This song is from the point of view of the French prophet Nostradamus. In 1555 he published a book of 943 quatrains that were said to predict the future. These prophecies came to him over the course of several fever dreams. Al Stewart adapted and reworded English translations of some of Nostradamus's quatrains to fit this song. Here are my interpretations of the prophecies he mentions:
"A king shall fall and put to death by the English parliament shall be"
King Charles I was executed by Oliver Cromwell's parliament in 1649
"Fire and plague to London come in the year of six and twenties three"
The great fire of London in 1666
"An emperor of France shall rise who will be born near Italy
His rule cost his empire dear, Napoloron his name shall be"
Napoleon's take over of France and his defeat in 1815.
"From Castile does Franco come and the Government driven out shall be"
Francisco Franco's overthrow of the Spanish government in 1939
"An English king seeks divorce, and from his throne cast down is he"
King Edward VIII loses his throne after marrying a divorcee in 1936
"One named Hister shall become a captain of Greater Germanie
No law does this man observe and bloody his rise and fall shall be"
Hitler's rise to power and his fall at the end of WWII in 1945
"In the new lands of America three brothers now shall come to power
Two alone are born to rule but all must die before their hour"
-The Kennedy brothers: John, Robert and Joe. All died young. Joe died in WWII but John and Robert were assassinated in the 60s. Both were "born to rule" in that John was president when he was assassinated and Robert was a senator running for president when he was a assassinated.
The rest of the prophecies are future predictions as they hadn't yet come to pass when the song was originally released in 1973 so it's not as obvious why Al Stewart included them. But here are my thoughts:
"Two great men yet brothers not make the north united stand
Its power be seen to grow, and fear possess the eastern lands"
-This has been interpreted as the twin towers coming down and the subsequent wars in the middle East. But it could also be Trump and Putin's alliance against China. Who knows what was going through Al's head when he included this verse. It could be a reference to Lincoln and Grant during the Civil War as someone earlier mentioned, but I get the sense that the song was moving forward chronologically and Al intended on including prophecies that hadn't yet come to pass. The album is, after all, titled "Past, Present and Future".
"Three leagues from the gates of Rome a Pope named Pol is doomed to die
A great wall that divides a city at this time is cast aside"
-This is the eeriest prediction in the song as Pope John Paul had not yet become Pope in 1973 when this song was first published nor had the Berlin Wall come down. Al correctly assumed that the Berlin Wall would come down around the same time there was a Pope named Pol (Paul). John Paul II became Pope in 1979, but he didn't die until 2005 ... 15 years after The Berlin Wall came down. Not exactly "at this time, but still that's pretty close. I'd love to ask Al why he included this verse.
One correction: Nostradamus originally published 353 quatrains in 1555, But a book of an additional 942 quatrains was published posthumously after his death. It should be noted that Al used translations from Erica Cheetham's book "The Prophecies of Nostradamus: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow" which was published in 1965 and he made further changes to them to fit the song. This is why I credit the predictions more to Al than to the 16th Century Prophet who was known for making his prophecies intentionally vague and later translations were often changed to better fit events that already happened.
One correction: Nostradamus originally published 353 quatrains in 1555, But a book of an additional 942 quatrains was published posthumously after his death. It should be noted that Al used translations from Erica Cheetham's book "The Prophecies of Nostradamus: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow" which was published in 1965 and he made further changes to them to fit the song. This is why I credit the predictions more to Al than to the 16th Century Prophet who was known for making his prophecies intentionally vague and later translations were often changed to better fit events that already happened.
Also, I want to add that the first lyric:
"In the east the wind is blowing the boats across the sea
And their sails will fill the morning and their cries ring out to me"
For a long time I wasn't sure if this was prophecy, or it simply described the Age of Exploration that was taking place during Nostradamus's lifetime. The wind coming from the East and blowing Columbus's boats across the Atlantic Ocean had already happened in 1492 when Nostradamus was writing his quatrains. But the age of exploration and colonization of new lands was still going on well into the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s and 1800s.
"And their cries ring out to me" could describe consequence of this colonization and empire building ie The wars, genocides and deaths from disease of the native population.
@drakus1173 I think you are forgetting a pope. What I noticed about the lyrics was the words " doomed to die". Everyone dies but then there was the pope John Paul 1. He was pope for only a few weeks in 1979 and then died suddenly. That is very unusual and could be interpreted as doomed to die. The berlin wall fell 10 years later. Pretty good prediction I think.
