Obsession
Tonio & Susanna Lyrics
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Great woods, your winds oppress me like the heft
Of great cathedral organs and our hearts,
Shaken with dying groans, are echo chambers,
Vaults where your De profundis still vibrates.
I hate you, Ocean! All your bounding tumults
A man defeated, all his sobs and insults,
I hear resounding in the sea's vast laugh.
How you would please me, Night, without those stars
Whose light speaks in a language that I know!
I only seek what's empty, black and bare.
But darkness is itself a canvas where
My eyes project a thousand vanished souls
Who look at me with a familiar air.
The lyrics of "Obsession" by Tonio & Susanna are filled with vivid imagery and intense emotions, expressing a sense of heaviness and turmoil within the singer's heart. The song begins by comparing the oppressive feeling of the great woods to the weight of cathedral organs. The winds are described as overwhelming, and the hearts of the singer and their beloved are compared to echo chambers, resonating with the somber echoes of "De profundis" (Latin for "out of the depths"), a phrase often associated with sorrow and despair.
The singer expresses a deep aversion towards the ocean, as they find all its tumultuous waves within themselves. It is as if the vast laughter of the sea reflects their own feelings of bitterness, defeat, and pain. This implies a profound sense of internal turmoil and the presence of emotional struggles that resonate with the crashing waves.
The singer then turns to the night, acknowledging a desire for its darkness, yet lamenting the presence of stars. They long for the emptiness, the black and bare void, seeking solace in the absence of light and familiarity. However, even in this yearning for darkness, the singer recognizes that darkness itself becomes a canvas, projecting the souls of the departed upon their eyes. These vanished souls gaze back at the singer with a sense of familiarity, perhaps hinting at the singer's own journey of introspection and self-discovery.
Line by Line Meaning
Great woods, your winds oppress me like the heft
The strong winds of the vast woods weigh heavily on me
Of great cathedral organs and our hearts,
Similar to the sounds of grand church organs, our emotions also resonate deeply
Shaken with dying groans, are echo chambers,
Our hearts become spaces where the echoes of sorrowful voices resound
Vaults where your De profundis still vibrates.
Like the sound of the hymn 'De profundis', our emotions continue to reverberate
I hate you, Ocean! All your bounding tumults
I despise the boisterousness of the ocean and all its chaotic waves
I find within: the bitter laughter of
Within myself, I discover the bitter laughter of
A man defeated, all his sobs and insults,
A man who has been defeated, overwhelmed by his cries and insults
I hear resounding in the sea's vast laugh.
I hear those sounds echoing in the vast laughter of the sea.
How you would please me, Night, without those stars
Night, it would please me greatly if you were devoid of stars
Whose light speaks in a language that I know!
Their light communicates in a language that I am familiar with!
I only seek what's empty, black and bare.
I solely desire what is empty, dark, and stripped of any embellishments.
But darkness is itself a canvas where
However, darkness serves as a canvas where
My eyes project a thousand vanished souls
My eyes project the images of numerous lost souls
Who look at me with a familiar air.
These souls gaze at me with a sense of familiarity.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Charles Baudelaire, Susanna Wallumrød
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind