Nightwish



Nightwish is a symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. Early on, their lyrical themes predominantly dealt with mythological and fantasy themes. Though these themes are still occasionally used, lyricist Tuomas Holopainen has used more personal lyrics on recent albums, dealing with sexuality, loneliness and childhood, as well as the split with former singer Tarja Turunen.

Sourced

 * The only true love I ever knew was behind those downcast eyes. The only comfort I ever felt was during those long hours of loneliness when I felt for you. I do believe only Innocence can save the world.
 * From the album booklet of the 2002 album Century Child.

Song lyrics


All lyrics written by Tuomas Holopainen.

Angels Fall First (1997)

 * In the sheltering shade of the forest Calling calming silence Accompanied only by the full moon The howling of a night wolf And the path under my bare feet... ...The Elvenpath
 * Elvenpath


 * The moon witch took me to a ride on a broomstick Introduced me to her old friend Home Gnome Told me to keep the sauna warm for him
 * Elvenpath


 * Your trembling paw in my hand Dreaming of that northern land Touching me with a kiss of a beast
 * Beauty and the Beast


 * Love me before the last petal falls.
 * Beauty and the Beast


 * However cruel the mirrors of sin Remember, beauty is found within
 * Beauty and the Beast


 * ...Forever shall the wolf in me desire the sheep in you...
 * Beauty and the Beast


 * Why? Was the wine of the grail Too sour for man to drink
 * The Carpenter


 * I hear you Through the symphonic voices of nature The purity I could never doubt They tell me to lie on the grass And observe my saviour The one crucified to the chirping of birds 
 * The Carpenter


 * Hymn of gathering stars as my guide As I wander on this path of the night
 * Astral Romance


 * The nightwish I sent you centuries ago Has been heard by those Who dwelled in a woe
 * Astral Romance


 * Departed by the guillotine of death I received a letter from the depth The dream of my lover it carried inside
 * Astral Romance


 * Above the universe Beneath the Great Eye I shall desire you forevermore
 * Astral Romance


 * Bury my dreams dig up my sorrows Oh Lord why The angels fall first?
 * Angels Fall First


 * Not relieved by thoughts of Shangri-La Nor enlightened by the lessons of Christ I'll never understand the meaning of the right Ignorance lead me into the light
 * Angels Fall First


 * Sacrifice me Tutankhamen And let me be your queen Take me Tonight and always We'll breed to fill all earth
 * Tutankhamen


 * Old love lies deep you said Deeper shall be the wound between your legs
 * Nymphomaniac Fantasia


 * Know why the nightingale sings Is the answer to everything
 * Know Why the Nightingale Sings


 * Dismal are the mirrors of a wolf
 * Lappi (Lapland)


 * Seadrops foam all empty human skulls Those on the shores of Atlantis Darwin's resurrection is witnessed By turtles he used to play with
 * A Return to the Sea

Oceanborn (1998)

 * Oracle of the Delphian Domine Witness of Adam's frailty Seer of the master prophecy The stellar world her betrothed
 * Stargazers


 * Enchantment has but one truth: I weep to have what I fear to lose
 * Gethsemane


 * I knew you never before I see you never more But the love the pain the hope O beautiful one Have made you mine 'till all my years are done
 * Gethsemane


 * Without you The poetry within me is dead
 * Gethsemane


 * Hail the Oceanborn!
 * Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean


 * Disgraced is my virginity Death has woven my wedding dress Oh Great Blue breathe the morning dew For you are the cradle of the image of god
 * Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean


 * From cradle to coffin Shall my wickedness be your passion
 * Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean


 * We shall come to set the dolphins free We shall wash the darkened bloodred sea Our songs will echo over the mountains and seas The eternity will begin once again in peace
 * Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean


 * I want to hunt with the tameless heart I want to learn the wisdom of mountains afar We will honor the angel in the snow We will make the streams for our children flow
 * Sacrament of Wilderness


 * A sight so cursed Breasts which never nursed
 * Passion and the Opera


 * An Aphrodite for mortal souls Playing hide and seek in lecherous roles Their erotic hour my tearless weep Their satisfaction my infinite sleep
 * Passion and the Opera


