Temptation by Cradle of Filth Lyrics Meaning – The Siren’s Call to the Abyss
Lyrics
Of trying to understand
That certain feeling
Carved by another’s hand
But it’s too late to hesitate
We can’t keep on living like this
Leave no track
Don’t look back
All I desire
Temptation
Keep climbing higher and higher
Temptation
Adorable creatures
Temptation
With unacceptable features
Temptation
And trouble is coming
Temptation
It’s just the high cost of loving
Temptation
You can take it or leave it
Temptation
But you’d better believe it
You’ve got to make me an offer
That cannot be ignored
So let’s head for home now
Everything I’ll have is yours
Step by step and day by day
Every second counts I can’t break away
Leave no trace
Guard your face
Full of desire
Temptation
Keep climbing higher and higher
Temptation
And you can take it or leave it
Temptation
But you’d better believe it
Step by step
And day by day
Every second counts
I can’t break away
Keep us from temptation [Repeat: x3]
Lead us not into temptation
Trying to find it
Temptation
You’ve got to get up behind it
Temptation
Put your dime in the hot slots
Temptation
But it’s a million to one shots
Temptation
You think that you’re right now
Temptation
Your gonna make it tonight now
Temptation
Give me a breakdown
Temptation
Because it’s time for a shakedown
Temptation [Repeat: x16]
Cradle of Filth, a band synonymous with weaving intricate tales through their gothic and symphonic metal music, has long intrigued listeners with their enigmatic lyrical content. In their track ‘Temptation,’ they beckon listeners into a realm wrought with the enticements and dangers of desire. The song, a cover of the 1980s hit by Heaven 17, might at first seem a peculiar choice for the band, but within its pulsing beats and prowling lyrics lies a depth that Cradle of Filth is famed for exploring.
Delving into ‘Temptation,’ this article unpacks the layers of yearning, consequence, and rebellion that are stitched within its verses. Beyond the surface of its haunting melody, this composition delves deep into the human psyche, grappling with the perpetual dance between yielding to desires and the puritanical efforts to resist them.
A Symphony of Sin: The Lure of the Forbidden
As the song gives voice to a feeling ‘carved by another’s hand,’ it highlights a universal struggle against the shaping influence of external factors on intimate desires. ‘Temptation’ here is not merely a fringe sensation, but the central theme, presented as an ever-ascending force, defying gravity, morals and, ultimately, the self.
The phrase ‘all I desire’ chanted repeatedly is a kind of summoning—from within or without—beckoning into the promises of what might be, if one were to cross the threshold. The band suggests that yielding to temptation need not be a fall from grace; rather, it can be an ascension, albeit one fraught with peril.
Rebelling Against the Chains: Desire as Emancipation
Cradle of Filth paints temptation as the rebellious act of acknowledging one’s thirst and need for unchained existence. This is echoed in the command to ‘leave no track; don’t look back,’ encouraging a decisive break from the past and the shackles that bind.
By declaring that ‘we can’t keep on living like this,’ the song intimates a revolt against stale norms and the courageous embrace of risk entailed in pursuing what we covet. The cautionary tone hovering in the background only adds to the allure of the taboo, pushing the listener to consider whether the cost of resisting temptation is a life only half lived.
The High Cost of Loving: Illuminating the Hidden Price Tag
The song doesn’t shy away from acknowledging ‘the high cost of loving’ as it interlaces the idea of temptation with consequence. There comes an insinuation that there is a shadow price to every desire indulged, and yet the refrain ‘you can take it or leave it, but you’d better believe it’ seems to taunt the listener into gambling with the stakes of their own passions.
In an almost Faustian dilemma, the listener is encouraged to make an offer, to take part in a transaction of the soul, where everything can be owned at the price of an unknown something, which may very well be freedom or sanity.
Memorable Lines: The Irresistible Charm of a Dark Anthem
‘Step by step and day by day / Every second counts I can’t break away’—these lines capture the essence of ‘Temptation’ as both a chronological obsession and an emotional prison. They underscore the inexorable pull of desires and the rhythmical nature of human yearnings that are as structured as they are chaotic.
This duplicity in rhythm and message imparts a certain timelessness to the song, enabling it to resonate with anyone who dares to peel back the layers and peer into the abyss of their own longing.
Temptation’s Grip: A Collision of Mortality and Desire
Cradle of Filth drives home the idea that to be tempted is inherently human. By echoing the biblical ‘Lead us not into temptation,’ they take the listener on a wholly different kind of pilgrimage—one that isn’t journeying towards sanctity but rather spirals into the caverns of the soul where Eros and Thanatos dance in dark harmony.
‘Keep us from temptation’ repeated as a mantra becomes a whispered prayer, an ironic acknowledgment of the seductive quality of temptation and the frailty of human resolve in the face of seduction’s elegant call.
