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Give me release
Witness me
I am outside
Give me peace
Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides
In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe
Passion chokes the flower
Till she cries no more
possessing all the beauty
Hungry still for more
Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides
In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe
I can't help this longing
Comfort me
I can't hold it all in
If you won't let me
Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides
In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe
Witness me
I am outside
Give me peace
Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides
In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe
Passion chokes the flower
Till she cries no more
possessing all the beauty
Hungry still for more
Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides
In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe
I can't help this longing
Comfort me
I can't hold it all in
If you won't let me
Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides
In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe
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I'll stick with the people who say it has something to do with sexuality. It is and it does. I remember this song from the dark Goth bars of the 90's. Originally it was written by Delirum, before Sarah Mclaughlen got a hold of it (i believe). Of course the people who came afterwards did a great job, but there is an entire album, which I have.
* heaven holds a sense of wonder - getting caught up in the white wave - the sense of peace from being controlled and Dominated properly by someone who has the heart and gives a care about your essence
* being "outside" , feeling "peace" multiple references to the bliss-state of subspace and the pain/pleasure dispassion state
* rage, anger at being mistreated by former, inept and abusive partners
* Choke the flower, until she cries, holding all the beauty, hungry for more. - use of pain and axphyiation (which isn't bad, if done properly, if not, it's pretty unsafe!) to achieve neuraltrance - also holding all the beauty- again a reference to the subspace - bliss state
* Again, later, multiple references to the trance-state and the sensation of being held or looked inwards on by one's partner
There are of course different interpretations.
"I have lived , i have loved, I have served" it's a quote from another song on the album... "glowing like a firefly"
-- Desire for identity and peace
-- Suppressed voracity
-- Fervor, but disconnection for and from euphoria
-- Desperation
-- Liberation, or deterioration
Sorry for the second post below, I needed to make corrections
The connotations can be religious. However, I would suggest that they lyrics are more desperate for faith - in anything that the writer can say she is proud of.
Heaven is the longing reverie of her desires, and it does not exist to her while her rage cannot subside, which she believes will not. Whether Heaven be a dream in substitution for reality, or a religious one.
"In this white wave," her definite failures, limitations, purpose of existence is discerned. Whatever she is, or has been, can succumb to this "white wave" she can finally believe that a concept like euphoria or compassion exists.
The color white can be associated with death and or purity. Death discerns, but doesn't discriminate. You are, at least, accepted without any hesitation, i.e. "In this silence I believe." With purity, it can symbolize a spiritual or religious notion that is entirely ambiguous.
The song is is passionate, potent, independent, daunting but relieving.
-- Desire for identity and peace
-- Suppressed voracity
-- Fervor, but disconnection for and from euphoria
-- Desperation
-- Liberation, or deterioration
The connotations can be religious. However, I would suggest that they lyrics are more desperate for faith - in anything that the writer can say she is proud of.
Heaven is the longing reverie of her desires, and it does not exist to her while her rage cannot subside, which she believes will not. Whether Heaven be a dream in substitution for reality, or a religious one.
"In this white wave," her definite failures, limitations, purpose of existence is discerned. Whatever she is, or has been, can succumb to this "white wave" she can finally believe that a concept like euphoria or compassion exists.
The color white can be associated with death and or purity. Death doesn't discerns, but doesn't discriminate. You are, at least, accepted. With purity, it can symbolize a spiritual or religious notion that is entirely ambiguous.
The song is is passionate, potent, independent, daunting but relieving.
and everythindg about the wite wave the slince and sinkinis means means that god has let her in and she is on her way have you ever haerd of people who come close to die they see white light most of them say that whats she saying she see gods he silent he brething now she know shes and heaven so she screams i am freee hope you can understand sorry dont have much edgcation but i did my best
PS, and not to judge anyone, except it diminishes your posts: a sidenote...for the love of anything you hold sacred~ "your" (ownership) is not the same as the conjunction, "you are" (you're)...nor is: there (a place), their (ownership, a belonging), they're (they are)...omg!!!
The original version of the song is MUCH darker than any of the remixes (save maybe Fade's Sanctuary mix, which was, I believe, the first remix ever done of this song).