 * In my world Love is for poets Never the famous balcony scene
 * Swanheart


 * Crystal pond awaits the lorn Tonight another morn for the lonely one is born
 * Swanheart


 * You think you dwell in wisdoms sea Still sweet ignorance is the key To a poet's paradise Challenge the Riddler and you will see...
 * The Riddler


 * For nature hates virginity I wish to be touched Not by the hands of where's and why's But by the Oceans' minds
 * The Riddler


 * The Unicorn arrives with the westwind to dream His funeral "Thou art born for Horus dwells in Thee" Slumbering with the ebb and the flow of this foaming tomb "Thou art born for Seteh dwells in Thee"
 * The Pharaoh Sails to Orion


 * Open thy veins for my venom Kiss the cobras with thy twisted tongue So shalt thou join the empyrean circus Where beggars mourn and seraphs dance In this twilight cathedral Shall I wed thee, O Bride of the Netherworld
 * The Pharaoh Sails to Orion


 * Join my soul the Hunter in the sky
 * The Pharaoh Sails to Orion


 * I wish for this night-time to last for a lifetime The darkness around me Shores of a solar sea Oh how I wish to go down with the sun Sleeping Weeping With you
 * Sleeping Sun


 * Sorrow has a human heart From my god it will depart I'd sail before a thousand moons Never finding where to go
 * Sleeping Sun


 * Patriotic to the promised land of never-waking dream.
 * Nightquest
 * The dreams remain – they only break.
 * Nightquest
 * First ones to walk this path of night Lady in black lady in white Followed by legions of night-time wanderers Guardians of the halls of heart When we from my homeland depart To challenge the gods of emptiness May the quest begin!
 * Nightquest

Wishmaster (2000)

 * Take heed, dear heart Once apart, she can touch nor me nor you Dressed as one A wolf will betray a lamb
 * She Is My Sin


 * I am the Fallen You are what my sins enclose Lust is not as creative As its discovery
 * She Is My Sin


 * God I must confess... ...I do envy the sinners
 * She Is My Sin


 * Need to understand No need to forgive No truth no sense left to be followed
 * The Kinslayer


 * Facing this unbearable fear like meeting an old friend
 * The Kinslayer


 * In this world of a million religions everyone prays the same way
 * The Kinslayer


 * Dry the rain from my beaten face Drink the wine the red sweet taste of mine
 * Come Cover Me


 * For me For you Time devours passion`s beauty With me With you In war for the love of you (Tonight any dream will do)
 * Come Cover Me


 * I want to find The Secret Path A bird delivered into my heart
 * Wanderlust


 * Drown into my eyes and see the wanderer See the mirrors of a wolf behold the pathfinder
 * Wanderlust


 * Now let us lie Sad we lived sad we die Even in your pride I never blamed you
 * Two For Tragedy


 * A dreamy-eyed child staring into night On a journey to storyteller`s mind Whispers a wish speaks with the stars the words are silent in him
 * Wishmaster




 * To august realms, the sorcery within If you hear the call of arcane lore, Your world shall rest on Earth no more
 * Wishmaster


 * Just a child without a fairytale am I Dark but so lovely A Little Match Girl freezing in the snow
 * Bare Grace Misery


 * Roaming on razor-sharp castles Ruling all but myself (Now my night is laid to sleep)
 * Crownless




 * The age will say "This poet lies" Heaven never touched earthly face The age will say "This night was ours" Blessed with the Deep The Silent the Complete
 * Deep Silent Complete


 * Sing what you can`t say Forget what you can`t play
 * Dead Boy's Poem


 * Wrote for the eclipse, wrote for the virgin Died for the beauty the one in the garden Created a kingdom, reached for the wisdom Failed in becoming a god
 * Dead Boy's Poem


 * If you read this line, remember not the hand that wrote it Remember only the verse, songmaker`s cry, the one without tears For I`ve given this its strength and it has become my only strength. Comforting home, mother`s lap, chance for immortality Where being wanted became a thrill I never knew The sweet piano writing down my life
 * Dead Boy's Poem




