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__The Islander __ Nightwish Album: __Dark Passion Play__ - 2007 

__Summary: __ Nightwish Why this song? Video Lyrics Analysis of the lyrics Anything else? Task

**__Nightwish __** This Finnish musical group was formed in 1997 and is one of the most recognized symphonic metal bands in the globe. Their music has been described as heavy-metal and gothic though it often includes folk elements. "The Islander" is highly influenced by folk music, instead of the typical symphonic power metal. Therefore, the two electric guitars are replaced by acoustic guitars and the presence of the keyboard and drums is mild. The genre of this song is: Celtic and acoustic rock.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why this song? __** <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Two summers ago, I unexpectedly embarked on a fabulous adventure to Iceland on a boat. I went there thinking the trip would be just like any other. I was very wrong. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">On the boat I met three incredible people, all much older, who embraced me as a sister and included me as one of their own. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">When the voyage was over I realized how much I had grown as a person and how much I had changed. I had found myself for the first time and I was overjoyed. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">During those twelve nights on the ship, the sun never set. Sunrise would start at 4am and sunset at 1am. It would never get pitch black, only a dull blue. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Every day, at night I would find myself in the middle of the ocean, with only the setting sun, the pink horizon, my friends and a beautiful song: "The Islander". <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Pictures that I took during the voyage

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Video __**
media type="youtube" key="1rYNW75p5cY" width="535" height="367" align="center"

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Lyrics __** <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">An old man by a seashore <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">At the end of day <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Gazes the horizon <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">With sea winds in his face <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Tempest-tossed island <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Seasons all the same <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Anchorage unpainted <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">And a ship without a name

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Sea without a shore for the banished one unheard <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">He lightens the beacon, light at the end of world <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Showing the way lighting hope in their hearts <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The ones on their travels homeward from afar

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">This is for long-forgotten <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Light at the end of the world <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Horizon crying <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The tears he left behind long ago

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The albatross is flying <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Making him daydream <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The time before he became <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">One of the world`s unseen <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Princess in the tower <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Children in the fields <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Life gave him it all: <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">An island of the universe

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Now his love`s a memory <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">A ghost in the fog <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">He sets the sails one last time <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Saying farewell to the world <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Anchor to the water <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Seabed far below <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Grass still in his feet <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">And a smile beneath his brow

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">This is for long-forgotten <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Light at the end of the world <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Horizon crying <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The tears he left behind long ago

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">So long ago....

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">This is for long-forgotten <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Light at the end of the world <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Horizon crying <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The tears he left behind so long ago

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Analysis of the lyrics __** <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The song starts with a description of an old man, who is "gazing at the horizon with sea winds in his face". We then learn that he is on an island and we can make out that he has been there alone for a long time. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">"Seasons all the same" is a metaphor for the fact that this man has been living year after year on the island (everything repeats itself, just like seasons). Moreover, the ship with which he came to the island "has no name" which emphasizes how much time has gone by as no one can remember the man who was sent to the island. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">We then learn that he has actually been banished from his home country: "Sea without a shore for the banished one unheard". He is unheard because he is so far away. The word "for" emphasizes what the man must endure (seeing no shore in the sea). There is nowhere he can go. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The man is also described as "lighting a beacon" which symbolizes that he is in fact in charge of a lighthouse which "lights the end of the world" and shows the way to the "ones on their travels homeward from afar"who are lost and in despair. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The main part of the song (the chorus) emphasizes how this man has been "long-forgotten"and how he only has one tool (the light from the beacon) to be remembered. He is at the "end of world" and the horizon cries out to the rest of the world the sorrow that he felt when he was at first banished ("the tears he left behind so long ago"). <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">An albatross which is flying and free, reminds the man what his life was like before he became "one of the world's unseen". He daydreams about those days and remembers a "princess in the tower" (presumably his wife) and "children in the fields" (probably his children). He fantasizes about them as it has been such a long time since he last saw them. The song also adds that he had been given everything in the world before being banished. A metaphor for this is "island of the universe", as the universe contains everything possible. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">We then learn that his wife is dead as she is a "memory"and a "ghost in the fog". Withered, and tired of his life he sets out to meet his wife "saying farewell to the world". He is not upset, but quite happy to end his life as he has "a smile beneath his brow". My interpretation is that he ties the rope of the anchor around his legs so that he can drown in the ocean: "Anchor to the water, seabed far below". The song says nothing of him actually tying rope around his legs but "grass still in his feet" emphasizes that at any moment his feet will not be on the ground, but in the water. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Finally, the chorus repeats itself and he remains forgotten. The tears in the horizon are still shed, perhaps because of his death.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Anything else? __** <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">· There is no information whatsoever on why this song was written. Since the band is from Finland, they chose a cold and distant location to be the setting of the story. The song is melancholic and lonely just like the end of the world. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">· The video presents a different analysis of what happens to the man, but it still includes the melancholic atmosphere that the song has within itself. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">· Furthermore, the use of sounds of the sea, bagpipes, violins and slow, rhythmic instruments make the song incredibly effective and impacting. You can actually feel like you are at the end of the world, in a small deserted island.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Fill in the gaps! __**
(From 0:00 to 2:00)

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">An old man by a ......................... <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">At the end of day <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">................... the horizon <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">With sea winds in his face <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Tempest-tossed ....................... <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">.................... all the same <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Anchorage unpainted <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">And a ship without a ......................

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Sea without a shore for the ............................. one unheard <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">He lightens the ...................., light at the end of world <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Showing the way lighting ........................ in their hearts <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The ones on their ................... homeward from afar

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">This is for long-forgotten <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Light at the end of the ................... <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">..................... crying <span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13px;">The tears he left behind long ago