Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed… Read Full Bio ↴Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and then bassist Sami Vänskä after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marko Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers. Although Nightwish have been prominent in their home country since Angels Fall First, they did not achieve wider success until the release of the albums Oceanborn (1998), Wishmaster (2000) and Century Child (2002). Their 2004 album, Once, has sold more than one million copies and was the band's breakthrough in the United States. Their biggest US hit single, "Wish I Had an Angel" (2004), received MTV airplay and was included on three US film soundtracks to promote their North American tour. The band produced three more singles and two music videos for Once, as well as a re-recording of "Sleeping Sun" for the compilation album, Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish (2005), before Turunen's dismissal in October 2005. Her last performance with Nightwish was during a concert recorded for the live album/DVD End of an Era. After the concert, the other members informed Turunen with an open letter that she was no longer a member of Nightwish.

In May 2007, Nightwish announced Anette Olzon as Turunen's replacement. That September, the band released their sixth album, Dark Passion Play, which has sold almost 2 million copies. The album's lead single, "Amaranth", became one of Nightwish's most successful in Europe. The supporting tour, one of the band's largest, started on October 6, 2007, and ended on September 19, 2009. The band released an EP/live album, Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places), in March 2009 as a CD/DVD, and their seventh studio album, Imaginaerum, was released globally on various days in late 2011/early 2012.

On October 1, 2012, Nightwish announced that they had parted ways with Olzon and would be finishing the tour with at that time ReVamp vocalist (ex-After Forever) Floor Jansen. In October 2013, Nightwish made Jansen and longtime session uilleann pipes player Troy Donockley permanent members of the band, and they were featured in the acclaimed album Endless Forms Most Beautiful, released on March 27, 2015. From 2014 to 2019, Nevalainen, while still a member of the band, was inactive due to severe insomnia issues; in July 2019, he announced that he would not be returning to the band, with Kai Hahto, who had acted as his replacement since 2014 (including by performing all drums on Endless Forms Most Beautiful), being promoted as the official drummer, and is featured as such at the ninth album, Human. :II: Nature., which was released internationally on April 10, 2020. After twenty years of performing with the band, it was announced that bassist Marko Hietala had parted ways with the band in January 2021. Jukka Koskinen was announced as Hietala's replacement to play bass during the tour. In August 2022, he was announced as a permanent member of the band.

Nightwish is the third-best-selling band and musical entity in Finland with certified sales of nearly 900,000 certified copies. The group is also the most successful Finnish band worldwide, selling more than 10 million records and receiving more than 60 gold and platinum awards, having released six Number 1 albums and thirteen Number 1 singles. On October 26, 2018, Nightwish was inducted into the Finnish Music Hall of Fame, becoming the honorary gallery's 11th member.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightwish

Studio albums
Angels Fall First (1997)
Oceanborn (1998)
Wishmaster (2000)
Century Child (2002)
Once (2004)
Dark Passion Play (2007)
Imaginaerum (2011)
Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)
Human. :II: Nature. (2020)

Passion and the Opera
Nightwish Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Princess of lust
Dignity put to dust
A virginal sight
Their apple to bite
Drink from my thighs
The rain of lies
A sight so cursed:
Breasts which never nursed

An Aphrodite for mortal souls
Playing hide and seek in lecherous roles
Their erotic hour, my tearless weep
Their saticfaction, my infinite sleep
Naked limbs reflecting fron the moon
I'll be there for you soon
First wish for this night:
Let me be your delight
Body of a virgin
Soul to the Devil's kin
Your God is me
In all that you see
An Aphrodite for mortal souls
Playing hide and seek in lecherous roles

Their erotic hour, my tearless weep
Their saticfaction, my infinite sleep

Overall Meaning

In Nightwish's song "Passion And The Opera", the lyrics describe a seductive and alluring figure who is tempting the listener with the promise of passion and pleasure. The first verse speaks to the idea of the "Princess of Lust" who has given up her dignity and purity, offering herself up as an "apple to bite" to those who crave her. The second verse goes into more detail, with the singer offering their body and soul to those who are willing to play these "lecherous roles". The goddess-like figure described is both tempting and ominous, with a sense of danger and darkness to her.

Throughout the song, there is a sense of power dynamic - this figure presented as both alluring and in control, with those who come to her at her mercy. The final lines, "Their satisfaction, my infinite sleep", suggest that the singer may be immortal or otherworldly, and that the cost of experiencing this kind of passion and pleasure may be surrendering oneself to her and never returning.

In terms of musical interpretation, the song has a dramatic and operatic feel to it, with a heavy use of keyboards, soaring vocals, and thundering drums. The sense of theatricality and grandeur in the music mirrors the larger-than-life persona of the figure described in the lyrics.

Line by Line Meaning

Princess of lust
A woman who embodies lust and temptation

Dignity put to dust
The loss of moral standards and self-respect

A virginal sight
A pure and innocent appearance

Their apple to bite
The temptation to sin and give in to desires

Drink from my thighs
A seductive invitation for sexual pleasure

The rain of lies
The deceptions and falsehoods that accompany sin

A sight so cursed: Breasts which never nursed
A sorrowful image of female sexuality that has been corrupted and never fulfilled its natural function

An Aphrodite for mortal souls Playing hide and seek in lecherous roles
The seductive and alluring presence of a goddess of love in a world consumed by lust and desire

Their erotic hour, my tearless weep
The overwhelming sense of emptiness and sorrow that accompanies the fleeting pleasures of sin and lust

Their saticfaction, my infinite sleep
The idea that while mortals can find temporary satisfaction in sin and physical pleasure, the artist's soul will never know true rest or peace

Naked limbs reflecting fron the moon I'll be there for you soon
A haunting image of a temptress waiting in the moonlight to seduce and lead astray

First wish for this night: Let me be your delight
A plea for the listener to give in to temptation and desire, to seek pleasure and fulfillment above all else

Body of a virgin Soul to the Devil's kin
The image of a pure and innocent body corrupted by the influence of the devil and the temptations of sin

Your God is me In all that you see
The idea that the singer is the embodiment of the listener's desires and temptations, a false god leading them astray

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ERNO MATTI JUHANI VUORINEN, JUKKA ANTERO NEVALAINEN, SAMI TUURE PETTERI VAENSKAE, TARJA SOILE SUSANNA TURUNEN, TUOMAS LAURI JOHANNES HOLOPAINEN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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