Jenna (Metallicat) commented in another thread that she had no idea what Revelations was about. Well, with none of us being in Bruce's (he wrote the lyrics on that one) head, we can't say for sure. But I thought it would be interesting for us to give out commentaries on it. So here goes. But first I'll post the lyrics fro easy references. Note, I've cut and pasted these from another website but then made a few changes and I think some were incorrect. The website I got this from (www.darklyircs.com) actually wrote "the Nile" instead of "denial." It sounds more like "denial" to me anyways and such sertainly fits the other lyrics better.
"O God of Earth and Altar,
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die,
The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
But take away our pride."
(G.K. Chesterton: English Hymnal)
Just a in a black abyss,
No reason for a place like this,
The walls are cold and souls cry out in pain,
An easy way for the blind to go,
A clever path for the fools who know
The secret of the Hanged Man - the smile of his lips.
The light of the Blind - you'll see,
The venom that tears my spine,
The Eyes of denial are opening - you'll see.
She came to me with a serpent's kiss,
As the Eye of the Sun rose on her lips,
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry,
So we lay in a black embrace,
And the Seed is sown in a holy place
And I watched, and I waited for the Dawn.
The light of the Blind - you'll see,
The venom that tears my spine,
The Eyes of denial are opening - you'll see.
Bind all of us together,
Ablaze with Hope and Free,
No storm or heavy weather
Will rock the boat you'll see.
The time has come to close your eyes
And still the wind and rain,
For the one who will be King
Is the Watcher in the Ring.
It is You.
On with commentary:
I see themes of birth and death going on here. "Out of the Shadows" (also written by Dickinson") has talkof going from darkness into light and Bruce says on the "Making of..." DVD that comes with the album that the song is about birth, and I'm guessing he's thinking along the same lines here.
In the Scriptures of my religious faith (I'm a Baha'i'), some commentary in given on what life after death is like in what little way we have of comprehending it. The Scriptures make the analogy of how a baby in the womb is actually part of this world, but in a much more limited form of it. Likewise, we are actually part of the world beyond (Baha'i's call it the Kingdom of Abha,which means "glory"; what in other religions would be called Heaven, Nirvana, the Summerland, etc.), but in a limited form thereof. Just as a baby in the womb is developing things like arms and legs- which are pretty useless in the womb- that are meant for this current level of reality, so do we develop our spiritually qualities (love, compassion, wisdom, etc.) here for the next world, even though from a materialistic perspective such qualities are "impractical" to material life.
In the verses, Bruce seems to be reflecting a similar theme "just a in a black abyss". Well, while the womb is cozy, it is pretty dark, and to the perspective of most, if not all, babies, is all there is. And the "souls cry out in pain"; babies do come out wailing. "And "an easy way for the blind to go", well, you can't stay in forever. Yet, how mow many of us (even though of us who acknowledge a life after death) get caught up in mundane worries and think of death as way out and still get scared and don't want to die no matter how much we may think what lies beyond will be better?
There can however, be some comfort drawn from knowing the pain of birth or death (though it's still painful) is a transition from one level of reality to another.
I think this is what is being referred to in "A clever path for the fools who know The secret of the Hanged Man - the smile of his lips."
This particular line seems like a references to the Hanged Man card in the tarot in which a man is hung up-side-down, yet is smiling. The 0 card is The Fool (that's us) and card 1 to 21 are his path of growth and individuation. The Hanged Man (#12) card represents the giving up of the illusion of control and letting life be rather than trying to control everything. It is followed by (#13) Death, which while in rare circumstances represents physical death, usually refers to a permanent change in one's life, a transformation.
Just as these transformations happen to us physically in birth and death, they also happen to us psychologically and spiritually as our egos grow and die. A good example would be coming out of denial- "The eyes of denial are opening".