 * A lonely soul... An ocean soul...
 * Dead Boy's Poem


 * Wish upon a star No matter who you are The second star to the right
 * FantasMic

Century Child (2002)

 * I was born amidst the purple waterfalls. I was weak, yet not unblessed. Dead to the world. Alive for the journey. One night I dreamt a white rose withering, a newborn drowning a lifetime loneliness. I dreamt all my future. Relived my past. I witnessed the beauty of the beast
 * Bless the Child


 * There's a poison drop in this cup of Man To drink it is to follow the left hand path
 * Bless the Child




 * Time pays us but with earth & dust, and a dark, silent grave. Remember, my child: Without innocence the cross is only iron, hope is only an illusion & Ocean Soul's nothing but a name... The Child bless thee & keep thee forever
 * Bless the Child


 * It is the end of all hope To lose the child, the faith To end all the innocence To be someone like me This is the birth of all hope To have what I once had This life unforgiven It will end with a birth
 * End of All Hope


 * Angels, they fell first but I'm still here
 * End of All Hope


 * Mandylion without a face Deathwish without a prayer End of hope End of love End of time The rest is silence
 * End of All Hope


 * It's not the monsters under your bed It is the Man next door That makes you fear, makes you cry, Makes you cry for the child
 * Dead to the World


 * I don't want to die a scarless man A lonely soul
 * Dead to the World




 * I studied silence to learn the music I joined the sinful to regain innocence
 * Dead to the World


 * As he died, he will return to die in me again Weaving the cloth, giving birth to the Century Child Who gave his life not for the world but for me Innocence reborn once more
 * Dead to the World


 * Ever felt away with me Just once that all I need Entwined in finding you one day Ever felt away without me My love, it lies so deep Ever dream of me
 * Ever Dream


 * Would you do it with me Heal the scars and change the stars
 * Ever Dream


 * Come out, come out wherever you are So lost in your sea Give in, give in for my touch For my taste for my lust
 * Ever Dream


 * Put a stake through my heart! And drag me into sunlight So awake for your greed As you're slaying the dreamer
 * Slaying the Dreamer


 * Wake up, mow the weed You'd be nothing without me Take my life if you have the heart to die
 * Slaying the Dreamer


 * Whatever walks in my heart will walk alone
 * Forever Yours


 * Crying for me was never worth a tear My lonely soul is only filled with fear
 * Ocean Soul


 * Losing emotion Finding devotion Should I dress in white and search the sea As I always wished to be - one with the waves Ocean Soul
 * Ocean Soul




 * I only wished to become something beautiful Through my music, through my silent devotion
 * Ocean Soul




 * All of my songs can only be composed of the greatest of pains Every single verse can only be born of the greatest of wishes
 * Beauty of the Beast


 * Sanest choice in the insane world: Beware the beast but enjoy the feast he offers
 * Beauty of the Beast


 * Oh, sweet Christabel. Share with me your poem. For I know now, I'm a puppet on this silent stage show. I'm but a poet who failed his best play. A Dead Boy, who failed to write an ending To each of his poems.
 * Beauty of the Beast


 * Feeling lonely and content at the same time, I believe, is a rare kind of happiness
 * Lagoon

Once (2004)



 * Once I had a dream And this is it
 * Dark Chest of Wonders


 * Once I knew all the tales It's time to turn back time Follow the pale moonlight
 * Dark Chest of Wonders


 * Fly to a dream Far across the sea All the burdens gone Open the chest once more
 * Dark Chest of Wonders


 * Old loves they die hard Old lies they die harder
 * Wish I Had an Angel


 * Last dance, first kiss Your touch my bliss Beauty always comes with dark thoughts
 * Wish I Had an Angel


 * This is me for forever One of the lost ones The one without a name Without an honest heart as compass
 * Nemo


 * Oh how I wish For soothing rain All I wish is to dream again My loving heart Lost in the dark For hope I`d give my everything
 * Nemo


 * My flower, withered between The pages 2 and 3 The once and forever bloom gone with my sins
 * Nemo


