I been having this idea for a topic for a while...

sometimes bands write lyrics about movies, books, comics, etc. and they will give credit for it, either on the sleeve or booklet or in interviews.

but there's also songs where you're sure you know what they're about, despite no official confirmation...

one example is arch enemy's "you will know my name"... it's on their 2014 album "war eternal". stephen king's "carrie" remake which came out in 2013, had the tag line "you will know her name", and the lyrics "match" too...

do you have any "theories" along the lines of "i think this song is about..." ?

Cool topic!

The only one I can think about on the spot is My Dying Bride's "The Cry of Mankind". The imagery evoked in the lyrics remind me of the book "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. It's about choir boys who survive a plane crash on an island without any adults. I won't spoil the story by going into details, but they make a totem with a pig's head impaled on a pole, and as the story progresses it gets covered in flies, and can be considered an entity on its own with the symbolic meaning. The beginning of the lyrics seems to describe the pig's head and how it is responsible for the humanity leaving the boys gradually as they have to survive. "With lust you're kicking mankind to death".

The line "I don't want to die a lonely man" doesn't really fit though, so I'm probably wrong!

I think the only line there that made you think of Lord of the Flies is the line "his mouth, dripping with flies".

I've always interpreted it as a song about someone standing over mankind, holding them down, and killing them. Perhaps about Lucifer, or some other all-powerful being? It does reference a Kingdom of Fire, which surely can only refer to Hell?

Edit - The Angel and the Dark River as a title I thought referred to the Cry of Mankind. It fits with the lyrics.

You're probably right, but I think the rest of the lines (except the one I mentioned) fit pretty well. I've read others saying it's about Christianity.

Fates Warning's "Giant's Lore (Heart of Winter)" seems to be based on the fairy tale "The Selfish Giant" by Oscar Wilde.

In both texts, a giant chases children out of his garden. In both texts, the children's return eventually ends that garden's seemingly eternal winter. After that, Wilde's original goes a step further though. See for yourself (Come on, it's only three pages…! You guys can do it! Ready, steady... ).

Skeletal Remains track "Sleepless Cadavers" seems to be inspired by the (in?)famous "Russian Sleep Experiment" creepypasta. I've never heard the band acknowledge this directly but the resemblance is uncanny. I definitely prefer their version as it lacks the cringey monologues that absolutely ruin the original story.

Cannibal Corpse's "Vector of Cruelty" bears a striking similarity to the anime series Elfenlied, where people get hacked up by innocent-looking mutants with invisible appendages called "vectors". Most likely a coincidence but it's always given me a chuckle.

Carach Angren's "Lingering in an Imprint Haunting" bears a near perfect resemblance to a plotpoint in the 1986 comedy/horror film "House". A soldier in the Vietnam war, begging another soldier (the narrator) to kill him before he's captured, only for the soldier to hesitate and lose his chance. The other solider then vows to return and haunt him to his grave, as he's carried off by the Vietcong for torture, which turns out to be the overall plot of both the film and song.

I remember someone on this board, years ago had a post outlining all the bizarre similarities between In Solitude's "Sister" album and the Swedish horror film "Let the Right One In" (or perhaps the book it was based on). Supposedly there were a lot of parallels with lyrics and general themes. I've only seen the American remake ("Let Me In") but it seemed pretty convincing to me.

I have a lot of these but can't remember many off-hand. I think the My Dying Bride one above is about a Christ-like figure who Aaron hates, since he often seems to sing through religious frames but about personal topics, especially on the first couple of albums.

One that I put some thought into is the Down song 'Three Suns and One Star'. Album came out in 2007, couple of years after Dimebag's death: Phil Anselmo writes the lyrics and they sound very ambivalent and possibly about that subject. I mean, look at the title. Is that how Phil thought people were seeing Pantera? Lyrics like "a martyr's burden" and "embraced the riddle of regret" too. It's vague enough that I can't say what it's about, but it feels like the kind of thing he'd write.

Doesn't really make sense, since suns are stars. I guess the definition comes from a satellite's perspective: it's a star if it's distant enough not to have a gravitational effect on the satellite's orbit. And don't give me the "it's poetry" explanation. Write better poetry, Phil.