As Iron Maiden so often does this song is written with mythic symbolism- stories told in physical forms rpresenting psychological dimensions. These same themes are outlined in every creation myth on the planet: There was nothing, there was chaos, there was something. In particular, Revelations seems to be most closely following the creation myth in Genesis (Sidenote: I use "myth", not to refer to something untrue, but to refer to a sacred story that is usually not factual but is very true. Anyone who'se ever read a good novel knows fiction is a masterful vehicle for expressing truth. If there are any religious fundametalists on this site (not likely, but possible), I am not trying to de-value sacred scripture by referring to it as "mythic".) especially with it's reference to the serpent (then again, serpents are found in many creation myths). In Genesis, the Serpent tempts Eve to eat from the tree of "knowledge of good and evil". This, from the perspective of Adam and Eve (and many readers) is a "bad" thing. However, this development of knowledge of dualities and judgment is a very necessary part of our growth and development (even if it aint such a good idea to get stuck in such judgmentalism as so many often do and don't grow out of). Adam and Eve (which are simply old Hebrew words meaning "man" and "woman") despite their wanting to stay in their current state of (ignorant) bliss, had a transformative experience thanks to the temptation to move on and explore. The serpent itself is often a symbol for the earthly wisdom that they could later gain through this transformation. Despite our desire for false senses of security and parmanence, something is always pushing us on to our next stage of development (which we resist at our own peril).
Interestingly enough, Genesis, like all other creation myths, has a telling of the birth experience in it. While we think of creation myths talking about the creation of the universe, they are really our psyches way of expressing the birth experience which 99.99% of the popualtion represses. "And darkness was upon the face of the waters. And God said 'Let there be light' and there was light." This isn't the creation of the universe; after all, water was already there. This is our experience of being in water and darkness- the womb- then hearing sound (we can start hearing it in the womb, hence all the talk of playing Mozart for your baby), and finally being born in to light. The "Big Bang" is just science's version of the universal creation myth. Wanna experience the Big Bang. Close your eyes for five seconds. Then open them. That's a pretty big bang. How much more intense was it when we did it for the first time crawling out of the womb?
The end of the song seems to be referring to the getting back of the childhood innocence that was initially lost with the growth of the ego. I think we will always have an ego (I'm extremely suspicious of anyone who claims that they don't or is wholly detached from theirs.), but we can learn to detach from it and just not place so much importance on it or its judgments.
Bind all of us together,
Ablaze with Hope and Free,
No storm or heavy weather
Will rock the boat you'll see.
I believe this is talking about getting back that sense of oneness with creation we had as an child. I personaly have had some of these "peak experiences" but they come and go fleetingly and are very hard to sustain. When we have a glimpse of having that Divine spark within us, we can know there is a part of us (I call it the soul) that can't really ever be harmed despite the trials of life still often being very painful- "no storm or heavy weather will rock the boat you'll see".
"The time has come to close your eyes" seems to refer to darkness being not something bad but necessary for emergence into a greater life (light). After all, too much light is as blinding as too much darkness, seeds don't start growing to the light until buried in the soil, and the earth's shadow is our window on the universe. In the day we see only the blue sky. At night, which is really just a small conic shadow that doesn't reach anywhere near toward Mars, we can see so many stars in the heavens. While from this initial viewpoint, we may see space as a great void of darkness with an occasional star; in reality, if we got out of earth's orbit and past it's shadow it would be like day all the time. If humanity groeth in being a race of space travellers the only place we will have to go is into the light. Likewise, while it is often the darkness of trials and tribulations which dim the (small) light of the ego, we come out of the them far brighter witha greater understanding (light) of our soul.
For the one who will be King
Is the Watcher in the Ring.
It is You
I initially see a Lord of the Rings reference here. Upon more "reflection", I wonder if Bruce is using this literary reference to refer to what Jung refered to as "meeting the shadow"- owning up to the part of ourselves we don't like so much but finding the gold in them underneath all the dross. The Watcher in the Ring, Sauron, was the "bad guy" in Lord tof the Rings, yet only when we understand that the "bad guys" too are parts of us can we really have that Kingly sense of oneness. It was once said (I forget by who but I can look it up) "Good will not reign in the world when it triumphs over evil, but when we learn that good reigning in the world isn't about it triumphing over evil."
