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Who are you?
Man condemned to shine a salvation
Throughout the centuries
Why?
Was the wine of the grail
Too sour for man to drink
The carpenter
Carved his anchor
On the dying souls of mankind
On the tomb of this unknown soldier
Lay the tools of the one who for us had died
Tools of the carpenter
The one they lick
The same old sick
Dream of their precious savior
Kiss them deep
And make them weep
Over promises of eternal peace
The carpenter
Carved his anchor
On the dying souls of mankind
On the tomb of this unknown soldier
Lay the tools of the one who for us had died
Tools of the carpenter
I hear you
Through the symphonic voices of nature
The purity I could never doubt
They tell me to lie on the grass
And observe my savior
The one crucified to the chirping of birds
The carpenter
Carved his anchor
On the dying souls of mankind
On the tomb of this unknown soldier
Lay the tools of the one who for us had died
Tools of the carpenter
Man condemned to shine a salvation
Throughout the centuries
Why?
Was the wine of the grail
Too sour for man to drink
The carpenter
Carved his anchor
On the dying souls of mankind
On the tomb of this unknown soldier
Lay the tools of the one who for us had died
Tools of the carpenter
The one they lick
The same old sick
Dream of their precious savior
Kiss them deep
And make them weep
Over promises of eternal peace
The carpenter
Carved his anchor
On the dying souls of mankind
On the tomb of this unknown soldier
Lay the tools of the one who for us had died
Tools of the carpenter
I hear you
Through the symphonic voices of nature
The purity I could never doubt
They tell me to lie on the grass
And observe my savior
The one crucified to the chirping of birds
The carpenter
Carved his anchor
On the dying souls of mankind
On the tomb of this unknown soldier
Lay the tools of the one who for us had died
Tools of the carpenter
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The opening lines:
'Who are you? Man condemned to shine a salvation
Throughout the centuries'
consist of Tuomas addressing a hypothetical Christian. The role of every Christian is to 'shine a salvation', that being to spread the gospel and convert non Christians. In the bible Christians are often compared to light, i.e. Matthew 5.14 'Ye are the light of the world.' Clearly Tuomas views this Christian mission negatively, hence the word 'condemned' and the phrase 'throughout the centuries' indicating an arduous task. His description of Christian mission is not unlike that of a curse.
In the next lines Tuomas asks why Christians put themselves through such pain:
‘Why? Was the wine of the grail
Too sour for man to drink’.
The grail refers to the cup of suffering that Christ drank during the last supper before his death. According to myth drinking from the grail will grant immortality and eternal happiness. Tuomas asks why Christians don’t appear to have this or possess any material benefit from their religion, rather they spend their lives as slaves trying to convert others to their faith.
The most obvious anti-Christian imagery in the song can be seen in the lines:
‘The one they lick
The same old sick
Dream of their precious saviour’
The saviour (Jesus) is referred to derogatively as a ‘dream’ and ‘sick’. Tuomas cannot understand Christianity and views the basis of the faith as a joke. The first two lines here most probably refer to a dog, which is an animal known to eat its own sick. Therefore Christians are dehumanised, and because of their faith are compared to mindless animals eating vomit.
The next three lines are addressed directly at God:
‘Kiss them deep
And make them weep
Over promises of eternal peace’
‘Kiss them deep’ comments on God hypnotising Christians and taking away their self control. Then Tuomas tells us that Christians ‘weep’ because of the hardships they endure over God’s false ‘promises of eternal peace.’
The last section of the song refers to Tuomas finding solace in nature, ‘the purity I could never doubt.’ It is implied that Tuomas views nature as his own god: ‘And observe my saviour
The one crucified to the chirping of birds’
Given the context, Tuomas is observing his ‘saviour’ in nature. This could refer to a ‘sun god’ given the fact that he is lying in the grass and looking up at the skies. In old paganism the sun was revered as the most important one of a whole pantheon of spirits, which included the rivers and trees. The phrase ‘crucified to the chirping of birds’ indicates that his alternative god is closely affiliated with nature.
I have read that Tuomas is an atheist, so I’d say the last bit about early paganism being his ‘saviour’ is possibly pushing it a bit far. However, there is little doubt that the song is anti-Christian and he is expressing confusion and frustration at people wasting their lives on the ‘old sick dream’ that is Christianity.
As a Christian, that was my first impression on reading the lyrics. However, no offence meant, that’s just my opinion. Nightwish have awesome songs, and generally aren’t considered a satanic or even anti-Christian band. However, based on this I’d advise Christians to analyse the words of their music very carefully. Another thought to throw into the mix is the fact that their guitarist Marco Hietala is also a member of a band called tarot… I haven’t investigated them but membership of a band whose name refers to a satanic practice can’t be good…
Now you know: And knowing is half the battle
And its blatent that Tuomas was trying to make you all feel like this, he didnt write the song about Jesus just to make you think he did.
