Is Nightwish a Christian Band? Or is Their Music Satanic?

[evange]

A friend of mine interoduced me to a band called nightwish, and said it was his favorate band. He is ESL, so he doesnt understand the lysics and wants me to help him understand. So I looked up the band on like wikipedia and stuff, and glanced at some lyrics. And I'm not sure what to make of it.

So my question is this:

Does anyone know this band?
Is it devil music?

 

[Citanul]

Nightwish are a pretty good band if you're into symphonic/power metal, although it seems that you either love or hate the operatic vocals. As far as lyrical content go, according to the band page at http://www.metal-archives.com/, the lyrical themes are love, nature, astrology and fantasy, which I would say is a reasonable summary. There's certainly nothing Satanic about them, if that's what you're asking.

 

[metalheaddan777]

yeh nightwisj are an awesome band. although Tarja isnt in the band anymore which sux, she has an awesome voice. they r not demonic at all. they just sing about fantasy mainly

 

[Paladin Dave]

Umm... I'm not sure about the present, but for the first few years atleast, Tuomas Holopainen, the band's songwriter and keyboard player, was definately a Christian. In fact, he wrote a Christian song on the first and second albums. In an interview for the last album, he was talking about the song Planet Hell, and the idea behind some of the lyrics was how this planet is as close to hell as Christians come, and to others it is as close to paradise as they will come. Or God doesn't need to flood the world again, because we're already gonna destroy it ourselves. So no, they are far from "devil music".

They are my favorite band too, actually. They write some awesome fantasy music, some not so much fantasy as just whimsical and imaginative, and they have a nice selection of romantic songs as well.

Go to www.nightwish.com for the lyrics to every song of theirs. They are really an awesome band, and I'm kinda insulted that you even had to ask if they were "devil music". Seriously, unless the person is proclaiming allegiance to satan in their songs (the Kinslayer's voice in their song by the same name does not count. Thats about Columbine, I believe... or something similar), the question should not even come to your mind.

 

[kazzman]

Yeah, the Kinslayer is about Columbine. If you really want to look at the lyrical depth of Nightwish, look at the songs Creek Mary's Blood, Beauty of the Beast and Ghost Love Score. Ghost Love Score, being as close to musical perfection as you can get, imo. The lyrics can basicly be described as the thoughts and feelings of Tuomas Holopainen expressed in song. On the album/demo Angels Fall First, they have a song called The Carpenter. Guess who it's about. That's right, Jesus Christ.

Needless to say, Nightwish is definitely one of my top two bands (it's a close call between them and Rush). If anybody has a chance to check out the live dvd End of an Era, I strongly suggest doing so. Amazing performance.

Oh and if you want to check out the songs I suggested here's Creek Mary's Blood and Ghost Love Score.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8tPs7FrB1g&search=Creek%20Mary%27s%20Blood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8GOHJAnVh4&search=Ghost%20Love%20Score

 

[talitha]

I just read a bunch of their lyrics - reminds me of "This Mortal Coil" - which my friend Vanessa and I years ago nicknamed "the bad music" - because it encouraged us to indulge ourselves in severe melancholy - we both ended up in depression and on medication, and she even attempted suicide once and was hospitalized. Was it because of the music? Not directly - but the music was a river we floated down on the way.....

I don't recommend this sort of thing to anyone interested in mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

sample TMC lyrics:
There's no light at the end of it all
Let's all sit down and cry
There's no light at the beginning
Let's all sit down and cry
Now it's time to say goodbye
Now it's being forced upon you
(from "Fond Affections" off the 1984 "It'll End in Tears" project)

 

[Chrome]

nightwish is some ace power metal, awsome lyrics, awsome music, awsome vocals (tarja era)

i'd recommend them to anyone with a taste for metal and clean (not to mention well-sung) female vocals.

And no, as all misconceptions about metal go, nightwish isn't satanic, or devil music, or evil. The most 'unchristian' they get is with their nature-ish lyrics (which can be translated as pagan, which, in turn, is translated by paranoid christians as satanic), but other than that, its love, fantasy, and even some real-world lyrics (see 'kinslayer'). the keyboardist writes all the lyrics, however, so if you want to suspect someone, hes the one...

