I've always thought of Insomnium's lyrics as poetry.
They're usually about sadness and loss, although in a rather cryptic way.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZjA68_RY0Q[/media]
[QUOTE]
With this fall (I fall...) great grey clouds covered the sky
Dimming the light of sun, muting stars and crescent moon
Lost inside the world of gloomy, haunting shades
Descending into this abyss of human soul
In this dreariest of nights
Time can draw out like a blade
And yet Her grace shines through
Through me, and the brooding clouds
And if her light never falls on me
I’m content just to feel the lack
And this fall set requiem for my way
Away from other’s paths, I turned to desolation
Away from other’s thoughts, timid and surpassing
Away from the others, beyond caring
In this darkest of hours
Time draws out like a knife
The reflection once whole, now only a wound, seeping hurt and loss
The image once so bold, now only a scar, dry of hope and light
For all things ought to say, left unsaid
For all deeds ought to do, left undone
Be with me now...[/QUOTE]
I'm not really sure what this one actually [i]means[/i]. I guess I can understand it, but I can't really get the meaning behind the lyrics. I think it's something to do with a regret for something, and how nothing is right any more because of it. Although I'm not really sure.
I don't know about you guys, but I can't make heads or tails of this:
[quote=Yes]Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face.
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer changed to winter, yours is no disgrace.
Battleships confide in me and tell me where you are,
Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me where you are,
Lost in summer, born in winter, travel very far,
Lost in losing circumstances, that's just where you are.
Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face.
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer changed to winter, yours is no,
Yours is no disgrace.
Yours is no disgrace.
Yours is no disgrace.
Death defying, mutilated armies scatter the earth,
Crawling out of dirty holes, their morals, their morals disappear.
Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face.
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer changed to winter, yours is no,
Yours is no disgrace.
Yours is no disgrace.
Yours is no disgrace. [/quote]
"Purple Wolfhound" is a slang term for a Brit fighter jet, I think.
[QUOTE=mikeyt493;21818418]I've always thought of Insomnium's lyrics as poetry.
They're usually about sadness and loss, although in a rather cryptic way.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZjA68_RY0Q[/media]
I'm not really sure what this one actually [i]means[/i]. I guess I can understand it, but I can't really get the meaning behind the lyrics. I think it's something to do with a regret for something, and how nothing is right any more because of it. Although I'm not really sure.[/QUOTE]
Personally, I don't quite read it that way.
It's definitely about a regret of some sort. The way that the light and the clouds are described makes me feel as if the story of the lyrics revolves around a lover that died - a sincere lover.
The speaker feels empty and alone, and can feel himself turning to despair. But pay special attention to this phrase:
[i]"And yet Her grace shines through
Through me, and the brooding clouds
And if her light never falls on me
I’m content just to feel the lack"[/i]
The last two lines, "And if her light never falls on me / I'm content just to feel the lack." I get a sense as though the speaker would want (and desperately so) to have his lost lover back, but even if he can't (which he knows he can't), then he would still be content - he would still have the memories of their time together.
The story as a whole is a bit enigmatic. I think it's split into two differing perspectives of the same person, written in a real stream of consciousness. If I were to describe this song in a single word, it would not be "regret." Rather, it would be "denial." It seems to me as though the narrator is trying to convince himself that the memories of the lover he lost are all he needs to sustain himself. However, right after the above-mentioned phrase, he launches into this dirge:
[i]"And this fall set requiem for my way
Away from other’s paths, I turned to desolation
Away from other’s thoughts, timid and surpassing
Away from the others, beyond caring"[/i]
Where the speaker is describing turning away from people - most probably his immediately family and friends, who are trying to console him. He claims to be turning "Away from the others, beyond caring," but I feel as though that's a false statement. He's [b]trying[/b] to turn away, to stop caring - but only to mask the wound he's feeling, the wound that is the absence of what he considers to be the only person to ever really understand him.
Probably the most important stanza in this entire song is the penultimate, "The reflection once whole, now only a wound, seeping hurt and loss / The image once so bold, now only a scar, dry of hope and light," where "the reflection once whole" refers to when he and his lover were together, so perfectly fitted that they served as one unit, and without her, there is "only a wound, seeping hurt and loss." The hurt and loss obviously refers to the narrator's feeling of losing a part of himself when his partner has left him - the truest symbol of love, and a tragedy in that it can only be revealed when the object of love is lost. The second line reiterates this same image, through different imagery: "The image once so bold," being that when they were together, they were confident - they were each others' strength. "[N]ow only a scar, dry of hope and light," iterates the same feeling above - without his other, he is weak and alone - and no one could ever replace his perfect lover.
I feel that the fact these two lines are alone, and they reiterate the same thing, signifies their importance: that the entirety of the song revolves around the theme portrayed here.
I'm scolding myself for neglecting the first stanza, because it is very often in songs (especially in dirges such as Insomnium) one of the most important, for it sets the theme and the setting. This is no exception, so allow me to investigate it now:
[i]"With this fall (I fall...) great grey clouds covered the sky
Dimming the light of sun, muting stars and crescent moon
Lost inside the world of gloomy, haunting shades
Descending into this abyss of human soul"[/i]
Pay special attention to the parenthetical amendment, "I fall..." This speaks volume to us, and serves as a foreshadowing to the chorus, regarding how "time draws like a knife," and then the final stanza, which I'll get to in a moment.
