn to evil. As discussed in the second stanza, Lucifer decided to forget his rveenge and try to aspire to being a being of Light and Knowledge again. Lucifer has walked away from being "evil", and is now fulfilling an earlier role, of being a guide to intellectual and spiritual freedom: //Free your soul and let it fly //Give your life to the Lord of Light //Keep your secrets and rain on me //All I see are mysteries When the narrator says "Keep your secrets and rain on me..." he is talking to God. This mirrors Lucifer's dissatisfaction in the first stanza. the narrator is saying that God is leading humans on with his vague talk of "plans" and "purpose"; in reality, He's making it up on a whim, and human shouldn't be free to explore and understand the world, and not chained the whims of one creature. The narrator reflects on how humans have chosen to not take responsibility for their own actions by blaming their bad deeds on "the devil": //We are not worthy in your black //And blazing eyes //We gather demons in the mirror every day //The bridge of darkness casts a //Shadow on us all //And all our sins to you we give this day The narration shifts back to Lucifer, who still sees humans as having potential. he doesn't want them to become jaded and revengeful like he did. Lucifer knows that his time is numbered. Even though he has chosen to stop leading humans to damnation and instead lead them to Knowledge, he himself is still damned because he is opposing God. He wants humans to achieve a state of spiritual freedom, before their souls can be permanently locked down by God: //Others wait their turn //Their lives were meant to last //Use yours wisely as the light is fading fast //Free your soul and let it fly //Mine was caught I couldn't try //Time returns again to punish all of us Lucifer reflects on what it is like for himself and the angels that defected from God with him: //We are cast out by our bloody father's hand //We are strangers in this lonely promised land //We are the shadows of the one unholy ghost //In our nightmare world the only one we trust |
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| Katatonia – Deliberation Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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This song is about someone approaching the end of their life //Visions come //Visions come //In a sickroom bed //There's something left to learn //Pass them on //Let it show //Let the rich meet death //Confront our own concern In Western societies, death is sanitized and shoved out of sight, out of mind. By removing ourselves from the spectre of death, we don't have to think about our own dying. The narrator is dying, and comes upon some revelations regarding the meaning and value of life. The societal veil of death is also lifted; unlike most healthy people, death is something that he can no longer shrug his shoulders an avoid. These verses are him lashing out at people who would prefer to look past his dying and pretend it's not happening, because to accept the death of a loved one means to contemplate one's own death. He is trying to intentionally remove their comfort zone and make them confront it. //See us sleep behind the glass //Unaware of crime //Wake us up before it is time This is the narrator's way of stating that we know about death, but we don't *know* it, nor do we want to. We are like dreamers, sleeping behind a transparent barrier, purposely ignorant of death. We don't want to confront it until it's time for us to go. //The red circle holds the only light //Break down my perspective He sees death coming and is losing consciousness //And notify everyone when the time is right This is what happens when a person finally dies; friends and relatives are notified. //My mouth remains inactive This goes with the first stanza. Initially, he wants to lash and scream and break their comfort zone, to tell those around him about death and the meaning of life, but as he slips further into death something in the afterlife transfixes him. //I am ice //I am clear //Let the world be cold The narrator has finally died and is beyond the cares of the mortal world, but a part of him still remains. the part that remains doesn't view life as previously, being dead, everything is more clear, less complicated, less emotional. //Our deliberation //Pass them on, let it show //Let the words come slow //Your constant decondition In the wake of the narrator's death, his loved ones are forced to examine death and their own inevitable demise. Because it is an uncomfortable topic, the "words come slow". the process of accepting the loss of a loved one and finally facing the reality of one's own death deconditions a person from the societal constructed ignorance of death discussed in the first stanza. |
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| Nightwish – Sahara Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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The ancient mariner in this context is likely to refer to Sinbad. In Eastern tradition, Sinbad was a sailor, and not just an adventurer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad_the_Sailor |
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| Tool – Schism Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| Thank you. I'[m 12 years too late into the fray here, but thank you. I get that songs can be interpreted in different ways, but some people are going way out to assign a religious meaning to a song which described in poetically poignant detail the isolation and frustration of an ending relationship. | |
| Tool – Schism Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| @Randomidentity: While it is true that the word schism is usually used in connection with religion, it can be a split or division between any two parties. If you want to go with the religious sense, the lyrics can be interpreted thus: when two people become committed lovers, they join together spiritually to create one unit (or at least, that's what some people believe). In this case, the schism would be the division of the spiritual entity--a couple--into two separate people again. Also, schism is a very heavy world, with a stronger connotation that mere "separating"; two units which used to be one have become irrevocably opposed. A separation from a serious relationship would indeed be a schism for most people. | |