 * The 1st rock thrown again Welcome to hell, little Saint Mother Gaia in slaughter Welcome to paradise, Soldier
 * Planet Hell


 * You fool, you wanderer You challenged the gods and lost
 * Planet Hell


 * Save yourself a penny for the ferryman Save yourself and let them suffer In hope In love This world ain't ready for The Ark Mankind works in mysterious ways
 * Planet Hell


 * Our souls will join again the wild Our home in peace 'n war 'n death
 * Creek Mary's Blood


 * I still dream every night Of them wolves, them mustangs, those endless prairies The restless winds over mountaintops The unspoilt frontier of my kith 'n kin The hallowed land of the Great Spirit I still believe In every night In every day I am like the caribou And you like the wolves that make me stronger We never owed you anything Our only debt is one life for our Mother It was a good day to chant this song For Her Our spirit was here long before you Long before us And long will it be after your pride brings you to your end
 * Creek Mary's Blood


 * All the tales are told All the orchids gone Lost in my own world Now I care for dead gardens
 * Dead Gardens


 * My song is little worth anymore Time to lay this weary pen aside
 * Dead Gardens


 * Where are the wolves, the underwater moon The elvenpath, the haven of youth Lagoons of the starlit sea Have I felt enough for one man's deed? Or is it time to challenge the Ancient of Days And let the virgin conceive
 * Dead Gardens


 * Romanticide Till love do me part
 * Romanticide


 * See me ruined by my own creations
 * Romanticide


 * Take me Cure me Kill me Bring me home Every way Every day Just another loop in the hangman's noose
 * Ghost Love Score


 * Redeem me into childhood Show me myself without the shell
 * Ghost Love Score


 * My fall will be for you My love will be in you You were the one to cut me So I'll bleed forever
 * Ghost Love Score


 * Passiontide An angel by my side But no Christ to end this war To deliver my soul from the sword Hope has shown me a scenery Paradise poetry With first snow I`ll be gone
 * Higher Than Hope


 * The hopes were high The choirs were vast Now my dreams are left to live through you
 * Higher Than Hope


 * Your death saved me
 * Higher Than Hope

Dark Passion Play (2007)

 * Forgive me I have but two faces One for the world One for God Save me
 * The Poet and the Pendulum


 * Everyone must bury their own No pack to bury the heart of stone Now he's home in hell, serves him well Slain by the bell, tolling for his farewell
 * The Poet and the Pendulum


 * The morning dawned, upon his altar Remains of the dark passion play Performed by his friends without shame Spitting on his grave as they came
 * The Poet and the Pendulum


 * Today, in the year of our Lord 2005, Tuomas was called from the cares of the world. He stopped crying at the end of each beautiful day. The music he wrote had too long been without silence. He was found naked and dead, With a smile in his face, a pen and 1000 pages of erased text.
 * The Poet and the Pendulum


 * Be still, my son You're home Oh when did you become so cold?
 * The Poet and the Pendulum


 * Search for beauty, find your shore Try to save them all, bleed no more You have such oceans within In the end I will always love you
 * The Poet and the Pendulum


 * Did you ever hear what I told you Did you ever read what I wrote you Did you ever listen to what we played Did you ever let in what the world said Did we get this far just to feel your hate Did we play to become only pawns in the game
 * Bye Bye Beautiful


 * ...How blind can you be, don't you see... ...that the gambler lost all he does not have...
 * Bye Bye Beautiful


 * Caress the one the never-fading rain in your heart the tears of snow-white sorrow Caress the one the hiding amaranth in a land of the daybreak
 * Amaranth


 * Who the hell are you to tell me What to do, why to do, why bother Leech in a mask of virtue Such waste, to ever think of you again
 * Master Passion Greed


 * Time for one more daring dream
 * Eva


 * Heaven today is but a way To a place I once called home
 * For the Heart I Once Had


 * Once my heart beat to the rhythm of the falling snow Blackened below, the river now flows A stream of molten virgin snow
 * For the Heart I Once Had


 * I'll believe and foresee Everything I could ever be
 * For the Heart I Once Had


