I am the tragedy
And the heroine
I am lost And I am rescuing

The storm is come
And I am following

My name is Tristan
And I am alive

Forever young
I come from God knows where
Because now I'm here
Without a hope or care

I am trouble
And I am troubled too

My name is Tristan
And I am alive

Sorrow by name
And sorrow by nature
Working for joy
On overtime

Stuck on a line
Of misadventure
I fear no crime

I am the victim
And the murderer
You speak of love
But I've never heard of her

I am fucked
And I am fucking too

My name is Tristan
And I am alive


Lyrics submitted by timeforheroes

Tristan Lyrics as written by Patrick Wolf

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Tristan song meanings
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26 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    I wish his organ would finish me off.

    _ellieon June 07, 2006   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    This song makes me want to have sex with everything. ...In a very empowering way.

    lovejolton January 16, 2007   Link
  • +3
    Translation

    He could be talking about an alter-ego, or maybe "Tristan" is a metaphor for something dark inside of him. Amazing song!

    DivingUpon April 11, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    love the part "working for joy on overtime, oh ohhh"

    luey_babyon May 16, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    First, sorry for the mistakes in my english.

    I don't know if it was in Patrick Wolf's mind... but it's funny:

    the name "Tristan" comes from the old gaelic, "drust", and it means "uproar", "revolt". Later, the christians used the word "triste", "sad", to transform the name.

    from the revolt to the sadness... Two meanings of a same name. Just like in this song.

    I like this song for an obvious reason: my name is Tristan (for real :) ) It's such a common name in France (where I come from), but I didn't know it exists in english too. I heard Tristram, never Tristan.

    Tristouilleon March 10, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    an amazing song, with patrick vocals that are out of this planet, the beat, the drums, it's all perfect, a standout track on the album

    latentiaon March 05, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i love the way he says "..and i am ALIVE". one of his best songs, if you ask me.

    gullilauraon April 10, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Beautiful beautiful music. Does anyone know if this is inspired by the ancient celtic legend 'Tristan and Yseult'? The lyrics fit the story, but I'm not sure.

    giant_squidon October 12, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i read that this weather, jacobs ladder, and tristan all are a sequential story of some sort! none the less, this song makes me want to do a back flipinto a lava pit!

    slinkstersarson November 13, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I was reading a piece of an interview on Patrick Wolf and this is what he had to say about this song:

    PATRICK WOLF: I took a holiday down to Cornwall in October, which down there is almost mid-autumn; it's very stormy and so you get this huge shipwrecking kind of weather down there. There was no-one around, no tourists. It was my first night there and I had taken down my organ to finish off some lyrics. Then I went for a long walk and suddenly a storm came in in this very dangerous place. I came back safe and sound and dried myself off and suddenly this song "Tristan" came wrapping on the door. It came in two minutes. It was finished then and it was almost like a possession, like I was possessed for two minutes. And I wrote that song. I didn't really know what happened and then suddenly had this gift. It's like someone came to the door and jumped inside me, wrote a song and then ran away again.


    This is probably my favorite song by him. It is so passionate and describes almost every feeling within me. When he says, "and I am alive" it always make me think "I am a human being". Everyone is human. No matter how they chose to live life. The whole sound of it is very jaded. But I love it so much.

    Southboundon December 05, 2005   Link

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