I think Revelations thus refers to the revelation of our meeting those "uglier" parts of ourselves, the lesons of compassion we learn through such encounters, abd the death and birth transformation that occurs as a result. This occurs collectively as well as individually, but always starts with yourself.
It is You.
Okay, I've ranted long enough. Someone else give their opinion.
"O God of Earth and Altar,
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die,
The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
But take away our pride."
(G.K. Chesterton: English Hymnal)
Just a in a black abyss,
No reason for a place like this,
The walls are cold and souls cry out in pain,
An easy way for the blind to go,
A clever path for the fools who know
The secret of the Hanged Man - the smile of his lips.
The light of the Blind - you'll see,
The venom that tears my spine,
The Eyes of denial are opening - you'll see.
She came to me with a serpent's kiss,
As the Eye of the Sun rose on her lips,
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry,
So we lay in a black embrace,
And the Seed is sown in a holy place
And I watched, and I waited for the Dawn.
The light of the Blind - you'll see,
The venom that tears my spine,
The Eyes of denial are opening - you'll see.
Bind all of us together,
Ablaze with Hope and Free,
No storm or heavy weather
Will rock the boat you'll see.
The time has come to close your eyes
And still the wind and rain,
For the one who will be King
Is the Watcher in the Ring.
It is You.
On with commentary:
I see themes of birth and death going on here. "Out of the Shadows" (also written by Dickinson") has talkof going from darkness into light and Bruce says on the "Making of..." DVD that comes with the album that the song is about birth, and I'm guessing he's thinking along the same lines here.
In the Scriptures of my religious faith (I'm a Baha'i'), some commentary in given on what life after death is like in what little way we have of comprehending it. The Scriptures make the analogy of how a baby in the womb is actually part of this world, but in a much more limited form of it. Likewise, we are actually part of the world beyond (Baha'i's call it the Kingdom of Abha,which means "glory"; what in other religions would be called Heaven, Nirvana, the Summerland, etc.), but in a limited form thereof. Just as a baby in the womb is developing things like arms and legs- which are pretty useless in the womb- that are meant for this current level of reality, so do we develop our spiritually qualities (love, compassion, wisdom, etc.) here for the next world, even though from a materialistic perspective such qualities are "impractical" to material life.
In the verses, Bruce seems to be reflecting a similar theme "just a in a black abyss". Well, while the womb is cozy, it is pretty dark, and to the perspective of most, if not all, babies, is all there is. And the "souls cry out in pain"; babies do come out wailing. "And "an easy way for the blind to go", well, you can't stay in forever. Yet, how mow many of us (even though of us who acknowledge a life after death) get caught up in mundane worries and think of death as way out and still get scared and don't want to die no matter how much we may think what lies beyond will be better?
There can however, be some comfort drawn from knowing the pain of birth or death (though it's still painful) is a transition from one level of reality to another.
I think this is what is being referred to in "A clever path for the fools who know The secret of the Hanged Man - the smile of his lips."
This particular line seems like a references to the Hanged Man card in the tarot in which a man is hung up-side-down, yet is smiling. The 0 card is The Fool (that's us) and card 1 to 21 are his path of growth and individuation. The Hanged Man (#12) card represents the giving up of the illusion of control and letting life be rather than trying to control everything. It is followed by (#13) Death, which while in rare circumstances represents physical death, usually refers to a permanent change in one's life, a transformation.
Just as these transformations happen to us physically in birth and death, they also happen to us psychologically and spiritually as our egos grow and die. A good example would be coming out of denial- "The eyes of denial are opening".