 * The wolves, my love, will come Taking us home where dust once was a man
 * 7 Days to the Wolves


 * This is my church of choice Love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice
 * 7 Days to the Wolves


 * This is Where heroes And cowards Part ways
 * 7 Days to the Wolves




 * Take the road less traveled by Leave the city of fools Turn every poet loose
 * 7 Days to the Wolves


 * A nightingale in a golden cage That's me locked inside reality's maze Come someone make my heavy heart light Come undone bring me back to life It all starts with a lullaby
 * Escapist

Imaginaerum (2011)

 * I am the voice of Never-Never-Land The innocence, the dreams of every man I am the empty crib of Peter Pan
 * Storytime


 * Imaginarium A dream emporium Caress the tales And they will dream you real
 * Storytime


 * He will go down he will drown drown, deeper down The river wild will take your only child He will go down he will drown drown deeper down The mills grind slow in a riverbed ghost town He will go down he will drown drown, deeper down If you want me, then do come across
 * Ghost River


 * The bride will lure you, cook you, eat you Your dear innocence boiled to feed the evil in need of fear Burning farms and squealing pigs A pool of snakes to swim with, oh sweet poison bite me bite me
 * Scaretale


 * Ladies and gentlemen Be heartlessly welcome! To Cirque De Morgue And what a show we have for you tonight!
 * Scaretale


 * Every little memory resting calm in me Resting in a dream Smiling back at me The faces of the past keep calling me to come back home To caress the river with awe
 * Rest Calm


 * Don`t give me love Don`t give me faith Wisdom nor pride Give innocence instead Don`t give me love I`ve had my share Beauty nor rest Give me truth instead
 * The Crow, the Owl and the Dove


 * What`s God if not the spark that started life
 * Last Ride of the Day


 * Riding the day, every day into sunset Finding the way back home
 * Last Ride of the Day


 * Once upon a night we`ll wake to the carnival of life The beauty of this ride ahead such an incredible high It`s hard to light a candle, easy to curse the dark instead This moment the dawn of humanity The last ride of the day
 * Last Ride of the Day


 * Wake up, Dead Boy Enter adventureland
 * Last Ride of the Day


 * The nightingale is still locked in the cage
 * Song of Myself


 * A song of me a song in need Of a courageous symphony A verse of me a verse in need Of a pure-heart singing me to peace
 * Song of Myself


 * All that great heart lying still and slowly dying All that great heart lying still on an angelwing
 * Song of Myself


 * An obese girl enters an elevator with me. All dressed up fancy, a green butterfly on her neck. Terribly sweet perfume deafens me. She`s going to dinner alone. That makes her even more beautiful.
 * Song of Myself


 * How can you "just be yourself" when you don`t know who you are? Stop saying "I know how you feel" How could anyone know how another feels? Who am I to judge a priest, beggar, whore, politician, wrongdoer? I am, you are, all of them already
 * Song of Myself


 * Dear child, stop working, go play Forget every rule There`s no fear in a dream
 * Song of Myself


 * And there forever remains that change from G to Em
 * Song of Myself

Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)

 * Awake, oceanborn Behold this force Bring the outside in Explode the self to epiphany
 * Shudder Before the Beautiful


 * The music of this awe Deep silence between the notes Deafens me with endless love This vagrant Island Earth A pilgrim shining bright We are shuddering before the beautiful Before the plentiful We, the voyagers
 * Shudder Before the Beautiful


 * Your only truth Tribal poetry Witchcraft filling your void Lust for fantasy Male necrocracy Every child worthy of a better tale
 * Weak Fantasy


 * From words into war of the worlds This one we forsake with scorn From lies the strength of our love Mother's milk laced with poison for this newborn
 * Weak Fantasy


 * Come Taste the wine Race the blind They will guide you from the light Writing noughts till the end of time Come Surf the clouds Race the dark It feeds from the runs undone Meet me where the cliff greets the sea
 * Élan


 * Riding hard every shooting star Come to life, open mind, have a laugh at the orthodox Come, drink deep let the dam of mind seep Travel with great élan, dance a jig at the funeral
 * Élan


