Revelations

[gor]

I think the whole point of the song is to show the hidden dangers someone faces if he has blind faith in religion. Bruce tries to symbolize the hidden danger behind religion with these images:

1. "the secret of the hangman, the smile on his lips". the smiling hangman is a tarrot card. it depicts a smiling man, hanged upside down from a tree. In tarrot fortune telling, this card means that a man (symbolizing each person in the song) is manipulated by a woman (symbolizing religion in the song), who wants to harm him and/or take advantage of him and seal his destiny. I asked a girl I know who is deep into that kind of stuff for the meaning of this card in tarrot card telling.

2. "the eyes of the Nile are opening, you'll see". Great metaphor for hidden danger. Crocodiles can swim in the water with only their eyes sticking out of it when they are on "hunt mode". At night, their eyes glow in the dark, and appear like shiny eyes on the surface of the water. The Egyptians reffered to them as "the eyes of the Nile", which, altough a pretty sight, warn of a great danger hidden under them.

3. the indirect refferance to Succubus is another symbolism of the great dangers of religion. Succubus was medieval folklore ghost, that appeared at night in the dreams of men, having the form of a seductive woman. Men that dreamt of having sex with Succubus died in their sleep. Incubus, the male conterpart ghost, appeared in a woman's dream and raped her. Succubus was to blame if a man died in his sleep. Incubus was to blame if a woman gave birth to a disformed or handicaped or in any other way strange child. Merlin the wizard for instance was supposed to be the child of a woman and an Incubus.

 

[Uwe]

'revelations'

Cool stuff I would never have thought of. Some time ago I mailed Maverick with yet another possible meaning, strongly connected to the history of Caesar and Cleopatra - so maybe we'll see a more in-depth review of this song in future.

 

[LooseCannon]

'revelations'

I played this song for a friend of mine who does mythology and religious studies after reading your post, Gor, and she agrees with you. You make a very good point, one I won't even try to argue.

 

[gor]

'revelations'

thank you guys. I actually saw many of those points on a related thread on the im bb. i did a little search for the things mentioned there, elaborated a bit, and weaved it all together, summing all the info...

 

[SinisterMinisterX]

'revelations'

Wow, those are some pretty obscure references in the lyrics then. To be honest, I was never able to figure out just what he was talking about; the mystery of the lyrics was something I loved about the song. I'm a big fan of lyrics that are mysterious and ambiguous because it lets me come up with my own interpretation of the song - it gets me more involved in the listening process. But when I think about the lyrics as a criticism of religion, that's something I can love too.

It also makes me appreciate the time and effort Maiden put into their lyrics. If Bruce wanted to write about religion, it would have been easy to do it in a simple and straightforward manner. Taking the time to research those symbols shows how much he cares about creating something unique. I also saw an interview somewhere in which it was said that Adrian did some research on Pashendale while writing that song ... how many bands care enough about their songs and fans to hit the library while songwriting?!? [!--emo&:bow:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/bowdown.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'bowdown.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

 

[Onhell]

'revelations'

I must say I am impressed, gor. Good work, however....lol...um I agree that it could be a critic of religion, but I think it's of OCULT cults as Tarot reading itself is usually associated with witches. Because one has to believe blindly in his/her religion. NOT in the acts or twisted words of a few tainted leaders. The foundation is what you believe in. i.e, Muslims believe in Allah, is there a danger in believing that blindly? no. But there is a danger in believing a muslim terrorist who says if you kill jews and any infidel Allah will reward you. Way to go man, I would have never thought of it, now I get a new feeling when listening to the song.

 

[Anonymous]

'revelations'

Now you can read other visitors' comments on 'Revelations' as well as post your own. Any contribution to the commentary will be much appreciated, may it be cultural references relevant to the song (links to related websites, interpretations that may have been overlooked in the Commentary, and the like) or personal essays related to the topic of the song. Just be aware that messages that are either off-topic or too wacky may be deleted.

 

[SinisterMinisterX]

'revelations'

Great song! When I saw the GMETID tour, I was surprised that they changed it slightly - they played the opening riff only two times instead of four. They don't change many of their songs live, so I wonder why did it with this one?

 

[gor]

'revelations'

ok, i know noone can make sence out of all this, but at least I established that the phrase "babe in the abyss" is infact a Crowley refference. In his book "Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni", he describes it as a rank of spirituality...

[a href=\'http://www.religioustolerance.org/thelema3.htm\' target=\'_blank\']http://www.religioustolerance.org/thelema3.htm[/a] near the bottom... don't try to make anything out of it, it's rubbish

 

[Uwe]

'revelations'

The best song on the album, together with To Tame A Land. I just wish I could figure out what the lyrics are about. Heavy guitars, great harmonies, great rhythm shifts - it's all there. Five stars, period.