As Iron Maiden so often does this song is written with mythic symbolism- stories told in physical forms rpresenting psychological dimensions. These same themes are outlined in every creation myth on the planet: There was nothing, there was chaos, there was something. In particular, Revelations seems to be most closely following the creation myth in Genesis (Sidenote: I use "myth", not to refer to something untrue, but to refer to a sacred story that is usually not factual but is very true. Anyone who'se ever read a good novel knows fiction is a masterful vehicle for expressing truth. If there are any religious fundametalists on this site (not likely, but possible), I am not trying to de-value sacred scripture by referring to it as "mythic".) especially with it's reference to the serpent (then again, serpents are found in many creation myths). In Genesis, the Serpent tempts Eve to eat from the tree of "knowledge of good and evil". This, from the perspective of Adam and Eve (and many readers) is a "bad" thing. However, this development of knowledge of dualities and judgment is a very necessary part of our growth and development (even if it aint such a good idea to get stuck in such judgmentalism as so many often do and don't grow out of). Adam and Eve (which are simply old Hebrew words meaning "man" and "woman") despite their wanting to stay in their current state of (ignorant) bliss, had a transformative experience thanks to the temptation to move on and explore. The serpent itself is often a symbol for the earthly wisdom that they could later gain through this transformation. Despite our desire for false senses of security and parmanence, something is always pushing us on to our next stage of development (which we resist at our own peril).
Interestingly enough, Genesis, like all other creation myths, has a telling of the birth experience in it. While we think of creation myths talking about the creation of the universe, they are really our psyches way of expressing the birth experience which 99.99% of the popualtion represses. "And darkness was upon the face of the waters. And God said 'Let there be light' and there was light." This isn't the creation of the universe; after all, water was already there. This is our experience of being in water and darkness- the womb- then hearing sound (we can start hearing it in the womb, hence all the talk of playing Mozart for your baby), and finally being born in to light. The "Big Bang" is just science's version of the universal creation myth. Wanna experience the Big Bang. Close your eyes for five seconds. Then open them. That's a pretty big bang. How much more intense was it when we did it for the first time crawling out of the womb?
The end of the song seems to be referring to the getting back of the childhood innocence that was initially lost with the growth of the ego. I think we will always have an ego (I'm extremely suspicious of anyone who claims that they don't or is wholly detached from theirs.), but we can learn to detach from it and just not place so much importance on it or its judgments.
Bind all of us together,
Ablaze with Hope and Free,
No storm or heavy weather
Will rock the boat you'll see.
I believe this is talking about getting back that sense of oneness with creation we had as an child. I personaly have had some of these "peak experiences" but they come and go fleetingly and are very hard to sustain. When we have a glimpse of having that Divine spark within us, we can know there is a part of us (I call it the soul) that can't really ever be harmed despite the trials of life still often being very painful- "no storm or heavy weather will rock the boat you'll see".
"The time has come to close your eyes" seems to refer to darkness being not something bad but necessary for emergence into a greater life (light). After all, too much light is as blinding as too much darkness, seeds don't start growing to the light until buried in the soil, and the earth's shadow is our window on the universe. In the day we see only the blue sky. At night, which is really just a small conic shadow that doesn't reach anywhere near toward Mars, we can see so many stars in the heavens. While from this initial viewpoint, we may see space as a great void of darkness with an occasional star; in reality, if we got out of earth's orbit and past it's shadow it would be like day all the time. If humanity groeth in being a race of space travellers the only place we will have to go is into the light. Likewise, while it is often the darkness of trials and tribulations which dim the (small) light of the ego, we come out of the them far brighter witha greater understanding (light) of our soul.
For the one who will be King
Is the Watcher in the Ring.
It is You
I initially see a Lord of the Rings reference here. Upon more "reflection", I wonder if Bruce is using this literary reference to refer to what Jung refered to as "meeting the shadow"- owning up to the part of ourselves we don't like so much but finding the gold in them underneath all the dross. The Watcher in the Ring, Sauron, was the "bad guy" in Lord tof the Rings, yet only when we understand that the "bad guys" too are parts of us can we really have that Kingly sense of oneness. It was once said (I forget by who but I can look it up) "Good will not reign in the world when it triumphs over evil, but when we learn that good reigning in the world isn't about it triumphing over evil."
I think Revelations thus refers to the revelation of our meeting those "uglier" parts of ourselves, the lesons of compassion we learn through such encounters, abd the death and birth transformation that occurs as a result. This occurs collectively as well as individually, but always starts with yourself.
It is You.
Okay, I've ranted long enough. Someone else give their opinion.
