Sabaton’s “Soldier of Heaven” Lyrics Meaning

World War I was of such magnitude that there were wars within wars, and one would have to be a true scholar of the event to be privy to all that went down. For instance, most of us laymen probably never heard of the White War. This war saw Italy fight against Austria and Germany, in the Alps, a mountain range that runs through central Europe. 

It is that particular conflict, which actually lasted from 1915 to 1918, upon which Sabaton based “Soldier of Heaven”.

Anyone familiar with this band’s artistry knows that Sabaton specializes in historically-based war songs, and they get quite creative in doing so. So for example, in this case, the vocalist is taking on the role of a soldier who was involved in the White War. In doing so, he describes the event from a first-person perspective. 

In the first verse, we bear witness to the narrator stating that he will “guard this post forever”. Such is a permeating theme throughout the piece. Basically the vocalist is ‘keeping his watch forever’, i.e. depicting himself as being stuck up on the mountain. 

Such terminology actually alludes to the fact that the White War was fought at such an altitude. Accordingly under such extreme dangerous conditions, as the story goes, the bodies of many of those who fought therein are preserved in the ice, even now, over a century later. 

So now we know that the singer asserting that he’s “been frozen in time” is both a literal and symbolic statement. Concerning the altitude, the combatants fought between 2,000 to 3,905 meters (6,700-12,800 feet) above sea level. And that is why the song is entitled “Soldier of Heaven”, as these soldiers waged war so high up in the air.

Symbolism

As for the symbolism of this piece, even though Sabaton is very much a hard rock band, it is obvious that the lyrics have a sentimental quality. In other words, it becomes quite evident that the singer feels sorry for those who met their fate in the White War, not even being afforded a proper burial since their bodies are still up there. 

So in a borderline roundabout way, this piece seems intended to speak to the horrors of large-scale wars which, as alluded to earlier, are such that those involved have to respectively deal with more catastrophes than can be counted. 

Indeed many of these selfsame unrecovered soldiers are actually so due to their bodies having been buried in avalanches.

Facts about “Soldier of Heaven”

Sabaton released this track, via record label Nuclear Blast, on 7 January 2022. It is the second single from their 2022 album “The War to End All Wars”.

The band has noted that based on listening parties for the project, “Soldier of Heaven” is the song featured therein that was best received.

This song was written by Joakim Brodén, the lead singer of Sabaton. And the track’s producer is Jonas Kjellgren, who isn’t a member of the band.