A few months later, Javier Díez joined the band as a keyboard player. In October 2004, EBONY ARK's first studio album Decoder was released, including 11 tracks peppered with great songs like "Dead Men's Lives", "Searching for an Answer" and "Thorn of Ice". Their blend of hard-hitting metal with a progressive edge and Beatriz's powerful vocals over the top proved to be a winning formula for the metal audience, and they received many plaudits from both press and fans alike. EBONY ARK had started with a bang and deservedly pushed their way to the front in the international metal world.
After touring all over Spain in February 2005, Jorge Sáez and Javier Díez left the band due to their commitments lying elsewhere. Iván (drums) and Diego (synth) joined Ebony Ark and the band became more stable. In June of the same year they shot their first video clip for their single "Thorn of Ice" in their hometown of Madrid.
What followed was a busy time for the band, with concerts and rehearsals mixed with the composition of new songs for their new album. Their first concert outside Spain was on May 4th 2006 supporting the Dutch band EPICA in a very special show in Amsterdam's infamous Paradiso venue. In May they started recording Decoder 2.0 for their new label Transmission Records. Unfortunately Transmission Records went bankrupt before the album could be scheduled and never saw the light of day.
Many bands would buckle under the stress of seeing their hard work go down the pan, but Ebony Ark are stronger than that. They set about finding a new deal, and after negotiations with several labels chose the fast-rising UK-based Ascendance Records as their new home. In April 2008, their long awaited second album, When The City Is Quiet, was finally released.
Ball And Chain
Ebony Ark Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hear your voice
Singing that fatefull song
I can feel your hands close to me
like sun and earth at dawn
Why did you leave here?
Why your voice seem so sad and lost?
Why come back?
Why this ghost from the past?
One day you said to me "I have to go"
Then you kissed me and disappeared through the fog
If only that letter had no arrived
And this day was the last I saw you alive
While I was in hell
Every night in my dreams
I heard your sweet voice
Awakening my hopes to return
Rain can't clean my tears
and nobody but you can feel my pain
My life is an endless nightmare
I have come to save you
Take my hand
Leave this life behind
I dont want to die
Take my hand
Leave this life behind
I don't want to die
Stay away from me
Let me forgive
(Surrender to me)
Why did u have to go one day?
If only you hadn't gone to this stupid war
I still loving you so much
But you can't say this to me
So take you ball and chain
Get out of here
Leave me alone...
The somber lyrics of Ebony Ark's "Ball and Chain" tell the story of loss and heartbreak. The song is sung from the perspective of someone who is haunted by memories of a lost love. The singer is tormented by questions that he can never get an answer to; why did she leave, why did she come back, why did she have to go? He longs for her touch and her voice and is consumed by his regret and sorrow.
The song seems to suggest that the lost love died in a war, which makes the loss all the more devastating. The singer is trapped in an endless nightmare of grief, unable to move on from the tragedy that has befallen him. He reaches out to his love, willing to forgive and be forgiven, but it is clear that their moment has passed. The final lines of the song seem to suggest that the singer is ready to move on but that he needs his love to leave him alone, to let him forgive and forget.
In conclusion, "Ball and Chain" is a heartbreaking song that explores the depths of loss and regret. The lyrics evoke a profound sense of melancholy and are complemented by the haunting melody and vocals.
Line by Line Meaning
I can feel you're here
I sense your presence around me
Hear your voice
I am able to hear your voice in my mind
Singing that fatefull song
As a reminder of the past, your voice echoes the song that is tied to our fate
I can feel your hands close to me
In my thoughts and dreams, I can sense your hands reaching out to comfort me as if they were the sun and earth creating a new day
Why did you leave here?
I cannot comprehend why you decided to leave me
Why your voice seem so sad and lost?
I cannot help but notice the sadness and longing in your voice
Why did you leave here?
Once again, I am questioning your decision to walk away from our lives
Why come back?
Why are you returning after leaving me behind?
Why this ghost from the past?
You are like a ghost from my past and I cannot shake off the memories and emotions that come with it
One day you said to me "I have to go"
You once told me that you had to leave for some reason
Then you kissed me and disappeared through the fog
You gave me a final kiss and vanished into the unknown, leaving me behind in a cloudy future
If only that letter had no arrived
I regret that I received that letter which signaled the end of our life together
And this day was the last I saw you alive
I couldn't get to see you again, and that day of parting became the last moment of our lives together
While I was in hell
In a realm of pain and suffering
Every night in my dreams
In the land of dreams, where all is surreal and vivid,
I heard your sweet voice
I listened to your alluring voice calling out to me
Awakening my hopes to return
You gave me a glimmer of hope to reunite with you
Rain can't clean my tears
No matter how hard it rains, my tears are here to stay
and nobody but you can feel my pain
Only you can understand the depth of the hurt I feel inside, and none can empathize as you could
My life is an endless nightmare
I cannot break free from the agony that is my existence
I have come to save you
I am here to rescue you from this world of pain
Take my hand
Take hold of my hand and hold on as we make our escape
Leave this life behind
Let us abandon this life of pain and misery, and start anew
I dont want to die
I am not ready to leave this world yet
Take my hand
Once again, take hold of my hand
Leave this life behind
Let us forget this life and begin anew, together
I don't want to die
I am not ready to face death and say goodbye to all that is dear to me
Stay away from me
Stay away from me, now that I am full of regret and recrimination towards you
Let me forgive
Let me forgive you, for I cannot keep on blaming you for everything that happened between us
(Surrender to me)
(Open your heart and mind to me, let me help you)
Why did u have to go one day?
I still cannot fathom why you had to leave us forever
If only you hadn't gone to this stupid war
If only you didn't have to fight this useless war and stayed with us
I still loving you so much
I cannot help but continue to love you even after all these years
But you can't say this to me
But you are not able to express this to me anymore
So take you ball and chain
Take everything that ties you to your past and move on
Get out of here
Leave this place, so that I can start anew without being haunted by your ghost
Leave me alone...
Allow me to leave behind the past and begin a new future for myself
Contributed by Mackenzie T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.