He was trying to tell you all something and you should take it upon yourself to see what that was, all od his songs come from the heart, his heart and they all have a meaning. You do know what it is, I know what it is.
So listen to the song with your eyes closed and let the music take you away, Then you shall know what he meant
The Unknowm Soldiers "who for us has died" would be the hundreds of thousands of nameless, faceless, soldiers during wars that perished in the defense of thier country, but would only ever be remembered as a statistic. For example, I learned in my history class that over 20,000 people were wounded or died in the Battle of Antietam. I learned that anywhere between 30,000 and 100,000 people died in the World War II Bombing of Dresden, but I never learn the people's names, and I never learn who they were. I mean, I know it would probably a waste of time (and a totally useless actiion) to try to discover every little thing about everyone that died in a battle, but my point is that now they are simply a nameless, mostly unknown statistic.
And, on the American Tomb of the Unknowns, there is always a sentinel present, who is armed with one of the timeless 'Tools of The Carpenter' that goes back hundreds of years: a gun.
But I think the main purpose of the lines 'The Carpenter/Carved his anchor/On the dying souls of mankind' was to get across the point that these Unknown Soldiers wouldn't want more fighting to occur. They would want to save 'the dying souls of mankind' by preventing more wars of any kind, by they ones fought with guns, of ones fought with words, or any other weapon, as humanity has proved itself to be extremely versitile when it comes to hurting (or killing) another person. They would want a "a strong foundation" of peace, hramony, and love for people that they died to protect.
Citations for Numbers and Quotes and Stuff:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/…
askville.amazon.com/anchor-symbolize/…
jesus is the carpenter and his tools and anchor are the cross
(excuse my english)
I think the song is a critique of Christianity and other similar religions.
In the first verse he denies Jesus as a god by simply saying "Who are you?", as in I don't recognize you. The shiny and salvation stuff is to make us aware that it is Jesus. The grail stuff is about why God cannot just inspire good in us all in the way the Holy Grail is supposed to (I say "inspire", because "force" would go against free will).
I will interpret the refrain completely:
"The carpenter"
- This is Jesus as others have already explained
"carved his anchor"
- Based his strength/power/might/influence
"on the dying souls of mankind"
- On the misfortunes of others
"On the tomb of this unknown soldier
lay the tools of the one
who for us had died"
- He used the misfortunes of others as his tools. The unknown soldier is NOT Jesus, but someone who has suffered misfortune.
"Tools of the carpenter"
- The tools of Jesus
Meaning that Jesus used the suffering of other people as his source of power.
We continue:
"The one they lick"
"The one" is Jesus or any representative for the religion or the religion itself. "They" are religious people. To "lick" is here to be a bootlicker.
"The same old sick
dream of their precious savior"
This states that the "dream" of Jesus is "old and sick" and not really good, rather it is a perversion.
"Kiss them deep and
make them weep
over promises of eternal peace"
This is about how Jesus and especially the church influence people. It is implied throughout the song that these are false promises. "Kiss" is probably like a blessing and kisses are a very used symbol both by Jesus and the church.
The last part tells of an alternative to the perverted and power-hungry religions, probably Tuomas's own opinion.
"I hear you
through the symphonic voices of nature
-the purity I could never doubt"
This is about a much more basic god, or spirit. I am inclined to believe that what he refers to is the so called "spirit in Nature" which was a very popular belief in the Romantic age (NOT the Roman age!).
"They tell me to lie on the grass
and observe my saviour
The one crucified to the chirping of birds"
The "voices of nature" tells him to behold the real savior. Who this savior is, I cannot say for certain... But I am pretty sure that it is the sun. The sun because of the "crucified to the chirping of birds", when the sun sets, the birds are singing. Also, it is not uncommon to watch the sunset, and doing so lying in the grass does not make it less beautiful at all!
So all in all I think this song is a critique of all religions that intend to tell us what to do or to gain influence through our belief.
Jesus is just an algorithm used. A powerful one, because Jesus is normally seen like a 100% pure and peaceful guy who wants only to save us all. But seen from this songs perspective, even he is just another person making his way, thriving on the misfortunes of others.
Was the wine of the grail
TOO SOUR FOR MAN TO DRINK"
"The carpenter
CARVED HIS ANCHOR
on the dying souls of mankind..."
"Kiss them deep and
make them weep
over promises of eternal peace"
c'mon guys... it is clear for me that this song is about all the disgraces that this religion caused to mankind all over the history, the "sour wine that mankind tasted"... all the backwardness that this "carved anchor" made on our evolution through the years... all the public executions of "heretics" , all the wars made in his name, all the delays in science, the inquisition... i could continue this list forever... well, for me, that's what the song is all about...great song, i love nightwish