Farewell by Avantasia Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling the Emotional Tapestry in Power Metal’s Lyrical Odyssey
Lyrics
and we gamboled like siblings in Paradise.
I was your knight, holding you tight
as a brother when I saw your crying eyes.
Time went by and we had to say goodbye.
Staring up to the clouds above
Children – so little and sad.
Hoping the saints could help one day
Lead us together again.
Holding the key to the alley of dreams
still in hands.
Time telling me to say farewell
but I knew that I would fight hell
and I knew: We will
go for another time we can see,
for another time we’ll be free,
for no more farewell.
Stepbrother tell me where have you been
when they brought me to this godforsaken place.
Sign of the cross – they took me away
for healing with herbs by the way of grace.
Now I wait for the day to feed the flames.
I have been caught in a cage of despair.
My heart as a monk’s cell so empty and bare.
But no holy water can make me
forget you again
Time telling me to say farewell
but I knew that I would fight hell
and I knew: We will
go for another time we can see,
for another time we’ll be free,
for no more farewell.
No farewell could be the last one.
If you long to meet again
Avantasia’s ‘Farewell’ is more than just a song; it is a narrative woven with threads of loss, hope, and defiance against the immutable current of time. At first listen, one might be swept away by the grandeur of the power metal ballad’s sound, but delve a little deeper, and the poetic heart of the piece reveals a complexity that beckons a closer examination.
To understand ‘Farewell’ is to walk through the gardens of metaphor and to interpret the profound emotional script composed by Tobias Sammet, Avantasia’s mastermind. It’s a quest not just to dissect the notes and words, but to capture the essence of the human condition that it so vividly encapsulates.
A Pilgrimage Through Paradise Lost
The song opens with a pastoral image, one of idyllic days and an endless winter, wherein the protagonists share a bound akin to familial innocence. This Eden-like time represents a state of purity and connection, which is rudely interrupted by the passage of time – a theme universally acknowledged in poetry and prose across time as a symbol of change and transformation.
The agony of parting, represented in the nostalgic recollection of a shared history, is not just a farewell to another person but a farewell to a version of self that existed in that sacred space of unity. The term ‘paradise’ isn’t chosen lightly here; it signifies a complete harmony that once disrupted, signals the descent into the reality of isolation and the weariness of the world.
Unlocking The Alley of Dreams
In their separation, the characters hold onto a key – a potent symbol of hope and potential. The ‘alley of dreams’ isn’t just a flight of fancy; it’s representative of the pathways in our psyche, the unexplored possibilities that linger even in moments of deep despair.
This lyric encapsulates the essence of human perseverance, the unwillingness to relinquish the threads of a dream despite the encroaching shadow of doubt. It’s a battle cry for the heartbroken and the lost, a reminder that as long as one grips tightly to the key of dreams, no cage of despair can truly imprison the spirit.
The Hidden Meaning: A Diaspora of the Heart
Deeper analysis reveals that ‘Farewell’s’ narrative also carries an allegorical weight, touching on religious symbolism through a ‘sign of the cross’ and ‘healing with herbs by the way of grace’. It hints at a journey not just of physical separation, but a spiritual and emotional exile, a forceful disbandment from the sanctuary of unconditional acceptance and understanding.
This involuntary departure from a spiritual home parallels the experience of diaspora, of communities, and individuals torn from their lands and inner sanctums. Avantasia isn’t just commenting on personal loss but on a larger human experience of being uprooted and seeking solace in the belief that there will be a reunion, both in a physical and metaphysical sense.
Memorable Lines: The Refusal to Whisper Goodbye
The lyric ‘Time telling me to say farewell but I knew that I would fight hell’ is a powerful insurgence against the seeming finality of a farewell. It’s a declaration that the protagonist will not be subdued by the circumstance or cosmic fate, thereby transforming what could be a moment of surrender into a war cry against the very concept of permanent separation.
This line speaks to the indomitable will residing in every human being, the stubborn spark that refuses to be extinguished, insisting that some bonds are too strong to be severed by something as pedestrian as time. In the context of ‘Farewell’, it is a line that resonates deeply with anyone who has ever faced the prospect of an unwanted adieu.
The Echoes of Reunion: A Promise Beyond the Veil
The song closes with a potent ambiguity – ‘No farewell could be the last one. If you long to meet again’. It’s a veiled promise, a whispered intimation that defies the certitude of endings. What Avantasia smartly does here is leverage the human condition’s inherent resistance to goodbye, grounding their narrative in the existential belief that where there is a will, there is a way.
This closing encapsulates the song’s essence – that our farewells are as transient as the winters that come and go. Just as nature cycles perpetually through seasons of death and rebirth, so too does the human heart in its quest for reconnection. And in this, Avantasia strikes a chord within our collective souls, for every listener who has tasted loss, there exists the future possibility of an encore encounter, a resumption in the alley of dreams where every farewell could merely be a prelude to another hello.