That's exactly the point. A sun is a star but people were calling Dimebag great even though every member was worthy of the same name (i.e. a 'star' is the famous one). After the shooting, he got picked out as somehow really special, especially in the more mainstream metal press.

But the star is the insignificant one from a satellite's perspective...? Would make more sense as "Three Stars and One Sun".

I don't think he meant it scientifically.

Of course not, but one would expect the metaphor to have an internal logic at least.

Mustaine apparently claims he wrote at least some of the music for Leper Messiah, but I'm pretty convinced he also wrote the lyrics as well. They're his style and approach. Ostensibly they're about preachers but one could also read them as subtly referring to Ulrich.

I think if Mustaine had written the lyrics to Leper Messiah, he'd have said something by now. I don't think he'd have been able to resist having a dig at some point over the last 35 years.

Many years ago I read a theory from an Ozzy fan that Bob Daisley wrote "Secret Loser" about Ozzy himself, and how he got all the credit for the hard work that his collaborators did. This will have been not long after he screwed Jake over for song writing credits on Bark at the Moon, and claiming he wrote all the songs himself on keyboard (which may have been a joke in an interview, not sure). Reading through the lyrics, I guess they could fit that theory. Bob may have mentioned this song in his book - I'll have to revisit to see.

This reminds me of the differing takes I've heard on Suicide Solution where Ozzy claims it was inspired by Bon Scott's passing while Daisley said it was him remarking on Ozzy's same alcohol abuse at the time. Daisley has also said that Now You See It (Now You Don't) was a dig at Sharon, putting in the same category as Digital Bitch and Devil and Daughter by Sabbath.

Speaking of which, I remember somebody on a Black Sabbath fansite saying they had a fan theory that some of Dio's lyrics were about the band itself. Children of the Sea is supposed to be about the band coming together, Sign of the Southern Cross being about the band's decline and Dio forming a new band, and After All (The Dead) being about Sabbath's obscure status at the time Dehumanizer was formulating. No word on if anything on The Devil You Know plays into that.

Since we're talking about Sabbath, how about After Forever? A lot of people seem to be convinced the message was genuine due to the fact that Geezer and Ozzy were Christians (not sure about Iommi, but Ward was/is an atheist), but I'm not so sure. For one, the tone is a bit too condescending...the narrator sounds like a totally selfrighteous, pretentious asshole, and I doubt anyone who seriously held those beliefs would depict themselves that way - let alone drug-fueled long hairs making the darkest, heaviest music in human history (at the time, at least). Also, it's at odds with some other lyrics from the same time period like Under the Sun ("Well, I don't want no Jesus freak to tell me what it's all about" and "Well, I don't want no preacher telling me about the god in the sky. No, I don't want no one to tell me where I'm gonna go when I die"). As for the band themselves, I've read interviews with Geezer where he said it was legit, and others where he said it was tongue-in-cheek, so it's hard to know what to believe.

My personal theory, is that it's a "kill two birds with one stone" thing relating to their then-reputation as a Satanic band, and I interpret the lyrics as both a way of scaring off the Satanists who were flocking to the band, while at the same time making a subtle mockery of their Christian detractors who branded them that way, portraying them as prudish and condescending assholes. I think that over time, that context has been lost and the meaning simplified to benefit the Christian interpretation. I've gotten into some seriously heated arguments with people over this, some people really want to believe this was the "first Christian metal song" .

This reminded me of an in-depth article someone wrote about Warrel Dane and his lyrics years ago. Hopefully I'm not straying too far from your topic but it's an interesting take on what the writer thought was "The Philosophy of Warrel Dane" for anyone interested:
http://hypnoticvoid.blogspot.com/2008/05/electric-religion-philosophy-of-warrel.html

I loved the recurring motifs and phrases that Warrel Dane would use in his lyrics. As much as he was no doubt focusing on real world events and personal feelings, it always felt like world building in a fantasy dystopia.

Queensryche's "Re-arrange you", off Mindcrime II:
Who's they ?
Erenesto Che Guevera is said to have said that.

