No one can hurt you now
In this haven safe and sound
No one can save you now
From this grace you are drowning in
Just hold your breath on your way down

This fortress of tears
I've built from my fears, for you
This fortress won't fall
I've built it strong, for you

No one can free you now
From the chains around your heart
Don't be afraid now
Just dive in this emptiness
And hold your breath on your way down

This fortress of tears
I've built from my fears, for you
This fortress won't fall
I've built it strong, for you

No one can hurt you now
In this haven safe and sound
Just hold your breath on your way down

This fortress of tears
I've built from my fears, for you
This fortress won't fall
I've built it strong, for you

This fortress of tears
I've built from my fears, for you
This fortress won't fall
I've built it strong, for you



Lyrics submitted by Hardcore_Icon

Track duration: 05:47

"This Fortress of Tears" as written by Ville Hermanni Valo

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., EMI Music Publishing

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This Fortress Of Tears song meanings
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16 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:To me this song is actually sung in a first person point of view, not about someone else. It has actually expressed the same way I’ve felt while battling depression and not wanting my loved ones to know about the struggle I was going through. Here’s how I interpret it:

    No one can hurt you now
    In this haven safe and sound
    (You’re all alone in your own world)
    No one can save you now
    From this grace you are drowning in
    (No one can save you from the pain or hurt that you can’t help but think about, b/c you haven’t told anyone else or can’t tell anyone else)
    Just hold your breath on your way down
    (This means that you have to keep some kind of reality check in mind, b/c if you don’t you could drown in your own depressive thoughts)

    Second Verse: He sings of how he protects his loved one from his own pain.
    This fortress of tears
    I've built from my fears for you
    (The pain that he feels is so strong that he can’t let someone find out about it because he thinks that they may not understand or that it may hurt them more than it does him)
    This fortress won't fall
    I've built it strong for you
    (He’s built up a wall and pretends everything is fine so that they can still be happy together, when in actuality he’s not ok, but it’s something that he thinks they shouldn’t know so he protects them from seeing him in that light)

    No one can free you now
    From the chains around your heart
    (The chains around your heart symbolizes the things that you are not able to show your loved one or the emotions your afraid to express)
    Don't be afraid now
    Just dive in this emptiness
    And hold your breath on your way down
    (When you’re in love you don’t have emptiness. Emptiness is only found when you feel alone, so it means that you can’t be afraid of your own pain or hurt. You have to dive deep into your emotions to find yourself or the root of the problem, but you can’t dive to deep otherwise you might lose yourself, hence the drowning)
    Flag macgirl67on April 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:love this song, favorite on love metal :) beautiful
    Flag emmivalleon October 26, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"i think..its about a guy drowning his girlfriend to take away all the pain that she suffers.. hince the
    "Just hold your breath on your way down"" Haha.

    Okay, I didn't listen to this song 730 times thus far to have it mistranslated. xx-mel-xx covered most of it. The Fortress of Tears is metaphorical for Ville protecting his love from everything in this world. Ville experienced the hatred and cruelty of the world, thus "This fortress of tears I've built from my fears, for you". He experienced it all and is shielding his love away from everything, so they can be together in pure bliss.

    This Fortress of Tears is the best song by HIM. End of discussion.
    Flag Exiledon March 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:amazing song...
    what i get from it is not that the chick doesn't like him, but that the chick feels exactly the same way. completley in love.
    And he loves her so much, and he wants to protect her from all the bullshit, whatever it may be. So he cries her a fortress, and it's the two of them alone, without the rest of the world. And no matter how empty it is... its pure grace. together.
    Flag xx-mel-xxon April 14, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think..its about a guy drowning his girlfriend to take away all the pain that she suffers.. hince the
    "Just hold your breath on your way down"
    maybe he is drowning her in his tears? Eh, just a thought.
    Flag xpoetic_tragedyxon April 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:linde didnt write the guitar riff... ville composes all the songs except 2 of them so far. unless theyre covers.. so kudos to ville for the amazing guitar riff. and this song is awesome i saw it live...
    Flag pheonix91289on March 11, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:linde didnt write the guitar riff... ville composes all the songs except 2 of them so far. unless theyre covers.. so kudos to ville for the amazing guitar riff. and this song is awesome i saw it live...
    Flag pheonix91289on March 11, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:alright now folks this song is about how much a guy loves a girl...he is with her at the beginning...hes protecting her...then he talks about how he's scared for her...so much so that he cries....but he shows how much he cares for her by all of his worrying...so he "builds" her a fortress or protection of his love for her....to prtect her from when she has to leave...
    Flag donniexmockon February 26, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:To me this song is saying that Someone loves a girl so much that he built her a fortress and he sits in that fortress waiting for her hoping she will come and crying about her waiting to see if she will come and see if she loves him the same way. The images i have in my mind from this song are so good and its hard to explain them this song is one of the greatest songs ever this song is just one of the reasons HIM is my favorite band.
    Flag Fortressoftearson February 04, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song chills me but still it's one of my favorites...i usually don't try to find any meanings behind the songs but to read the artist's comment about it. in HIM's case it's not so reliable 'cause they are incurable liers sometimes, eg. i've heard many explanations about where does the name "HIM" come from, and they (HIM) admit that it was pretty stupid to put it as a band name...
    awhhh...so much things to say...anyway, HIM is good, maybe the best finnish band ever!
    Flag SaltInMyWoundson January 29, 2005   Link

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