Heaven and Hell Lyrics Discussion

[chain-blue-lightning]

I know Ronnie (God bless him) is a simple yet complicated lyricist, But I am having an extremly tough time extracting the plots from each song off the new album "The Devil You Know". Any help would be much appreiated. Sorry for the idoitic question-- to much Rock n Roll and booze, I can't think right anymore. \m/ \m/

[berserkur]

Eating the cannibals is about people getting revenge upon corrupt politicians... (Dio said in an interview)

Follow the tears someone said in a review... that altruism isn't always rewarding..

Bible black... hmm... is about a lonely guy that succumbs to answer in the bible...

Atom and evil refers to weapons of mass destruction ( Dio in an interview)

[Holymagica]

I had already started a topic about this...so I have closed mines down


Heaven and Hell/ Black Sabbath

Bible Black
Lyrics:

At last alone his fire's dying, burned another day
Now to pretend and make up an ending, somewhere far away

He reached for a book all bound in leather
Something that he knows he's never read
And the first page says beware you've found the answer
The next one says I wish that you were dead
Don't go on, put it back, you're reading from the Bible Black

What's this word I see, who are you and who are me
Maybe I just stumbled in the dark
I must have been out cold, but the way the story's told
They found me lying naked in the rain, yeah

Let me go, I've seen religion, but the light has left me blind
Take me back, I must have the Bible Black

Well here I go again, from the start and to the end
I wish I could remember what I've done
Now here's another spell, it could take me straight to Hell
And I feel I'm getting closer to my home

Let me go, I've found the diction, and it makes me feel alive
Take me back, I must have the Bible Black

He locks himself away and tastes the silence
Hungry for another bite of wrong
And just the word, "Oh Lord please take me with you"
Took him to a place we don't belong
Let him go, he can't come back, he's reading from the Bible Black

So if your fire's dying, and what's the use of trying
I may know another place that you can go
It's hiding in the pages, but you may not come back
You're reading from the Bible Black.

Bible Black
So what does it mean?
I am thinking becoz the word black
Is so emphasized in the lyrics...I am thinking of some like the Bible is hopeless and the word Black definition really could have a few meanings that will take the meaning of the song in different directions.Which does not help
But thats DIO for you...the Master of the metaphors.
We are could be thinking that when DIO writes Bible we are thinking of the Holy Book....but it could be something very different.
There is loads of essential books that call themselves 'bibles',
a bible for beginning guitarists or a bible for beginning cooking.
So I am thinking DIO is not singing about the Holy book but something else....but what book it is...I don't know.
It could be Aleister Crowley's book Magick

[The Sentinel]

The thing that really intrigues me with this song is the tenses that it's written in.

The first and last sections are written in the third person singular with the middle section in the first person singular.

I can't seem to recall Dio ever having written lyrics in this manner previously, although please correct me if I'm wrong about this, and I would love to hear his reasons for penning in such a style.


_________________
Sick of all of this
The suffering and we just carry on
Isn't it time we care and lose the hate
Understand our fears

[piracy_of_life]

The lyrics in Bible Black make me furious. He goes so out of his way to rhyme, it's ridiculous. The title of the song itself makes me mad, it's english, we put adjectives before the noun. And the line "what's this world I see, who are you and who are me" ...seriously!? is it that important for the song to rhyme!?!
_________________
you put your hope into the sky
for your souls salvation
I put my hope into the fire
for my soul damnation

[The Sentinel]

[Holymagica]

Folks we should not forget that Geezer Butler writes some pretty good lyrics as well.

[piracy_of_life]

[Bobby66]

[piracy_of_life]

I never said anything about it's riffing or Ronnie's performance, both of which I think are great. This is a topic about lyrics.

but thanks for your input bobby, it's always appreciated
_________________
you put your hope into the sky
for your souls salvation
I put my hope into the fire
for my soul damnation

[Bobby66]

...Oh your most welcome piracy...your criticizm of Ronnie's words are nothing less than I expected from an someone like yourself...
_________________
...As long as it's NOT about love...

[piracy_of_life]

who are me?
_________________
you put your hope into the sky
for your souls salvation
I put my hope into the fire
for my soul damnation

[Bobby66]

[thecoop]

Well I just popped in to have a look around. Hey everyone!

Piracy.......at the risk of making myself unpopular, I think that in the instance of "who are me" I agree with you IF we take the literal meaning. If he is saying "Who am I?" then yes it does sound odd.

Strange really because usually he will create the rhyme with the middle of a word or phrase (e.g. One spell from the wishing well/and you're nevermore/Bad start for the Sacred Heart/Cause the end has come before(the beginning)/. I would prefer this over caveman speak!!

On the other hand, with part of the song written in the first and part in the third person, "who are me" might mean he is referring to being to different people or personalities. In which case he is probably being a lot more subtle than we give him credit for

Oh, and Bible Black is a fantastic song, and I like the fact that Black comeas after Bible in the title - I feel it adds to the impact.
_________________
Along Came A Spider.....

[The Sentinel]