Tuomas said this about Floor's singing of this song, "Floor puts all the anguish, and hurt, and deep dark feelings I was feeling when I wrote this, she has a way of putting my emotions back into the songs." Honestly what I feel is often overlooked is Tuomas' songwriting capability. That man is a treasure to mankind and Floor Jansen is one of the most versatile vocalists out there.
I am not even a metal fan, but I acknowledge the skill and dedication of Tuomas and Floor. I just do not share their preferences in music. Pity for me.
Thomas used to look up from his key boards when Anette would not or could not sing this song live as it was recorded in the studio but I have never heard him say a bad word about the vocals that Floor has brought to Nightwish
Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards) wrote this epic when Nightwish did not have a lead singer between 2005 and 2007... This was after the original female singer Tarja Turunen was fired in '05 after she and her husband kept demanding more from the band (finances and other conveniences) to the point where the band's business was in jeopardy... The band wanted to tour N. America again in '05 for less money in smaller venues (Nightwish was bigger in Europe & S. America at the time), but Tarja refused... She started canceling shows and not rehearsing or traveling w/ the band... And finally, she announced that she would work on a solo album - Nightwish was not the priority for her anymore... Tuomas made the decision to let her go; it was difficult because they were friends for years... and the music business had driven them apart. That was why Tuomas referred to himself as a "wh+re for the cold world" - the business & income had become the priority over friendships within the band... Tarja and Tuomas no longer had the same goals as far as Nightwish was concerned. Tarja was handed a letter after the last show for the 'Once' tour in '05 and it was posted online the next day to lay out the past year's drama that had led to the split between her and the band... Tuomas told Tarja bluntly that he couldn't write any more songs for her to sing w/ the threat of her departure from Nightwish hanging over him. From Tarja's point, she wanted her demands fulfilled while touring and employed her husband as her personal manager to talk to Nightwish's managers... She was blindsided by her firing and was hurt that her husband was mentioned as part of the reason she was out of Nightwish. In the aftermath, the backlash from fans was immediate w/ Tuomas getting the brunt of the criticism... Others blamed Tarja. But a majority of Nightwish fans clearly went in their favor. But Tuomas was left w/ the decision of whether to continue Nightwish... He wrote songs and poured his frustration and uncertainty of the future... the song "Bye bye Beautiful" was directed at Tarja. After over a year of writing and re-writing the album 'Dark passion play'... Tuomas and Nightwish started auditioning new female singers... Anette Olzon was picked to sing the new songs, even though she was not operatically trained like Tarja... Tuomas wanted a different vocal delivery from their operatic past - Anette was more of a pop singer and it sounded different... 'Dark passion play' was finally released in 2007 and Nightwish had their biggest-selling record w/ a new vocalist.
in your vid at 9:43 the voiceover says: now i have only 3 minutes and counting. After exactly 3 minutes in the song Tuomas making that gesture where blade cutting off his head. Every time when i see this i have shivers! What an amazing songwriting by Tuomas!!! Moreover in this song you can see present drummer of Nightwish, Kai Hahto! This man is a machine behind the drumset, you should check his videos also! Speaking about Kai i have to mention of another band he played, Wintersun. Wintersun is a melodic death metal band, i think it will be good to start with their song TIME as the first one, this song is a killer masterpiece!
As others have explained, this is a deeply emotional song for the band and in particular Tuomas. The "thank you" from Emppu was for the support and love the crowd were showing knowing full well how painful the song is for the band to play. This is probably the last time it will ever be played lived.
I personally have no problem for people to react to the song without knowing the backstory, but this song defiantly hits different when you know it. Great reaction! :)
First singer is an English boy soprano... BTW her tattoos are in honor of her mother Lily, behind her ears is a wolf and a dog, her homely and her adventurous side.
This is a serious story about coming out of a deep personal depression. It's personal because it's Tuomas's story - but it could fit so many others in the situation. All Nightwish songs are deep stories - their music are sometimes referred to as 'Metal music for adults' - and you will see why, when you starts analyzing the lyrics, and realize how masterfully the music are composed to enhance the stories. And Floor's abilities to use all kinds of different techniques also to enhance the stories - and the same goes for all the others as well - everything is done for the purpose of enhancing the story. Look at the backgrounds also - everything is there for a purpose !. Enjoy the ride into this incredible Universe of emotions wrapped in music 🎶
Such a passionate masterpiece. It's so good to know Tuomas is well past this point, and is happy with his wonderful wife, Johanna. He is simply the greatest composer of my lifetime, and his compositions beyond this song are masterpieces that will live longer than any of us! Enjoyed your reaction!
Many people mistakenly believe that this song is about breaking up with Tarja, Nightwish's first singer - it's not. It's about the consequences: The feelings that Tuomas felt when, after Tarja's dismissal, the music press and many fans turned away from the band, blamed Tuomas and the rest of the members for for the breakup and proclaimed the death of Nightwish.
I believe you are right. It is about social death through the negative opinions of fans and press (and even the prime minister?) after firing Tarja. Tuomas got the blame. "Crows feasting on the Poet" is people or/and press picking on someone. The unconditional love of Tuomas parents kept him mentally alive, helped him recover.
@randomphantom 1. No, it's not about the breakup. Tuomas has talked about this many times in various interviews. He wrote another song about Tarja for that album - it's called "Bye Bye Beautiful". ;) 2. You should read the official biographical book "Once Upon a Nightwish", where those events are described in detail from the words of a variety of people: - The whole "mess", as you called it, was caused by Marcelo, Tarja's husband and manager, who decided that Tarja's "irreplaceability" allowed him to impose his business decisions on the whole band, constantly threatening them that otherwise "Tarja would not perform." - Tuomas was also not the only one who wanted to fire Tarja - Marko and Jukka were even more angry at Marcelo and Tarja, to the point that Marko even wanted to quit the band because of their behavior. - And the only reason why they kept their decision a secret from Tarja until the last moment was that they were afraid that Tarja would sabotage the rest of the tour if she found out that she would inevitably be fired.