That aside, notice the vivid detail and imagery here: "great grey clouds," "muting stars and crescent moon," "the world of gloomy, haunting shades." Now pay attention to the usage of the verbage: like the adjectives, they are not sharp or violent; they're round and soft: "Dimming the light," "muting the stars," Lost inside the world," "Descending into this abyss." These are not the words of a goalless melancholy - these are the words to the grandest swansong.
It's also worth noting that all of the description refers to things in the sky referring to light in some manner or another - and how, in every case, they are being deferred in some way or another. The great grey clouds, a common symbol of dread and ill omen - in this case, the inevitable death that claims us all - "mutes" the stars and moon, and "dims" the light - bright, celestial beings that can be used in allegory to the beauty and love of his deceased partner.
As I promised a few paragraphs up, we're going to end with the most fitting stanza - the last stanza. Let's take a look at it for a moment:
[i]"For all things ought to say, left unsaid
For all deeds ought to do, left undone
Be with me now..."[/i]
Let's take a look at how this is structured. "For all things ought to say." Note that this is [i]not[/i] worded as "For all things that ought to have been said." This implies that these are not secrets, or doubts, or anything of the sort, that were hidden from his partner, and he's now feeling a remorse for never revealing them. Likewise, the same for the deeds presented in the next line. What's the exact meaning of the way they're worded then? What is meant by these lines?
Look at the final line of the song, and the drawing ellipses: "Be with me now..." It may not be obvious at first glance, but, perhaps, if I were to do these two things, it would become more clear:
Firstly, let's take the slightly manipulated, but repeated, two-line stanza, referring to time drawing like a blade, and put it right beside this line. Now, let's change the line to "I shall be with you now..."
The knife is a symbol of sacrifice and of violence both. The drawing may, at first, bring to mind the slow, deliberate drawing of the knife from its sheath, a symbol of intensity and violence towards other. But I think this is more of the drawing of a knife across one's own throat. This reflects back to the very first line of the song: "With this fall (I fall...) great grey clouds covered the sky." Now, I'm going to cut out the latter half of this line, to keep the focus.
[i]"With this fall (I fall...)"[/i]
Now let's break this down. "This fall" most probably refers to his lover's death, and the turmoil which it has caused in his life. However, afterwords, it is parenthetically amended that the speaker himself falls: "I fall..."
Now, if we were to remove the parenthetical amendment from this line and played the song, it would have no impact whatsoever. But if we were to put this line to the end of our modified finale, it would go something like this:
[i]"Time draws out like a knife
Now let me be with you...
I fall..."[/i]
Need I explain further?
[b]tl;dr[/b]: The song is a stream-of-consciousness of the speaker is trying to convince himself that all the happy memories of the time with his deceased lover is enough to sustain himself - however, he soon realizes that he can't accept this, and so he sees that bringing himself to his lover is the only feasible solution, for he knows that he can not bring her to him.
[highlight]NOTICE:[/highlight] This is [b]not[/b] a complete review! I only based this review off the lyrics themselves! I did not even start listening to the song, and I don't have enough time to finish this review, where I delve into the nuances of the song - from the selection of tempo and timing, to individual riff tones and decision to use the vocal style present. Note that I may or may not finish this review - it depends on how I feel tomorrow (it is very late, and I can not continue this review any longer, for fear of falling asleep on my keyboard).
Please note that, when examining music yourself, that to do what I just did above - that is, write an examination based solely on the lyrics themselves - is [b]not[/b] the proper way to do it! Ideally, you write about the tone of the music first, then focus on the lyrics, and then finally combine the two and reach a final conclusion. Sorry all for not completing this analysis! :buddy:
Here is a helpful site yall.
[url]www.songmeanings.net[/url]
Basically search a song/artist, it'll show the lyrics, and people post their interpretations of it.
[QUOTE=jesseluver93;21830184]Here is a helpful site yall.
[url]www.songmeanings.net[/url]
Basically search a song/artist, it'll show the lyrics, and people post their interpretations of it.[/QUOTE]
Using it already :v:
[QUOTE=Gmod4ever;21817542]
Can we work on the Path of Golconda song? I'm still confused by it. :saddowns:[/QUOTE]
I can't really get something out of it either.. In the start it sounds to me like some kind of revolution though without any expectations from other people [i]"Prophecies of damnation"[/i].
And maybe [i]"A battle lost to Venus"[/i], Venus is seen as a female planet right? So maybe lost a girl or something alike?
[QUOTE=jesseluver93;21830184]Here is a helpful site yall.
[url]www.songmeanings.net[/url]
Basically search a song/artist, it'll show the lyrics, and people post their interpretations of it.[/QUOTE]
Wow, you click somewhere and you immediately get 10 popups. I finally got to a song and the first 10 comments were 'OMG I LOVE THIS SONG IT'S SO CUTE..' I bet we can help eachother out here much better as we can discuss as well.
[QUOTE=Seppe;21831446]I can't really get something out of it either.. In the start it sounds to me like some kind of revolution though without any expectations from other people [I]"Prophecies of damnation"[/I].
And maybe [I]"A battle lost to Venus"[/I], Venus is seen as a female planet right? So maybe lost a girl or something alike?
Wow, you click somewhere and you immediately get 10 popups. I finally got to a song and the first 10 comments were 'OMG I LOVE THIS SONG IT'S SO CUTE..' I bet we can help eachother out here much better as we can discuss as well.[/QUOTE]
Yes there is the chance of that happening, but usually the majority of the time you can find a semi-decent interpretation or someone will have posted what it actually means if they know that the artist has said something about it's meaning.
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