| Deftones – Change (In the House of Flies) Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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The song is a narrator who was an abuser comparing his actions towards his victim as that of a cruel child torturing bugs. >> I watched you change >> Into a fly I think there are two different ways of looking at this: either the narrator focuses his bullying and abuse on a person, and in doing so that person becomes less and less of a human being in his eyes, or that the narrator has begun to notice that his victim isn't such an easy pushover anymore. If we go with the later meaning, then the victim has progressed from a maggot to a fly (maggots are the juvenile versions of flies). Maggots are considered gross, useless creatures, more so than flies, so we see that the narrator still has a dehumanized view of his victim, but instead of a creature that is utterly powerless and easily crushed underfoot( maggot), it is now a creature that has some level of agency in escaping the narrator. >> I looked away >> You were on fire He let his attention wander for a bit and then refocused it on the victim, and found to his surprise that the person was becoming new and different--and possibly even dangerous. This reminds me of a schoolyard bully who picks on a kid, forgets about the kid for a few weeks, and starts again only to find that his victim isn't so easy to bully anymore. Alternatively, any relationship in which the abuser takes the abused for granted, and then has a sudden moment of realization that, somewhere along the way, the power dynamics of the relationship has shifted; the abused isn't so easy manipulated anymore, and starts to fight back (whether physically, verbally, or emotionally). >> I took you home >> Set you on the glass >> I pulled off your wings >> Then I laughed The narrator is comparing himself to a sadistic child, who takes pleasure in harming another creature and who has no conscience about it. I take this to mean that the narrator is saying that he was pointless abusive and cruel to the victim. >> I watched a change in you >> It's like you never had wings >> Now you feel so alive >> I watched you change The victim goes from being passive and scared, to feeling more self-confident, and thus more likely to fight back against the narrator. >> I look at the cross >> And I look away >> Give you the gun >> Blow me away The chickens have come to roost for the narrator. The balance of power has shifted, and now it's the former victim who can inflict abuse on the narrator. The narrator doesn't feel angry about this; rather, at some point he realized how harmful his actions were, how much damage they caused his victim, and he feels that he fully deserves whatever the former victim dishes out to him. |
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| Fairyland – A Soldier's Letter Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Am I the only person who thinks this sounds like the Dragonborn theme song from Skyrim? Seriously. Here's the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clcHxg9l5Bk | |
| Sonata Arctica – Wildfire, Part: II - One with the Mountain Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I keep reading people mention that the song has an underlying environmental theme, and the voiceover in wildfire III certainly suggests that, but I simply don't get that vibe from this song, or it's predecessor. If you look at this song as part of a whole (Wildfire from Reckoning Night, and then Wildfire II and Wildfire III on Stones Grow Her Name), the obvious meaning is that: There is a man who (believes he) is unfairly scapegoated for problems in a town due tot he acts of some of his family members. In a fit of rage, he tries to burn down the town (Wildfire). In Wildfire II, the son of the narrator in Wildfire returns to find that the townsfolk have created a dark mythos regarding his family line. The family is now a sort of "boogeyman", and the man is appalled at all the hate that is thrown towards his family name and concerned that he will be unfairly persecuted because of his lineage. He has moments of anger, but on reflection realizes that the history between his family and the town forms a terrible cycle of violence, with the whole family being unfairly persecuted for the acts of a few, until someone in the family snaps and does something horrible, which causes the town to hate and fear the family even more. The narrator realizes that if he succumbs to anger because of the townsfolk hateful ways, he'll just be continuing the cycle. I'm about to go off the deep end here: In Scandinavian folklore, trolls are oftentimes depicted as outsiders and antagonists against societies. In the last hundred years, some modernists retelling have also painted trolls as victims of urban sprawl and the destruction of nature. If we were to run with this theme, it would fit in especially well with Wildfire III, but what about I and II? No idea. Maybe the "family infamous" in question take the role of the troll, and by fleeing into the mountains become representatives of the wildnerness. In this light, the cycle of violence between the unnamed family and the unnamed town is an allegory of the relationship between Man and his attempts to control nature. |
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| Rhapsody – Shadows Of Death Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| I love my metal like I like my pizza--drowning in cheese :-D | |
