Lacrimosa is a duo led by German-born Tilo Wolff, the main composer, and Fi… Read Full Bio ↴Lacrimosa is a duo led by German-born Tilo Wolff, the main composer, and Finnish Anne Nurmi, currently based in Switzerland and founded in 1990. Lacrimosa was at the beginning a solo project of Tilo Wolff and his musical genre originally was neue deutsche todeskunst (New German Death Art). Between Satura and Inferno, when Anne Nurmi (ex-Two Witches) joined a group, their music style has shifted much more towards hard rock/(neo)progressive rock with gothic influences. Their musical style mixes heavy metal and gothic rock sounds along with violin, trumpet and more classical instruments, although their musical development throughout the years has also led to changes in instrumentation. Lacrimosa's lyrics are written almost exclusively in German, although since the 1995 album Inferno every album has featured one or two songs in English, generally written by Anne Nurmi. Finnish has also appeared in brief spoken intros to two songs (Schakal on Inferno and The Turning Point on Elodia) and on a bonus track in a limited edition release of Fassade. Their lyrics are mainly about loneliness, sadness, darkness, despair and love.
All albums were released through Wolff's own label Hall of Sermon.

Their official site is www.lacrimosa.ch.

Sanctus
Lacrimosa Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Sanctus - Sanctus - Sanctus - Dominus
Deus deus Sabaoth - pleni sunt caeli et terra
Gloria tua - gloria tua

Und da warst Du -
Nicht am Licht, das Dich umgab
Nein - am Schatten den ich warf
Hab' ich Dich erkannt

Gloria tua - gloria tua

Und wir fielen - zusammen
Und wurden schließlich eins
In Farben ausgemacht
In Bildern still erdacht
Im Leben aufgewacht
Im Herzen neu entfacht
Licht und Liebe
Eingetaucht tief in die Nacht

Hosanna in excelsis
Benedictus qui venit in nomine domini

Sanctus dominus

Overall Meaning

The first two lines of Lacrimosa's song Sanctus are a prayer, and the repetition of "Sanctus" and "Deus" emphasize the holiness of the divine being being addressed. "Sabaoth" is an archaic term from the Bible that refers to the "Lord of hosts," which can be interpreted as the commander of heaven's armies. This line then proclaims that heaven and earth are full of God's glory.

The next verse speaks of the singer recognizing their loved one, not by the light that they were surrounded by, but by the singer's own shadow. The implication here is that the loved one was in a dark place until the singer came along, and the singer helped them see themselves in a different light. The repetition of "gloria tua" reinforces the idea of the glory of God, which is often associated with light. The final verse describes the two becoming one in many different ways. They are united in color, image, life, and love. The reference to being "In Farben ausgemacht," which in German means "made up of colors," highlights the vibrancy of their unity. The imagery of light and love poured into the darkness gives a sense of transformation and renewal.

Line by Line Meaning

Sanctus - Sanctus - Sanctus - Dominus
Holy - Holy - Holy - Lord

Deus deus Sabaoth - pleni sunt caeli et terra
God God of hosts - Heaven and earth are full

Gloria tua - gloria tua
Your Glory - Your Glory

Und da warst Du -
And there you were -

Nicht am Licht, das Dich umgab
Not in the light that surrounded you

Nein - am Schatten den ich warf
No - In the shadow that I cast

Hab' ich Dich erkannt
I recognized you

Und wir fielen - zusammen
And we fell - together

Und wurden schließlich eins
And finally became one

In Farben ausgemacht
Made up of colors

In Bildern still erdacht
Quietly envisioned in images