Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish
“Song of Myself” is the 12th track in the 2011 Nightwish album Imaginaerum. It references the Walt Whitman poem ‘Song of Myself’ in its title as well as its lyrics, which are overall introspective and melancholic. The second half is composed entirely of recited prose from various characters over a q...
[1. From A Dusty Bookshelf – 00:00-00:46]
[Instrumental Intro]
A-ah
A-ah
A-ah
A-ah
A-ah
A-ah
Ha-ha-ha-ha
[2. All That Great Heart Lying Still – 00:46-03:36]
[Verse 1]
The nightingale is still locked in the cage (Ha-ha-ha-ah-ha-ha-haha)
The deep breath I took still poisons my lungs (Ha-ha-ha-ah-ha-ha-haha)
An old oak sheltering me from the blue (Ha-ha-ha-ah-ha-ha-haha)
Sun bathing on its dead frozen leaves (Ha-ha-ha-ah-ha-ha-haha)
[Verse 2]
A catnap in the ghost town of my heart (Ha-ha-ha, ha-haha-ah)
She dreams of storytime and the river ghosts (Ha-ha-ha, ha-haha-ah)
Of mermaids, of Whitman's and the Ride (Ha-ha-ha, ha-haha-ah)
Raving harlequins, gigantic toys (Ha-ha-ha, ha-haha-ah)
[Chorus 1]
A song of me a song in need
Of a courageous symphony
A verse of me a verse in need
Of a pure-heart singing me to peace
[Pre-Refrain]
All that great heart lying still and slowly dying
All that great heart lying still on an angelwing
[Refrain]
All that great heart lying still
In silent suffering
Smiling like a clown until the show has come to an end
What is left for encore
Is the same old Dead Boy's song
Sung in silence
All that great heart lying still and slowly dying
All that great heart lying still on an angelwing
[Post-Refrain]
Ha-ha-ha-ah-ha-ha-haha
(Aaaah)
Ha-ha-ha-ah-ha-ha-haha
[Verse 3]
A midnight flight into Covington Woods (Ha-ha-ha, ha-haha-ah)
A princess and a panther by my side (Ha-ha-ha, ha-haha-ah)
These are Territories I live for (Ha-ha-ha, ha-haha-ah)
I'd still give my everything to love you more (Ha-ha-ha, ha-haha-ah)
[Chorus 1]
A song of me a song in need
Of a courageous symphony
A verse of me a verse in need
Of a pure-heart singing me to peace
[Pre-Refrain]
All that great heart lying still and slowly dying
All that great heart lying still on an angelwing
[Refrain]
All that great heart lying still
In silent suffering
Smiling like a clown until the show has come to an end
What is left for encore
Is the same old Dead Boy's song
Sung in silence
All that great heart lying still and slowly dying
All that great heart lying still on an angelwing
[3. Piano Black – 03:36-06:35]
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 4]
A silent symphony
A hollow opus #1,2,3
[Chorus 2]
Sometimes the sky is piano black
Piano black over cleansing waters
[Verse 5]
Resting pipes, verse of bore
Rusting keys without a door
[Chorus 2]
Sometimes the within is piano black
Piano black over cleansing waters
[Instrumental Break]
[Refrain]
All that great heart lying still and slowly dying
All that great heart lying still on an angelwing
All that great heart lying still and slowly dying
All that great heart lying still on an angelwing
[4. Love – 06:35-13:30]
[Piano Solo]
[Spoken Interlude 1 – Tuomas Holopainen]
"I see a slow, simple youngster by a busy street, with a begging bowl in his shaking hand
Trying to smile but hurting infinitely. Nobody notices
I do, but walk by
An old man gets naked and kisses a model-doll in his attic
It's half-light and he's in tears
When he finally comes his eyes are cascading
I see a beaten dog in a pungent alley. He tries to bite me
All pride has left his wild drooling eyes
I wish I had my leg to spare
A mother visits her son, smiles to him through the bars
She's never loved him more
An obese girl enters an elevator with me
All dressed up fancy, a green butterfly on her neck
Terribly sweet perfume deafens me
She's going to dinner alone
That makes her even more beautiful
I see a model's face on a brick wall
A statue of porcelain perfection beside a violent city kill
A city that worships flesh" (Aa-aaa-aa-ah, aa-aaa-aa-ah)
[Girl Child Spoken – Interlude 2]
"The first thing I ever heard was a wandering man telling his story
It was you, the grass under my bare feet
The campfire in the dead of the night
The heavenly black of sky and sea"
[Man 1 Spoken – Interlude 3]
"It was us
Roaming the rainy roads, combing the gilded beaches
Waking up to a new gallery of wonders every morn
Bathing in places no-one's seen before
Shipwrecked on some matt-painted island
Clad in nothing but the surf, beauty's finest robe"
[All Together Spoken – Interlude 4]
"Beyond all mortality we are, swinging in the breath of nature
In early air of the dawn of life
A sight to silence the heavens"
[Man 2 Spoken – Interlude 5]
"I want to travel where life travels
Following its permanent lead
Where the air tastes like snow music
Where grass smells like fresh-born Eden
I would pass no man, no stranger, no tragedy or rapture
I would bathe in a world of sensation
Love, Goodness, and Simplicity
(While violated and imprisoned by technology)"
[Spoken Interlude 5 – Tuomas and a Girl Child]
"The thought of my family's graves
Was the only moment I used to experience true love
That love remains infinite, as I'll never be the man my father is
How can you "just be yourself"
When you don't know who you are?
Stop saying "I know how you feel"
How could anyone know how another feels?"
[Man 3 Spoken – Interlude 6]
"Who am I to judge a priest, beggar, whore, politician, wrongdoer?
I am, you are, all of them already"
(Aah aah aah, ha aah aah)
[Boy Child Spoken – Interlude 7]
"Dear child, stop working, go play
Forget every rule
There's no fear in a dream"
[Children and a Man Spoken – Interlude 8]
"Is there a village inside this snowflake?"
- "a child asked me"
"What's the color of our lullaby?"
"I've never been so close to truth as then
I touched its silver lining"
[Man 4 Spoken – Interlude 9]
"Death is the winner in any war
Nothing noble in dying for your religion
For your country
For ideology, for faith
For another man, yes"
[Man and a Woman Spoken – Interlude 10]
"Paper is dead without words
Ink idle without a poem
All the world dead without stories
Without love and disarming beauty"
[Man 5 Spoken – Interlude 11]
"Careless realism costs souls"
[Spoken Interlude 12 Outro – Tuomas Holopainen]
"Ever seen the Lord smile?
All the care for the world made Beautiful a sad man?
Why do we still carry a device of torture around our necks?
Oh, how rotten your pre-apocalypse is
All you bible-black fools living over nightmare ground
I see all those empty cradles and wonder
If man will ever change
I, too, wish to be a decent man-boy
But all I am is smoke and mirrors
Still given everything, may I be deserving
And there forever remains that change from G to Em"
Song of Myself was written by Tuomas Holopainen.
Song of Myself was produced by Tuomas Holopainen.
Nightwish released Song of Myself on Wed Nov 30 2011.