 * Stop! Life is now, still all for you Turn from the hate, turn from the smoke I see the parchment of your soul The notes, the song Join your voice
 * Yours Is an Empty Hope


 * Our walk has been sublime A soaring ride and gentle lead You have the heart of a true friend One day we'll meet on that shore again
 * Our Decades in the Sun


 * Weaving my wings from many-colored yarns Flying higher, higher, higher Into the wild Weaving my world into tapestry of life Its fire golden In my Walden
 * My Walden


 * Deep into the past Follow the aeon path Greet a blade of grass Every endless form most beautiful Alive, aware, in awe Before the grandeur of it all Our floating pale blue ark Of endless forms most beautiful
 * Endless Forms Most Beautiful


 * We are the Edema Ruh We know the songs the sirens sang See us dream every tale true The verse we leave with you will take you home
 * Edema Ruh


 * We were here Roaming on the endless prairie Writing an endless story Building a Walden of our own We were here Grieving the saddened faces Conquering the darkest places Time to rest now and to finish the show And become the Music, one with alpenglow
 * Alpenglow


 * We are one We are a universe Forbears of what will be Scions of the Devonian sea Aeons pass Writing the tale of us all A day-to-day new opening For the greatest show on Earth
 * The Greatest Show on Earth


 * Man, he took his time in the sun Had a dream to understand A single grain of sand He gave birth to poetry But one day'll cease to be Greet the last light of the library
 * The Greatest Show on Earth


 * We were here!
 * The Greatest Show on Earth

Human. :II: Nature. (2020)

 * Music Fanning the flames of a mystery Deepening the listening Losing Yourself to the endless symphony Of now Human Singing the tale of another man Have you ever heard Music It's coming, coming, coming your way The very first song
 * Music


 * Noise From a sunless world Your mirror is black, only a copy stares back At a slave of brave new world Noise To decoy the human voice Brain insomniac, paranoiac Endless noise
 * Noise


 * Here I came to be Your reach into the far On the stellar sea Cut in little stars
 * Shoemaker


 * Laudato Si Ad Astra
 * Shoemaker


 * Join the harvest of hundred fields, hearty and tame All going back to one single grain Offer light to the coming day, inspire a child Water the field, surrender to the earth Water the field, surrender to the earth Water the field, surrender to the earth
 * Harvest


 * A moment alone With unbeknown Reset the world Imagine home A primal need To touch the stars Only way there To enter
 * Pan


 * A pale beautiful theatre stage A feast of beautiful tragedy, wonderful fantasy The play is yours to write Yours to live Ready the night by a playwright
 * Pan


 * How's the heart Underneath the silence? How's the one Drowning in the mire? Let us sound a human paean Come in, the fire's warm Burn the rope and dance some more
 * How's the Heart?


 * We have been here a while At the end of Pi, as along came harvest
 * Procession


 * We will remember all the suffering We wrote this in a tongue you will understand Words and melodies with a touch of coloring We were there and will remember mankind Our kin Aeons ago
 * Procession


 * Sing the praise of your creation Bride-prices, thought crimes, blind minds The Word hides vivid monsters To bed the tribal itch
 * Tribal


 * Someone in the tomorrow Is waiting for me Someone to share the thief with Dust with a meaning Precious and rare
 * Endlessness


 * An unscarred land Unsung yarn Unborn child Await my touch, the luck of the draw Enter now Come Here is life
 * Endlessness


 * Soon, beyond the fields you've come to know You will join the silent flow Follow me, I am the spark At the end of everything Tip the reaper to ensure The blade is sharp As soon we'll go Follow me into the dark To the birth of everything
 * Endlessness

Other

 * Today I killed, he was just a boy Eight before him, I knew them all
 * 10th Man Down, from the 2001 EP Over the Hills and Far Away


 * One by one, We will fall, down
 * 10th Man Down


 * Every dream's a journey away
 * Away, from the 2001 EP Over the Hills and Far Away


 * For this gift of dream I must pay the price with the loss of life's pleasures
 * Away