@drakus1173 I think you are forgetting a pope. What I noticed about the lyrics was the words " doomed to die". Everyone dies but then there was the pope John Paul 1. He was pope for only a few weeks in 1979 and then died suddenly. That is very unusual and could be interpreted as doomed to die. The berlin wall fell 10 years later. Pretty good prediction I think.
This song is from the point of view of the French prophet Nostradamus. In 1555 he published a book of 943 quatrains that were said to predict the future. These prophecies came to him over the course of several fever dreams. Al Stewart adapted and reworded English translations of some of Nostradamus's quatrains to fit this song. Here are my interpretations of the prophecies he mentions:
"A king shall fall and put to death by the English parliament shall be"
"Fire and plague to London come in the year of six and twenties three"
"An emperor of France shall rise who will be born near Italy His rule cost his empire dear, Napoloron his name shall be"
"From Castile does Franco come and the Government driven out shall be"
"An English king seeks divorce, and from his throne cast down is he"
"One named Hister shall become a captain of Greater Germanie No law does this man observe and bloody his rise and fall shall be"
"In the new lands of America three brothers now shall come to power Two alone are born to rule but all must die before their hour" -The Kennedy brothers: John, Robert and Joe. All died young. Joe died in WWII but John and Robert were assassinated in the 60s. Both were "born to rule" in that John was president when he was assassinated and Robert was a senator running for president when he was a assassinated.
The rest of the prophecies are future predictions as they hadn't yet come to pass when the song was originally released in 1973 so it's not as obvious why Al Stewart included them. But here are my thoughts:
"Two great men yet brothers not make the north united stand Its power be seen to grow, and fear possess the eastern lands" -This has been interpreted as the twin towers coming down and the subsequent wars in the middle East. But it could also be Trump and Putin's alliance against China. Who knows what was going through Al's head when he included this verse. It could be a reference to Lincoln and Grant during the Civil War as someone earlier mentioned, but I get the sense that the song was moving forward chronologically and Al intended on including prophecies that hadn't yet come to pass. The album is, after all, titled "Past, Present and Future".
"Three leagues from the gates of Rome a Pope named Pol is doomed to die A great wall that divides a city at this time is cast aside" -This is the eeriest prediction in the song as Pope John Paul had not yet become Pope in 1973 when this song was first published nor had the Berlin Wall come down. Al correctly assumed that the Berlin Wall would come down around the same time there was a Pope named Pol (Paul). John Paul II became Pope in 1979, but he didn't die until 2005 ... 15 years after The Berlin Wall came down. Not exactly "at this time, but still that's pretty close. I'd love to ask Al why he included this verse.
One correction: Nostradamus originally published 353 quatrains in 1555, But a book of an additional 942 quatrains was published posthumously after his death. It should be noted that Al used translations from Erica Cheetham's book "The Prophecies of Nostradamus: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow" which was published in 1965 and he made further changes to them to fit the song. This is why I credit the predictions more to Al than to the 16th Century Prophet who was known for making his prophecies intentionally vague and later translations were often changed to better fit events that already happened.
One correction: Nostradamus originally published 353 quatrains in 1555, But a book of an additional 942 quatrains was published posthumously after his death. It should be noted that Al used translations from Erica Cheetham's book "The Prophecies of Nostradamus: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow" which was published in 1965 and he made further changes to them to fit the song. This is why I credit the predictions more to Al than to the 16th Century Prophet who was known for making his prophecies intentionally vague and later translations were often changed to better fit events that already happened.
Also, I want to add that the first lyric: "In the east the wind is blowing the boats across the sea And their sails will fill the morning and their cries ring out to me" For a long time I wasn't sure if this was prophecy, or it simply described the Age of Exploration that was taking place during Nostradamus's lifetime. The wind coming from the East and blowing Columbus's boats across the Atlantic Ocean had already happened in 1492 when Nostradamus was writing his quatrains. But the age of exploration and colonization of new lands was still going on well into the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s and 1800s. "And their cries ring out to me" could describe consequence of this colonization and empire building ie The wars, genocides and deaths from disease of the native population.
@drakus1173 I think you are forgetting a pope. What I noticed about the lyrics was the words " doomed to die". Everyone dies but then there was the pope John Paul 1. He was pope for only a few weeks in 1979 and then died suddenly. That is very unusual and could be interpreted as doomed to die. The berlin wall fell 10 years later. Pretty good prediction I think.
@drakus1173 I think you are forgetting a pope. What I noticed about the lyrics was the words " doomed to die". Everyone dies but then there was the pope John Paul 1. He was pope for only a few weeks in 1979 and then died suddenly. That is very unusual and could be interpreted as doomed to die. The berlin wall fell 10 years later. Pretty good prediction I think.