The Motorcycles Diairies, a biopic on the Che, came out two years before Mindcrime II.

Mindcrime II also includes a motorcycle chase.. Coincidence ?

I don't think so, but I don't think Geoff Tate ever said anything about this.

But you forget to say that in Under the Sun, the lyrics also say No black magician telling me to cut my soul out
In other words, they didn't like to be told what to do, they didn't want to live to anyone's expectations. Presumably the Satan/black magic enthusiast fan boys came first, and when they were fed up they wrote After Forever. Then a year or so later, as they got more famous, they had Christian mobs showing up at concerts either to protest, or to attempt to 'convert' / exorcise the band by praying for them; and so they wrote those opening lines in Under the Sun to aim at both crowds.

This one gets brought up from time to time, but Death's "The Philosopher" being Chuck's thoughts on ex-Death member Paul Masvidal. Not very flattering stuff, either, as the lyrics negatively mention this so-called philosopher's personality and sexuality. I don't know if Chuck ever confirmed it, or if Masvidal responded. Either way, it's one of those that's been talked about for a long time.

I don't think it stands.
Nothing there says anyone is a homosexual. Homosexuals know their sexual orientation and their sexuality. I think he's dissing a person who tells others how to live their lives and perhaps preaches sexual abstinence, but has never even had sex or explored their sexuality to a reasonable extent, i.e., someone who spends their time theorizing about life rather than living it.

Honestly this is pretty ignorant. Coming out is a long, complex journey filled with both personal and public reckoning. It's not like people wake up one day, realize they're not straight, and they and all their friends and family happily talk about it with full acceptance. Especially in the early 90s in Florida. And even if Paul was 100% confident and out and proud, that doesn't automatically mean Chuck was accepting or understanding.

There’s also a song on Cross Purposes where Martin disses Dio. “Time to kiss the rainbow goodbye”.

Sexual orientation and sexuality are different things. Of course sexual orientation may take a while to become clear and may also change in time. However, by then, these guys were in their early 30s. So for Chuck to say that Paul didn't know his sexual orientation (but choosing the noun sexuality because I guess it rhymes, first assumption), would mean that by then, either Paul was not comfortable being public about his sexual orientation (at 30 something) which is possible, but has nothing to do with 'not knowing'. Not disclosing or even hiding one's sexual orientation has little to do with 'not knowing' it. Chuck would have used a different term, like 'you're hiding your own sexuality' or something like that. Or, another possibility, Paul had partners of both genders, and Chuck would have thought, 'you must absolutely pick one gender and stick to it'; which is kind of backwards even for 1993. Not impossible, but to me those are all far fetched and resting on too many assumptions.

Paul was, and is, into a bunch of new-age things (as the Cynic lyrics and liner notes testify: Yogananda's philosophy, Shambhala's Tibetan buddhism, Sri Aurobindo), though to many people new age is a philosophy, or refers to several 'philosophies' (in as much as we talk about eastern philosophies, buddhist philosophy, etc.), it is not really knowledge based, at least in its western export form, but based around experience: meditation, mantras, yoga, mindful movement, massages (reiki), and among younger people perhaps LSD, etc. Yet the song The Philosopher is about some know-it-all ('you know so much about nothing at all'); therefore either someone who quotes Nietzsche, Heidegger, Kant and brags about concepts he's read in those books; or just some guy who sits around and think too much then tries to expound his wisdom to others; but in either way has limited 'hands on' knowledge of life (including sexual / intimate experience). Paul's profile, that of a Floridian dude into new age, doesn't come to mind.

In 1993 Chuck was 26 and Paul was 22. You're clearly just making all of this up.

Oh my, this does change everything

Of course, band members are unidimensional characters, and what we know about them - that they are in and out of bands - is the main thing going on in their lives and is what inspires them their lyrics.

So Tony Martin wrote this song called Psychophobia about the Waco ordeal, David Koresh, etc., on an album that has many songs about religion, cults, etc.. and he made this metaphor about colours running dry, seeing the world in black and white, i.e., kissing the rainbow (spectrum of visible light, all colours) goodbye.. so no one would suspect he is actually taking a dig at Dio.. fucking Dio who replaced him after the Tyr tour.