 

[Im_A]

I just read a bunch of their lyrics - reminds me of "This Mortal Coil" - which my friend Vanessa and I years ago nicknamed "the bad music" - because it encouraged us to indulge ourselves in severe melancholy - we both ended up in depression and on medication, and she even attempted suicide once and was hospitalized. Was it because of the music? Not directly - but the music was a river we floated down on the way.....

I don't recommend this sort of thing to anyone interested in mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

sample TMC lyrics:
There's no light at the end of it all
Let's all sit down and cry
There's no light at the beginning
Let's all sit down and cry
Now it's time to say goodbye
Now it's being forced upon you
(from "Fond Affections" off the 1984 "It'll End in Tears" project)

i personally look at stuff like this, like it says in Ecclesiastes (sp?): "There is a time for joy and a time for sorrow." if one can't listen to certain songs without wanting to commit suicide, it isn't the band's fault, it's the person's fault for choosing music that would infuriate their disorder (i'm not trying to be inconsiderate to your friend or anyone, but put the blame where the blame goes, and i wouldn't even compare the band's lyrical content to someone's disorder to end their life.)

back to the OP, i haven't listened to too much of their music. from what i have heard, it is beautiful music, and i have seen nothing satanic in it whatsoever.

 

[Kitten87]

i went thru a phase of really liking them, not so much now my taste is music have broadened loads....more into punk rock now.

I do love their orchestral stuff on the Once album. awesome.

 

[talitha]

According to the website, the band is now looking for a new lead vocalist / front-person - I can see it now - "Metal Star-Nightwish" the reality show on CBS......

some NW lyrics - maybe you'll see why some of these words are objectionable?

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

Romantic scent
Spoiled Lucrece lies warm for you
There`s no such priest
That can pray me to heaven

When done with me
Forget if you think I feel ashamed
A wild thing
Never felt sorry for anything

The one they lick
The same old sick
Dream of their precious saviour

Kiss them deep
And make them weep
Over promises of eternal peace

(that bit's from The Carpenter)

 

[Paladin Dave]

Sorry, but just like Bible verses, you can't take things out of context.

Angels Fall First... the whole thing.

An angelface smiles to me
Under a headline of tragedy
That smile used to give me warmth
Farewell - no words to say
Beside the cross on your grave
And those forever burning candles

Needed elsewhere
To remind us of the shortness of your time
Tears laid for them
Tears of love tears of fear
Bury my dreams dig up my sorrows
Oh Lord why
The 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

Needed elsewhere...

Sing me a song
Of your beauty
Of your kingdom
Let the melodies of your harps
Caress those whom we still need

Yesterday we shook hands
My friend
Today a moonbeam lightens my path
My guardian

This is a mournful song... which sounds like a fond rememberence of some old mentor that passed away. When you add the rest of the lyrics to the one snippet you posted, it is a truly beautiful song that brings a tear to the eye. Does this not sound like how someone would feel after losing someone they deeply admired and looked up to?

Bare Grace Misery... the whole thing.

Sweet boy, come in
I am the dark side of you
Die for my sins
Like the One once did

Cinnamon bed
For your unashamed appetite
A figurante
This dance will hurt like hell

Oh, bare grace misery
Just a child without a fairytale am I
Dark but so lovely
A Little Match Girl freezing in the snow

Love lying, enticing
(Bare grace misery)
Crowning the moment
(Bare grace misery)
This is what I am
Bare grace for the end of days

Romantic scent
Spoiled Lucrece lies warm for you
There`s no such priest
That can pray me to heaven

When done with me
Forget if you think I feel ashamed
A wild thing
Never felt sorry for anything

Love lying...

Ok... I can understand why this song would arise some suspiscion. Tuomas is said to write his songs based on times in his life and people in his life... or things he really likes(examples are most things in the Wishmaster album, which I am told holds a lot of tribute to Lord of the Rings and Dragon Lance)

When you read the WHOLE SONG, it still depicts lechery and immorality, but it also sounds a lot more like a self-destructive double edged sword type thing. It may be something you hunger for... but this dance will hurt like hell.

His song titled Passion and the Opera, from Oceanborn, is very similar to this, and its even more clear in that one that he does not glorify the lifestyle, and in fact, he points out the pain and risk in such a life.


The Carpenter... all of it.

Who are you? Man condemned to shine a salvation
Throughout the centuries

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

The carpenter
Carved his anchor
On the dying souls of mankind
On the tomb of this unknown soldier
Lay the tools of the one who for us had died
Tools of the carpenter

The one they lick
The same old sick
Dream of their precious saviour

Kiss them deep
And make them weep
Over promises of eternal peace

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...

