Nightmare
Hannah Marcus Lyrics

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All the way from a nightmare
you came to me.
All the way from a nightmare
you rose.
You rose up
and you put down
all of your instruments
for a moment I saw.

Strange.
Strange.
Shape of your soul.

From five hundred thousand light years
you sang to me.
From five hundred thousand light years
you called.
Distance
has blurred
my vivid red vision
and the passage of time.
Mystified
your song.

Now sometimes
I can throw off,
throw off these vengeful shadows.
This craving
to stick my fingers into the sun.
Fall back.
Fall back.
Fall back into loving arms of darkness.
Into the river of darkness.
which we all were born.

All the way from a nightmare.
All the way from a nightmare.
All the way from a nightmare.

From which I was born.

From which I was born.
From which I was born.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Hannah Marcus's song "Nightmare" are a haunting and enigmatic exploration of distance, time, and the human soul. The song opens with the image of someone rising up from a nightmare and coming to the singer. The use of the word "nightmare" emphasizes the darkness and fear that this person embodies, while the act of rising suggests a kind of rebirth or transformation. The repetition of this line underscores the sense of the uncanny that permeates the song.

The second verse deepens this sense of strangeness by describing how the person who has come to the singer is singing from five hundred thousand light years away. The distance here is not just physical, but existential; the person is so alien and removed from the singer's reality that they might as well be in another galaxy. The term "vivid red vision" further emphasizes the distance, as well as hinting at the possibility that the singer is seeing things that others cannot.

The final verse brings the song back to earth, with the singer acknowledging that they can sometimes "throw off" the shadows and fall back into "the loving arms of darkness," which they understand to be the river from which they were born. The repetition of the phrase "all the way from a nightmare" throughout the song suggests that this journey between light and dark, distance and closeness, is a long and difficult one, but ultimately one that is worthwhile.

Line by Line Meaning

All the way from a nightmare you came to me.
You appeared to me from a place of darkness and fear.

All the way from a nightmare you rose.
You emerged from a place of nightmare and horror.

You rose up and you put down all of your instruments for a moment I saw. Strange. Strange. Shape of your soul.
You ceased your activities and I caught a glimpse of your mysterious, enigmatic nature.

From five hundred thousand light years you sang to me. From five hundred thousand light years you called.
You communicated with me from a vast distance beyond comprehension.

Distance has blurred my vivid red vision and the passage of time. Mystified your song.
The passage of time and distance have made everything unclear, but your song has left me perplexed.

Now sometimes I can throw off, throw off these vengeful shadows. This craving to stick my fingers into the sun.
Occasionally, I can rid myself of the shadow of revenge and desire to do the impossible.

Fall back. Fall back. Fall back into loving arms of darkness. Into the river of darkness. which we all were born.
Embrace the darkness that is universal and inherent to us all.

All the way from a nightmare. All the way from a nightmare. All the way from a nightmare.
Repeated reminder of the source of something unsettling.

From which I was born. From which I was born. From which I was born.
Reiteration of the origin of something integral to oneself.

Contributed by Jeremiah F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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