This is my church
It stands so tall
And proud it has done for all time
It has no walls
Yet its vast halls
Reach from shore to shore
Whatever shore
You know as your own
We stand as one, we stand alone
And we are born
From the same womb
And hewn from the same stone
And from the frozen Baltic
I watched the sunrise over Athena
I walked the battlefields of Flanders
And saw dusk fall at Cintra
And beneath the spires of Sofia
And fields of crosses at Arnhem
Armenius stood tall in Teuteborg
Senatus Populusque Romanus
To the fjords of Hordaland
In shadows of ancient Albion
And to the shores of a thousand lakes
Saint Vitus dance in Praha
Yet when to Ireland we return
I know that I am home at last
And with every sun that sets
It takes me nearer to her earth
To whatever shore you know as your own
We stand as one, we stand alone
- Primordial (2007)
I was going with something different, but I decided at the last second to change things up a little bit.
Primordial hails from Ireland. Starting out they released pretty much straight forward black metal. As the collective career of the band progressed, they began incorporate the influences of their Celtic heritage in their songwriting. Their most recent album, To the Nameless Dead, sees this influence coming full circle both lyrically and musically.
This song could almost be a unifying anthem. Ireland, like Scotland, was at one time a clan society. The clans were self-contained entities that looked after their own affairs and every once in a while came together to defeat a common enemy. The first half of this song attests to that "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" philosophy. It's the second half of the song where things take a turn, both musically and lyrically, that has the most meaning for me.
The second half talks of journeys far from home. There are those who have taken these journeys and long for the comforts of home. The singer has seen some amazing sights as have I. I have seen the Great Pyramid at Giza and walked the halls of Kyongbok Palace in Seoul, ROK. The call to prayer in a large Muslim city makes St. Vitus Dance look like a mere wiggle of the hips. I walked the Cowpens Battlefield where a rag-tag group of soldiers defeated the greatest military power in the world. I have seen sunrises and sunsets in many corners of this earth.
The journey always leads to home. Here we know the singer longs to return to Ireland, but everyone has their home for which they long to return. The tricky part is keeping your sights set on your goal.
Ok, Mardi, I know I've shown you these lyrics before. Now please tell me, as well as those watching at home, what do you think?
I wondered when we might be seeing this song.
ReplyDeleteI find in the beginning of this song we hear the singer almost performing a chant, a song of unity in his brotherhood perhaps. This makes me think of my brother and his shipmates. Standing as one, standing alone. Yet they know where home is.
The second part of the song seems to bring the singer to his own journey, his own trips and desires to return home. I think the lesson here is we always remember where our roots are. We know where home is. I think to many people home is where you were raised, your parents home. To me home is truly in the heart of the one you love. Home to me is in the arms of my love. But this is a place I will never forget and yearn to be. Much like the singer no matter where I roam I know when I am home.