Dawson and Carroll met working as English teachers in South-East Asia. Over the intervening years they remained in contact, but it wasn't until they serendipitously met in Europe during 2011 that they started demoing songs. At the time, Carroll was living in Sweden and working on a solo project. Dawson was living in Berlin. When Dawson travelled to Stockholm on unrelated business, he tracked down Tim for a spare mattress; the two ended up recording a demo for what, unknown to them, would become a future Holy Holy song.
Shadow
Holy Holy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It never ends
The sound came in
It's raining
And lightning struck
And lit you up
I saw you then
Move for a moment
Ooh I won't wait
Ooh I won't wait
If you go into the shadow
You could leave it all behind
These fantasies seem strange to me
The horse with the horns just close enough, so
We were the ones to make it out alive
It was all that i could do i was to take the favour
You were the one tryin to make the payment
I couldn't speak you know I never tried
If you go into the shadow
You could leave it all behind
If you go into the shadow
You could leave it all behind
The opening lines of the song Shadow by Holy Holy express a sense of relentless weariness that could easily be interpreted as a metaphor for depression. The singer is caught in a cycle of waking up repeatedly, indicating that they are finding it hard to rest properly. The use of rain and lightning within the lyrics further emphasizes the feeling of helplessness and despair. The line "And lit you up" could imply a sense of enlightenment or inspiration, but the subsequent "I saw you then, move for a moment" suggests that this was only a fleeting moment.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the possibility of escaping from this situation by delving into the "shadow," which could be interpreted as a metaphor for the unconscious or unknown. The lyrics suggest that the singer needs to leave behind their current way of thinking and embrace a new perspective, perhaps aided by hallucinogenic substances when the surreal image of "the horse with the horns" is introduced. Later in the song, the lyrics suggest that both the singer and the person they are addressing are survivors, but they both have different obligations that they need to fulfill.
Overall, "Shadow" appears to be a song that unpacks the complexities of the human psyche, touching on themes of depression, self-discovery, and survival.
Line by Line Meaning
I woke again
I became conscious once more
It never ends
This cycle of waking up seems to have no end
The sound came in
I became aware of a sound
It's raining
Rain is falling from the sky
And lightning struck
A lightning bolt hit the ground
And lit you up
The lightning illuminated your figure
I saw you then
I caught a glimpse of you in that moment
Move for a moment
You made a brief movement
Ooh I won't wait
I have no intention of delaying
Ooh I won't wait
I have no intention of delaying
If you go into the shadow
If you move away from the light
You could leave it all behind
You could escape from everything
These fantasies seem strange to me
These imagined scenarios appear bizarre to me
The horse with the horns just close enough, so
The bizarre creature with horns was within reach
We were the ones to make it out alive
We were the only survivors of some event
It was all that i could do i was to take the favour
I had no choice but to accept a kind offer
You were the one tryin to make the payment
You were attempting to pay for something
I couldn't speak you know I never tried
I was unable to communicate, but I never made an effort to try
If you go into the shadow
If you move away from the light
You could leave it all behind
You could escape from everything
If you go into the shadow
If you move away from the light
You could leave it all behind
You could escape from everything
Writer(s): Oscar Chevallier Dawson, Ryan Peter Strathie, Timothy Lee Carroll, Matthew Redlich
Contributed by Liam W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.