| Serenity – Youngest Of Widows Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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This is about Mary, Queen of Scotts. //She found her homeland, she's heir to the throne Mary was the daughter of King James V of Scotland. Even though she was born in Scotland, Mary was sent to France when she was 5 and didn't return to Scotland until she began her regency, when she was 19. //1567, there's a lord lying dead on frozen ground //Who did pull the wires in this plot? Will the murderer //Ever be found? //Maybe she knows more than she pretends to know //About his passing //Who says a queen does never lie? In 1565, Mary married her cousin Henry Stuart and they had a horrible marriage. In 1567 Henry was found murdered, and Mary and the Earl of Bothwell were suspected of being the culprits, or at least the architects. //She found her homeland in chaos and war When Mary returned to Scotland after 14 years in France, the country was undergoing civil religious distress, with Catholics fighting against Protestants //The youngest of widows, a heart deeply sore She married the Dauphine of France when she was 15, but he died after a year. By all accounts, Mary loved her first husband very much and was distraught after his death. //She fought all her battles alone After Henry Stuart's death, Mary was imprisoned and the throne taken from her. It eventually passed to her sister Elizabeth I. Mary spent the next 20 years creating various plots and schemes to retake the throne, until she was jailed and executed for treason in 1587. |
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| Dark Moor – Before The Duel Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Pretty straightforward; a man declares a duel to defend his honor, and the day before the duel he is contemplating his mortality. | |
| AFI – The Leaving Song Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I always interpreted this song as the internal dialog of someone who suffers from a depressive disorder and as a result has a difficult time maintaining social relationships. //walked away, //heard them say, //poison hearts will never change Because he suffers from depression, he sees the world in a very cynical light, which leads those around him to accuse him of having a "poisoned heart". //walk away again The "again" implies that this is not an uncommon occurrence, and the rejection just creates a negative feedback loop where every time he is socially rejected he becomes more depressed, which in turns makes it harder to not be cynical. //turned away in disgrace //felt the chill upon my face //cooling from within Following each rejection he not only cries alone in private ("felt the chill upon my face") but also becomes more detached, unsociable, and cold as an ego defense mechanism ("cooling from within"). //hard to notice //gleaming from the sky //when your staring at the cracks //hard to notice //what is passing by //with eyes low, Oh He thinks that it is difficult to appreciate the good things in life when all he can focus on are the depressing ones. This sounds like a response to the encouragement that people with clinical depression usually face; they are told to "snap out of it!", "smile!', or "cheer up!". On a side note, for anyone reading this, that is actually one of the worst things that you can do to a person suffering from a depressive disorder. Such people have a legitimate mental illness, and may physiologically be incapable of "just cheering up" due to chemical imbalances or other very real medical reasons. By insisting that they just stop being depressed, you are feeding into their disorder by making them feel abnormal and worthless; a depressed person can no more just create more serotonin than a diabetic person can create more insulin. //all the cracks they lead right to me //and all the cracks will crawl right through me //all the cracks they lead right to me //and all the cracks will crawl right through me //and they'll part This expresses a sense of vulnerability but also dissociation. He at once both feels like he is brittle and also unworthy of having friends or people who care about him, because he is such a downer, and also (illogically), that he's a source of misery for other people ("all the cracks they lead right to me"). The last line, "and I fell apart", shows that he has mentally and emotionally crumpled and disassociated from the stress of his depression and social rejection. What a freakin' depressing song, AFI. :-( |
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| Dark Moor – An End So Cold Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song is about the character Ophelia from Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Ophelia was a noble woman who was in love with prince Hamlet. However her father commanded her to spurn her love and any advances from Hamlet. After Hamlet rebuffs her during a fit of despair (in large caused by her instructed rejection of Hamlet as a love interest), and her father's murder, Ophelia descends into madness and is eventually found drowned in a nearby pond. Whether or not it was an accident or a suicide has long been a literary debate. The lyrics in this song refer specifically to the scene (Act 4, Scene 5) where we see that Ophelia has gone off the deep end (pun intended). During the scene, Ophelia sings in riddles and gives other characters flowers, while describing the meaning of each. I don't think all of the flower sin the song actually appear int he play, nor are the meanings matched up. Here are Ophelia's lines: "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember: and there is pansies. that's for thoughts." "There's fennel for you, and columbines: there's rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays: O you must wear your rue with a difference. There's a daisy: I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died: they say he made a good end,--" |
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| Dark Moor – For Her Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| For a comparison, try "the Odyssey" from Symphony X. | |
| Dark Moor – For Her Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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The lyrics are inspired by The Odyssey. One of the main themes of the Odyssey is Odysseus' love for his wife and longing to return to his family. the song recounts all of the adventures and hardships he endured while stranded at sea for a decade following the Trojan War, and adds that it was only his love for his wife that gave him the strength to persevere through each one. It's a beautiful song, and shares a lot of similarity with Symphony X's The Oddyssey (their take on the epic poem). |
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| Blind Guardian – A Voice in the Dark Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I agree with TheGuardianOfTheBlind: it's based on Bran Stark, ore specifically his conversations with the three-eyed crow while in a coma. | |
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