And all the while he was on the Cross Purposes tour, opening up with Time Machine, singing Mob Rules and Neon Knights, he was secretly smiling that he managed to get a dig at Dio in Psychophobia, which only a handful of wise-ass people would know about.

And on the day Dio died he must have opened a bottle of champagne while we're at it.

After the passing of David Gold, there were a lot of rumors that it was suicide. Many of the songs on Grey Skies & Electric Light are about death, Alternate Ending is especially creepy because when you consider how he died in a car crash.

Enchantment by Paradise Lost is about wanking.


There's no rule to say you'll cry alone
Just find the strength to help you carry the load
Reverse the frown and let the power surge
But when alone you cannot resist the urge

That's been confirmed by Nick Holmes, hasn't it? Not a fan theory afaik. I keep reading he confirmed it but I can't find a source though.

No idea. This is my personal theory. If it was confirmed by him, then validates my assumptions.

You could read Rats by Ghost as being anti muslim immigration.
The song came a few years after the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe, and Sweden is often talked about as having a "problem" with muslim immigrants.
I don't actually think the above is the case, and I would be surprised if Ghost would push any political agenda with their music at all. But I think the choice of words (turmoil = Syrian civil war/other wars in the Middle East, rats = immigrants, belief/wrath of god = religious heritages/pushing religious values, sanctum = Sweden/Europe, etc etc etc) lends to that reading.

LOL....awesome.

Cross Purposes is a fantastic album.

Avantasia is one of my favorite bands, but one of the biggest criticism is Tobi's post-Metal Opera lyrical content not making any sense. I think they are mostly intentionally vague metaphors so that we pen our own story from what we interpret. Either that, or he's just shoehorning arbitrary poetic nonsense.

I had a discussion on Reddit the other day regarding the song Mystery of a Blood Red Rose. Initially I thought that the song was about time and roses decaying, every day closer to death. Someone else said that the song is about finding your true role and passion in life, and the roses represent the mystery.

Of course, Tobi does tend to use the same phrases in his other songs (eg. Ghost in the Moon also uses the phrase "mystery of a blood red rose"), so I believe they are all connected somehow.

Na.

Yes it is.. At the time I didnot enjoy it tremendously, not as much as I had enjoyed the previous Martin ones, or Dehumanizer. But with time I grew to appreciate it even more.

I originally thought the lyrics were kind of redundant; songs about crosses, catholic church, sins, repentance.. Until I read some descriptions by Martin himself.

"I Witness" - inspired by Amish and Jehovah Witnesses; communities in which children grow either secluded or wary of the outside world
"Cross of Thorns" - inspired by the conflict in Nothern Ireland, which is related to an opposition between Protestants and Catholics
"Psychophobia" - inspired by the Davidian branch of the 7th Day Adventists (David Koresh)
"Virtual Death" - not much to do with religion; more about becoming numb to life in general
"Immaculate Deception" - self-explanatory; how religion uses fear and eventually causes people to feel cut away from themselves (immaculate conception is a Catholic dogma, though some Orthodox branches may accept it)
"Dying for Love" - perhaps nothing to do with religion; influenced by the war in former-Yugoslavia, though as in many conflicts, religion often exacerbates animosity between groups of a different faith
"Back to Eden" - a call back to pre-relgious times (though Eden is mentioned in the Genesis; it evokes a time before Yahweh got all upset)
"The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" - nothing to do with religion, at first I thought it was about that 1992 movie with Rebecca De Mornay, which kind of threw me off, but it's about a nurse who killed several children
"Cardinal Sin" - nice play on words, again about the hypocrisy of the Church, the Cardinals who protected pedophile priests or who perpetrated such acts themselves. The number of cardinals involved in cover-ups and scandals who were revealed since the album came out is astounding: McCarrick, Barbarin, Pell, O'Brien, Groer, Sodano, Law..
"Evil Eye" - a variation on Evil Woman and Lady Evil I guess; outlier on this album

Basically there are a lot of songs that have to do with different aspects of religion on this album.