There are multiple artists with this name;

1) HIM (sometimes stylize… Read Full Bio ↴There are multiple artists with this name;

1) HIM (sometimes stylized as H.I.M.) was a Finnish gothic rock band from Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo and bassist Mikko "Mige" Paananen under the name His Infernal Majesty, the band broke up in 1993, before being reformed in 1995 by Valo and guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström. After being rejoined by Mige, as well as new additions keyboardist Antto Melasniemi and drummer Juhana "Pätkä" Rantala, the band, now called HIM, released their debut album Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 in 1997. In 2000, now with drummer Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen and keyboardist Juska Salminen, the band released the album Razorblade Romance, which reached the number one spot in Finland, Austria and Germany. Their first single, "Join Me in Death", also charted at number one in Finland and Germany, eventually going platinum and gold respectively. Following the addition of Janne "Burton" Puurtinen on keyboards, HIM released Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights and Love Metal in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Both cracked the top ten in several countries, and allowed the band to tour the United Kingdom and the United States for the first time.

In 2005, HIM released Dark Light, which became the group's most commercially successful album to date, charting in fifteen countries. With Dark Light, HIM also became the first Finnish group to receive a gold record in the US. In 2007, HIM released Venus Doom, the making of which was marred by problems in Valo's personal life. Despite this, the album gave the band their highest chart position in the US at number twelve. After 2010's Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, HIM went on hiatus as drummer Gas Lipstick took medical leave. Following several months of uncertainty, the band regrouped and eventually released the album Tears on Tape in 2013. In 2015, Gas Lipstick announced his departure from the band to pursue other musical projects, and was subsequently replaced by Jukka "Kosmo" Kröger. On 5 March 2017, HIM announced that the band would be disbanding following a farewell tour in 2017. The band played their final show on New Year's Eve 2017 as a part of their annual Helldone Festival.

HIM is one of the most commercially successful Finnish bands of all time, with sales of over ten million records. The band have released eight studio albums, five compilations, three video releases, and two box sets, along with one live and one remix album. HIM has also received numerous accolades, including eight Emma Awards.

Critics have referred to the music of HIM as gothic rock, gothic metal, alternative rock, alternative metal, and dark rock. The band themselves have referred to their music as "love metal", the title of their fourth studio album. According to Ville Valo, the term "love metal" was coined as a response to people having difficulties categorizing their music.

A central of part of HIM's image has been the heartagram. The heartagram is the trademarked symbol of the band, which was created by vocalist Ville Valo on his twentieth birthday in 1996. A combination of a heart and a pentagram, the heartagram is meant to represent the juxtaposition of "the soft and the hard, the male and the female, the yin and the yang" according to Valo. Musically the heart is also meant to represent the softer side of the band, while the pentagram symbolizes their heavier influences. This juxtaposition was also prevalent in the band's album titles. On their first album, HIM used a heart with "666" inside it as their logo, which Valo later felt was "a bit boring". The heartagram was first predominantly used on the cover of HIM's 2003 album Love Metal, and has since appeared on numerous releases from the band. Valo has later stated that the heartagram "is probably the best thing I've ever come-up with", and that it's "worth a lot more than money" and is "bigger than our band". The heartagram has also made several appearances on TV, including Charmed, LA Ink, Viva La Bam, and Criminal Minds.

2) HiM is a dub influenced post-rock group formed in 1995 by Doug Scharin, drummer for the bands Codeine, Rex and June of 44. Their first album, Egg, was their most dub-based effort. Each successive album has gone more in a quasi-world music direction. After some recording for Crooklyn Dub Consortium and Wordsound, "Interpretive Belief System", HiM settled on a lineup of Scharin with Bundy K. Brown, Rob Mazurek and Jeff Parker, members or occasional members of Tortoise and Isotope 217. Their first album was the underground hit Sworn Eyes, produced by Doug Scharin. A few personnel changes followed, and the revamped lineup including members of June of 44. Golden released Our Point of Departure in 1999, which signified a very clear shift toward a more jazz-like sound, followed by a major American and European tour. In 2003, HiM released Many In High Places Are Not Well on Fat Cat Records, which was received as their most successful and fully realized release. Peoples was released in mid-2006, featuring a cleaner sound with more vocals than any of HiM's previous releases. Included in this line-up are Martin Perna and Jordan McLean from Antibalas, Griffin Rodriguez from Need New Body/Icy Demons, Adam Pierce (Mice Parade).