That one little snippet you posted doesn't sound like something from a praise song, but in context it sounds more like a Catholic Church grad (no offense to Catholics here...). Mixed with the "they tell me to lie on the grass and observe my savior..." part, it sounds more like he is describing people heaping guilt on you for Christ's sacrifice, and bringing up his agony and how he did it for you. Yes, I concede, not what I would put on a praise station, but its not sacreligious.


Talitha, I understand you don't like the band. And I'm ok with that. But don't try and ruin it for other people by taking their songs out of context or trying to make them look like whiny sacreligious lechers. I HATE when people take things out of context to try and twist it to your point. Please stop it. Speak only of what you know. And as TattedSaint said, there are times when people can be calmed and soothed by this kind of music. Remember, you listened to This Mortal Coil and got depressed. Not Nightwish. They write plenty of encouraging, uplifting, and thought-inspiring stuff too.


Ever Dream

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

Would you do it with me
Heal the scars and change the stars
Would you do it for me
Turn loose the heaven within

I'd take you away
Castaway on a lonely day
Bosom for a teary cheek
My song can but borrow your grace

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

Your beauty cascaded on me
In this white night fantasy

Ocean Soul

One more night
To bear this nightmare
What more do I have to say

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

Long hours of loneliness
Between me and the sea

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

Walking the tideline
I hear your name
Is angels wispering
Something so beautiful it hurts

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


The Wayfarer

I went into the wilderness with Uncle Walt
I discovered the wild
Learning to suck all the experience
Seeing the world through cradle's bars

The wild blessed me with an errant mind
Showing the way for the ultimate lore
I went around the world, beyond the wild
Finding my home from an ocean shore

Wayfarer, heartlander
What if I only had
One more night to live

Home is where the way is
My road goes on forever
One more voyage to go

Dead to the world
Alive for the journey


The Riddler

Riddler Riddler ask me why
The birds fly free on a mackerel sky
Ask me whither goes the wind
Whence the endless tick-tick stream begins

Make me guess if the earth is flat or round
Set a guessing if fantasies are unbound
If tales aren't just for children to see
That it's peace if sleep walks with me

As you wish
For kingdom come
The one to know all the answers
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...

Riddler Riddler ask me why
All mothers beneath the Earth and sky
Hold their children's hands for a while
Their hearts forever - yours and mine

Make me wonder what's the meaning of life
What's the use to be born and then die
Make me guess who's the one
Behind the mask of Father and Son

As you wish...

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 ocean's minds part clearly gives away that this is NOT a physical lust thing, so don't even TRY it.))

As you wish...


Sleeping Sun

The sun is sleeping quietly
Once upon a century
Wistful oceans calm and red
Ardent caresses laid to rest

For my dreams I hold my life
For wishes I behold my night
The truth at the end of time
Losing faith makes a crime

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

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

Two hundred twenty-two days of light
Will be desired by a night
A moment for the poet's play
Until there's nothing left to say

I wish for this night-time...

I wish for this night-time...


Come Cover Me

Come wet a widow`s eye
Cover the night with your love
Dry the rain from my beaten face
Drink the wine the red sweet taste of mine

Come cover me with you
For the thrill
Till you will take me in
Come comfort me in you
Young love must
Live twice only for us

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)

Not a world but your fine grace
Seduction in sleepwalker`s land
November dressed in May on your face
Holding us now the lovecropper`s hand

Come cover me with you...


Wanderlust

I want to see where the sirens sing
Hear how the wolves howl
Sail the dead calm waters of the Pacific

Dance in the fields of coral
Be blinded by the white
Discover the deepest jungle

I want to find The Secret Path
A bird delivered into my heart, so

It`s not the end
Not the kingdom come
It is the journey that matters, the distant wanderer
Call of the wild
In me forever and ever and ever forever
Wanderlust

I want to love by the Blue Lagoon
Kiss under the waning moon
Straying, claiming my place in this mortal coil

Riding the dolphins
Asking the mountains
Dreaming Alaska
The Earth can have but Earth

I want to find...

It`s not the end...

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

 

[christus]

Nightwish aren't satanic, especially when Toumas, the one who write the lyrics wears a cross in his pics.
Although, there are some "heretic" sayings there. like, "You are the crade for the image of God".