 

[The Ancient Mariner]

'revelations'

The Chesterton verse followed by the two following verses of the hymnal:

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

From all that terror preaches, from lies of tongue and pen
From all the easy speeches, that comfort cruel men
From sale and profanation, of honour and the sword,
from sleep and from damnation, deliver us, good lord

Tie in a living tether, the prince and priest and thrall;
bind all our lives together smite us and save us all
in ire and exultation aflame with faith, and free
lift up a living nation, a single sword to thee.

Bruce used more of the Chesterton poem than first thought.

 

[Maidenfreak]

'revelations'

What a killer song! It's even better played live, and thanks to Mav I finally understand what the cryptic lyrics are trying to tell me. Awesome song, one of Maiden's best - 5 stars.

 

[Anonymous]

'revelations'

One my favourite songs in general, this is a masterpiece rocksong. Thanks Bruce! Five stars [!--emo&:bow:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/bowdown.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'bowdown.gif\' /][!--endemo--] You always have a piece of my mind because of this. Lyrics deserve some deep analysis, that much is true.

 

[Anonymous]

'revelations'

This is truly one of the best Iron Maiden songs ever. Awesome songwriting, ace musicianship... and it's all just about opening a pair of curtains? [!--emo&--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

Rating: 5

 

[Anonymous]

'revelations'

So where does Bruce's comment on Live After Death that it's about opening a pair of curtains fit into your interpretation?

I really don't get that one. It doesn't seem to be a joke, but it makes little, if any, sense...unless the curtains are a metaphor...and I don't think my weathered little brain could take that.

 

[Anonymous]

'revelations'

Just 1 question (it's about the LAD version): Were 3 guitars used in this song or was there an overdub? Because you can clearly hear both guitars playing and a soft guitar background, It's after Bruce says the entire Chesterton thing. Is it just me or does anyone else notice it?

 

[Raven]

'revelations'

[!--QuoteBegin-Perun+Jun 30 2005, 08:27 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Perun @ Jun 30 2005, 08:27 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]This is truly one of the best Iron Maiden songs ever. Awesome songwriting, ace musicianship... and it's all just about opening a pair of curtains? [!--emo&--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

Rating: 5

[snapback]110670[/snapback]​

[/quote]


[!--QuoteBegin-Anarchy in the USA+Aug 9 2005, 12:00 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Anarchy in the USA @ Aug 9 2005, 12:00 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]So where does Bruce's comment on Live After Death that it's about opening a pair of curtains fit into your interpretation?

I really don't get that one. It doesn't seem to be a joke, but it makes little, if any, sense...unless the curtains are a metaphor...and I don't think my weathered little brain could take that.

[snapback]114563[/snapback]​

[/quote]

Bruce's joke was that you 'reveal' something when you open a pair of curtains. Actually, Perun, I always thought it was about washing a car [!--emo&--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/rolleyes.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'rolleyes.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

[!--QuoteBegin-Garci+Dec 15 2005, 11:07 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Garci @ Dec 15 2005, 11:07 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Just 1 question (it's about the LAD version): Were 3 guitars used in this song or was there an overdub? Because you can clearly hear both guitars playing and a soft guitar background, It's after Bruce says the entire Chesterton thing. Is it just me or does anyone else notice it?

[snapback]125201[/snapback]​

[/quote]

What happened on LAD is Bruce joined in on acoustic guitar for the second verse. You can see it in the video on the enhanced CD (I think)

 

[Anonymous]

'revelations'

A very intruiging song. Very cryptic and cool lyrics. I like it a lot. 5/5.

 

[Raven]

Re: 'revelations'

I think the whole point of the song is to show the hidden dangers someone faces if he has blind faith in religion. Bruce tries to symbolize the hidden danger behind religion with these images:

1. "the secret of the hangman, the smile on his lips". the smiling hangman is a tarrot card. it depicts a smiling man, hanged upside down from a tree. In tarrot fortune telling, this card means that a man (symbolizing each person in the song) is manipulated by a woman (symbolizing religion in the song), who wants to harm him and/or take advantage of him and seal his destiny. I asked a girl I know who is deep into that kind of stuff for the meaning of this card in tarrot card telling.

I always thought that the 'Secret of the hangman' was more a metaphorical reference to 'Revelation'.  Consider how our 'Hanged Man' in Hallowed Be Thy Name says that he is not afraid and has 'gone beyond to see the truth'.  His final cry of 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' could be that, as he dies, he is finally greeted with the truth of religion ('And if there is a God then answer if you will'), as the veil is ripped away from his eyes (or the curtains are opened ).  While on the one hand, the tarot interperetation is yet another reference to close-minded, controlling religion, the semi-literal 'Hanged Man' interperetation is the escape of an individual from the control of religion, and being greeted by true 'Revelation'.

 

[Natalie]

Re: 'revelations'

This is one of my favorite songs off Piece of Mind. I love the intro and the heavy drum and bass bit that occurs throughout the song. The lyrics of this song are especially good. The part at 2:15 is my favorite. As for the secret of the hangman I think its as Raven said, its a reference to 'revelation', why else would the song be called 'Revelations'?