The latest HiM records, "1110" and ん,released in 2008 and 2009 on Afterhours in Tokyo, are collaborations between Doug Scharin, Josh Larue and the Tokyo-based group, Ultra Living.

3) The group was composed of the following main members:

* Shizuka Nakajima （vocals）
* Shungo Makihashi (vocals)
* Non (dancer)
* Yocco (dancer)

4) H.I.M. (Her in Mind) an r&b singer best known for his reply album to H.E.R.'s album in 2017.

Serpent Ride
Him Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Upon the wings of a dream
She rides
Close she comes to me
Fills me with light
Towards the dark side of the moon
We fly
She sings me a tune
Away through the silver starlight

I don't want to wake up this time
I'm alive on this serpent ride

In the grace of our love
We writhe in pain
Further into this solar fog
Mesmerised
A drop of her blood tastes like wine
I answer her call with a rhyme

That is not dead which can eternal lie
Yet with strange aeons death may die

In your eyes lies the world where I don't wanna go
Said you've changed but I don't believe in miracles
Since you conquered my heart we've never been apart
One day we'll close our eyes open them again
And discover each other

So I open up my eyes

She treats me with a smile
From her wrists flows wine

Overall Meaning

The HIM song Serpent Ride depicts a dreamlike, surreal journey on the wings of a serpent. The female protagonist is the rider while the singer is the passenger, filled with light and awe at the sights they encounter. They fly towards the dark side of the moon, serenaded by the rider’s singing. The singer is entranced and doesn't want to wake up from this dream since he feels alive and liberated. As they continue their journey, they reach a solar fog, and both writhe in pain, bound together in their love. The rider’s blood even tastes like wine to the singer. He answers her call with a rhyme, and the song hints at a deeper, cosmic connection between the two, ending with the line, "And discover each other."

The song's lyrics are full of poetic and metaphysical references. The mythical serpent, widely interpreted as a symbol of eternal wisdom or knowledge, is a common reference in many mythologies. Also, the line, "That is not dead, which can eternal lie, Yet with strange aeons death may die," is a quote from H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu, where it refers to the inhuman god Cthulhu, sleeping for eons in the depths of the sea, waiting for the right moment to rise again. The song’s ultimate theme, the discovery and restoration of oneself, is reflected through the singer's recognition that he doesn't want to wake up, signifying his reluctance to return to reality from a place where he finally feels alive.

Line by Line Meaning

Upon the wings of a dream She rides
She's riding on a dream and heading towards a destination, probably related to the singer.

Close she comes to me Fills me with light
She is approaching the singer and bringing happiness and positivity to their life.

Towards the dark side of the moon We fly
They're off to explore an unknown, scary and mysterious place or situation, maybe a metaphor for a relationship.

She sings me a tune Away through the silver starlight
She sings to the artist, guiding them somewhere bright and beautiful where starlight illuminates their path.

I don't want to wake up this time I'm alive on this serpent ride
The artist is enjoying the journey or the experience too much to let it end or to face reality yet.

In the grace of our love We writhe in pain
The singer and their lover are suffering for the sake of their passion or relationship.

Further into this solar fog Mesmerised
They're entering a state of confusion or haziness, probably metaphorical, while still being fascinated or entranced.

A drop of her blood tastes like wine I answer her call with a rhyme
The artist describes his partner as something intoxicating that they can't resist. They respond with art, maybe poetry or music.

That is not dead which can eternal lie Yet with strange aeons death may die
The artist references H.P. Lovecraft's writing to say that immortality or eternity is a real possibility, but also that it can lead to madness or destruction.

In your eyes lies the world where I don't wanna go Said you've changed but I don't believe in miracles Since you conquered my heart we've never been apart One day we'll close our eyes open them again And discover each other
The artist talks to their lover, saying that they're afraid of the changes they see in them or in their relationship, but they still want to be together because they feel that they're meant to. They imagine a future where they'll reunite and rediscover each other.

So I open up my eyes She treats me with a smile From her wrists flows wine
The singer is awakened from their dream or experience, and they see their lover smiling at them. They notice that their blood or their passion is like wine or something that nourishes them both.

Contributed by Joshua H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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