Taken in the context of a club remix, the track loses a lot of its darkness, bleakness, despair and rage. The themes seem a little less depressing when the vox and lyrics are set to an upbeat, faster tempo remix. I believe there are only two remixes (again, Fade's Sanctuary mix, and Above & Beyond's 21st Century) that give even the slightest nod to the gorgeous cathedral choirs and gregorian chant from the original song, which are a very significant part of the reason I love this song so much.
Don't get me wrong, I think some of the remixes of "Silence" have been absolutely brilliant, but for me, all of them seem to lack depth, particularly some of the more recent ones like the Lissat & Voltaxx remix and the Niels van Gogh mix. Even the Tiesto (who I am a huge fan of) remix is at times loud and obnoxious. I'll give him credit though, I think he captured a lot of the darkness of the original, but in also trying to capture the power, he used volume rather than letting Sarah McLachlan's voice do the work. As I said, I think the Sanctuary mix by Fade is probably the best mix of all that have been done.
Now, as far as meaning goes, if you take the song in the context of the original, I think the themes are extremely sinister. For a long time, I interpreted them as having to do with drugs, and I still believe they can be looked at that way, but the more I really pay attention, I am really coming to think that the song is about severe depression and suicide, and the desperation of just simply needing to be SEEN for who and what we really are, instead of the masks we hide behind that conceal our deepest fears and bleakest feelings. I lost my father-in-law to suicide earlier this year, and I think that may have been the catalyst that changed my perspective about this song. The lyrics are so sad, so desperate, begging for a release from the pain of living- whether that means actual physical death, or some kind of way to just release all the building pressure and darkness within. I think the character Sarah McLachlan is singing from has reached a crossroads: she can no longer deal with what's going on in her mind, so she has two choices: Reaching out for help, whether that's from her idea of God, or simply from another person. The alternative for her is ending her own life. I think we've all been where she is at one point or another in our lives, when we have this internal dialogue going on with the universe, or God, or simply ourselves...desperately pleading for things to change, one way or another.
-----------------------
"Give me release;
Witness me;
I am outside;
Give me peace."
She wants nothing more than to be released from the hell of her own brain. She's outside of herself looking in, the sole being in her dark world. She feels invisible, and is begging for someone to see her (Witness me).
"Passion choke the flower;
'Til she cries no more;
Possessing all the beauty;
Hungry still for more."
The first stanza in this verse (Passion choke the flower; 'til she cries no more) suggests that she has used sex or other forms of superficial human contact to fill the void inside herself, and as a means to quiet the screaming in her head. She has lived her life always striving to be loved and accepted, making herself beautiful on the outside, but as beautiful as the mask she wears is, she is crumbling and disintegrating inside.
"Heaven holds a sense of wonder;
And I wanted to believe that I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides."
To me this suggests she has been trying so hard to live up to some unattainable ideal that she's never experienced (heaven), and she's always thought she'd get there if she could be strong and overcome the darkness that swirls around in her brain. "Heaven" could also suggest the lure of death; to be free from the pain.
"I can't help this longing;
Comfort me;
I can't hold it all in;
If you won't let me."
She's screaming for help. She's longing for death, and wants nothing more than for someone to just SEE her, and recognize what she's going through. She's never told anyone about the darkness, and has always been able to hide it so well, but she knows if someone actually SAW her, and was able to make her open up just a little bit, there's no way she'd ever be able to keep it all bottled up inside anymore and feel like she has to continue to deal with it alone. It would be like opening a flood gate, but in order to do that, she needs someone to pull the pin and open the door.
"In this white wave, I am sinking, in this silence;
In this white wave, in this silence I believe;
I have seen you, in this white wave, you are silent;
You are breathing, in this white wave I am free."
In the end, I believe she has chosen death. I think the 'white wave' represents death itself. She's letting it wash over her and she is finally set free from her pain. In death, she finally catches a glimpse of the person she desperately wanted to become: happy, at peace, and living the life she always wanted. That image of herself has finally appeared. She has accepted that the fight is over, and she's finally laid down her sword and is succumbing to the only thing she knows will give her the peace she could never find anywhere else.
yes, it does have to do a lot with inner experiences, but notice "and i WANTED to believe".
and NO, this is not techno nor is it trance, some call it ambient, some call it chill-out, what it is doesnt matter as long as it is good music.
Love this song everything about it just seems to fit together perfectly
The Latin at the beginning of the song come from Luke Chapter 2, verse 14, and means
"Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men", said by the Angel announcing the birth of Jesus.
The Song is also filled with Christian symbols described very well here by others.