 

[Moros]

Heh, "devil music." Next thing you know, rock 'n' rollers will be shaking their hips. On live TV.

 

[kazzman]

Ever Dream

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

Would you do it with me
Heal the scars and change the stars
Would you do it for me
Turn loose the heaven within

I'd take you away
Castaway on a lonely day
Bosom for a teary cheek
My song can but borrow your grace

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

Your beauty cascaded on me
In this white night fantasy

Ahh, the song my band named ourselves after. We even cover Slaying the Dreamer, Dark Chest of Wonders and Ghost Love Score. Nightwish is a huge influence on us, as you can tell. If having a name like EverDream (spelled like that on purpose) doesn't give it away, then I dunno what will...

 

[Paladin Dave]

Awesome! Do you guys have any of your covers recorded on the web?

 

[kazzman]

Awesome! Do you guys have any of your covers recorded on the web?

Not yet, but once we have Ghost Love Score down in tact (We're taking this one very carefully since it's such of an epic nature and we don't want to destroy it), we plan on filming it when we debut it live.

 

[MetalBlade]

great symphonic power metal band, if you are into that kind of stuff. They are far from devil music, but it is secular. Tarja has an amazing voice. And yes she did leave the band recently. Sadly I missed them in concert a year ago, and now I won't see them, or at least with Tarja. I have all their albums except for the first one, and all are pretty solid, especially the first two!

 

[talitha]

Paladin Dave, young'un, don't tell me what I can and cannot have an opinion on. You cannot possibly know what I do and do not know. You are a child, and whether you realize it or not, there are songs that will stunt your growth the way drugs will stunt the growth of your body. I only wish to warn, out of love. If you choose not to heed my warnings, fine - but you are out of your element in criticising me.

bless you in Christ
tal

 

[kazzman]

Paladin Dave, young'un, don't tell me what I can and cannot have an opinion on. You cannot possibly know what I do and do not know. You are a child, and whether you realize it or not, there are songs that will stunt your growth the way drugs will stunt the growth of your body. I only wish to warn, out of love. If you choose not to heed my warnings, fine - but you are out of your element in criticising me.

bless you in Christ
tal

Problem is, people like to judge and make assumptions about something which they know little or nothing about...

 

[Paladin Dave]

If I were getting on you for your opinion, you might be right in talking down to me. I was not doing that. But YOU were slandering my favorite band, presenting information out of context. I will NOT be talked down to because I opposed you taking things out of context. Its twisting things to benefit your viewpoint, and I do not need to be your age to tell you its wrong. I AM in my element. I know Nightwish. You do not, I can tell from the way you so harshly judge them. You listened to THis Mortal Coil, and if we were discussing them I would concede to your wisdom. But the fact is that Nightwish is different, and they write MUCH more than melancholy music. I would know. I OWN every one of their CD's. Even if I am wrong in saying you do not know them, I AM right in saying I know them better than you do.

So I ask that you kindly stop trying to force your age on me and trying to mask distorted fact as opinion. I know full well that music can contort the soul. I stopped listening to some old favorites of mine for that. But Nightwish does not do that. They do not damage my relationship with the Lord.

I was not criticising you. I was pointing out that you were taking things out of context and removing the meaning of the song. And though a child I am, I know that you can not do that in ANY situation without severely decreasing your chance of presenting objective and complete information. I see people do it with Bible verses all the time to try and create rhetorical traps for Christians.
If you have a warning to give, give it. Yes, some people are more succeptable to sadness-inspiring music. But many are not! Not everyone has the same strengths or weaknesses that you do, and its up to them to make a decision based on that.

You are the only person I know who finds Nightwish inhibiting. Everyone I know who hears them either does not like the music and just ignores it, or likes it and is uplifted and inspired by it.

I apologize if you feel threatened or disrespected by me. Its not my intent. But you DID disrespect me by assuming that I am wrong because I am not as old as you. And keep in mind that you do not know me either... you do not know my story, you do not know whether I dropped out of high school or if I have a superior education to my peers. You don't know if my life has been filled with sin or relatively good. I may not be as wise as you in all situations, but I know Nightwish, and I know how most people react to them. And I also know how to win an arguement against an adult.


So your warning has been taken. Leave it at that. Whether or not the warning was out of love, slander is never a loving thing to do.