The Promise
Within Temptation Lyrics


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On behalf of her love
She no longer sleeps
Life had no longer meaning
Nothing to make her stay
She sold her soul away

I held you tight to me
(But) you slipped away
You promised to return to me
And I believed

After the night he died
I wept my tears until they dried
But the pain stayed the same
I didn't want him to die all in vain
I made a promise to revenge his soul in time
I'll make them bleed down at my feed

I held you tight to me
(But) you slipped away
You promised to return to me
And I believed
I held you tight to me
(But) you slipped away
You promised to return to me
And I believed

Sometimes I wonder
Could I have known
About their true intentions
As the pain stayed the same
I'm going to haunt them down all the way
I made a promise to revenge his soul in time
One by one they were surprised

I held you tight to me
(But) you slipped away
You promised to return to me
And I believed
I held you tight to me
(But) you slipped away




You promised to return to me
And I believed

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Within Temptation's song, "The Promise," depict a story of heartbreak, loss, and revenge. The female protagonist and her lover were deeply in love, but their happiness was short-lived as he passed away. She was devastated and mourned his death, but then made a promise to avenge his soul. Her thirst for revenge consumed her, she sold her soul in exchange for the power to take revenge. She believed her lover would come back to her, but he didn't. She wonders if she could have known about the true intentions of those who caused her lover's death. Despite her grief, she still fights to fulfill her promise of revenge.


The song's lyrics are powerful in their portrayal of the power of love and grief. The singer is willing to do whatever it takes to avenge her lover, even if it means sacrificing her own soul. The lyrics are also reflective of the human tendency to hold onto hope, even in the face of tragedy. The singer believed her lover would come back to her, even though deep down, she knew he would not.


Line by Line Meaning

On behalf of her love
She acted on behalf of her love for someone else


She no longer sleeps
She suffers from insomnia due to the loss of her loved one


Life had no longer meaning
She feels that life has lost all its meaning without her loved one


Nothing to make her stay
She has lost all her reasons to stay in this world


She sold her soul away
She made a deal with the devil to exact revenge for her lost loved one


I held you tight to me
I clung to you, hoping you would never leave me


(But) you slipped away
You died, leaving me alone and brokenhearted


You promised to return to me
You made a pact that we would be reunited after death


And I believed
And I held onto that promise, for fear of losing you entirely


After the night he died
After the night her loved one died


I wept my tears until they dried
She grieved constantly until she could no longer cry


But the pain stayed the same
The emotional pain she felt did not lessen, even with time


I didn't want him to die all in vain
She did not want her loved one's death to be meaningless


I made a promise to revenge his soul in time
She vowed to avenge her loved one's death


I'll make them bleed down at my feet
She plans to make her enemies suffer


Sometimes I wonder
She sometimes contemplates the possibility


Could I have known
Whether or not she could have foreseen the events to come


About their true intentions
About the true motivations of her enemies


As the pain stayed the same
As her grief persisted


I'm going to haunt them down all the way
She plans to pursue revenge relentlessly and ruthlessly


One by one they were surprised
She successfully caught and punished each of her enemies




Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ROBERT WESTERHOLT, SHARON J. DEN ADEL

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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