@@SokolRockWhile most of what you state seem accurate and collaborated by the band members and others in various interviews and books over the years, you might still want to take a lot of it with a grain of salt. Not only was Marko an alcoholic at the time, he has had untreated adhd and rsd (which made him quite unstable at times), and he and the band has given a lot of evasive and conflicting comments about various things over the years. Also, Tuomas has clearly changed public narrative on many things over the years to be more amiable He is obviously the type of person who would not confess his true feelings to anyone but himself while publically telling politically correct white lies to preserve group harmony. Which is also one reason I think he felt such a need to burst down the floodgates of his emotions with this song lest they consume him tl;dr; I think only Tuomas will ever know what his songs really meant for himself, since I don't think he'd ever tell the actual truth to anyone but himself
I so wanted to watch this but I have a personal belief that I only watch this video reaction if they did the research of the backstory history in my opinion without the history of the song this is just any ordinary song sorry I know not everyone would agree but I do I've watched hundreds of reactions and what seems to be hundreds not watching I love this song so much and feel that I should be emotional along with the reactor both this song and The greatest Show on Earth should be done later on down the road when you have more of an appreciation for the greatness of this band also probably just me but we all have our opinions and I'm actually looking forward to your next reaction which I think since you've done my other three favorites I would love to hear you do devil and the deep dark ocean or 7 days to the wolves which would round out my top five thank you and merry Christmas
I think this is second only to "The Greatest Show on Earth" at Tampere, as far as Nightwish epic performances. Some will be butt-hurt that you don't know the story behind the song, but it is such a masterpiece, it can be appreciated as a musical work of art, without knowing the background. The context raises the level even further, but it is not necessary to appreciate the songwriting and musicianship.
Totally agree. As a german i also since 50 years mostly just listen to english vocals as just another instrument and not because of the lyrics. Good lyrics are nice to have, but in the end for me the music comes always first, else i would just listen to Bob Dylan maybe.
Got to one of the big ones pretty early. Knowing everything behind this, the backstory, makes it all the more powerful. It is an outpouring of Tuomas’s soul, the grief and torment he felt having had to part ways with Tarja. It is a masterpiece all around. His magnum opus in my opinion. Only performed 20 times with Floor, who takes it to another level, and not since 2016, and not likely ever again. Stay on your Nightwish journey. Get to know the band and the history, then come back to this one and experience it again, like new, with even more emotion. You’ll appreciate it even more. - Nightwish Army North Texas division.
I just binge watched all of your videos you posted so far and .... congrats you just gained a new follower😊😊😊❤❤❤❤ loved all of them and especially the nightwish ones.... there's only one thing left to say from me.... welcome to the nightwish army, private Stacey 😊😊😊😊😊
Metal is moden classical music. Im classical trained piano teacher. Ive had vocal training and have sung in choirs. Harmonies and dynamics are crucial for me. Nightwish gives me everything in music. Never boring!
P.S. Dive into the backstory of this song and listen to it again. It will get even richer. There is nothing better than then the catharsis of the last part 'Mother And Father'. But as a whole song, listen to The Greatest Show On Earth live at Tampere(!) that in my opinion is their best. Watch it until the end titles are done
@@StaceyRPGReacts yes, please: there's so much to discover about this band, its story and all of the artists, past and present. On another topic: FYI, there's a bot using your picture and your channel's name in the comnent section... I reported it for Spamming (could also be some sort of scam aimed to your viewers) Hope this helps you...🤞 Greetings from Italy, Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!✨🎄✨ 👋🇮🇹🖖
@@StaceyRPGReactsyes I agree... When you understand the song a bit better (pretty much impossible on a first listen, especially if you're non-initiated on the story) it just becomes even more epic. For your second listen, and after gaining a bit of knowledge, choose the video with lyrics... you'll have the shivers in no time. I already saw you acknowledging someone commenting on "3 minutes and counting", and others have left comments that'll also help understand it better. I can't wait for you to check out The Greatest Show on Earth... a masterpiece on the evolution of the universe, Earth, nature and mankind (and music 😊).
I've been struggling with depression for the last few years, and this song always brings tears to my eyes. Some of the emotions and feelings Tuomas describes in the lyrics are the same ones I feel every day. And the emotion that Floor puts into it... Uff!
If you want to dive in some more metal music with Nightwish as a starting point, i would like to recommend the following bands: Epica (another symphonic metal band / they are from the Netherlands and their lead singer Simone Simmons is Floors best friend / sometimes Floor is featured in a few of their performances) Sabaton (a swedish power metal band, who is singing songs about real stories which happend in war, mostly WW1 and 2 / the drummer is Floor's husband) Arjen Lucassen (a dutch prog metal composer, who has created the projects Ayreon and Star One in which musicians of different groups come together and play his awesome compositions / Floor is seen very often in these projects) Floor has of course some solo projects and was a guest in the dutch show "Beste Zangers" as well as the german show "Sing meinen Song". There she is singing her own version of the songs of the other artists and vice versa. Perhaps you want to check these out as well?!
They weren't having a conversation. Empuu was checking on tuomas making sure he was ok. This is a very emotionally taxing and personal song for tuomas. Even at the end Marco even stands by him in support.
Stacey, welcome to the Nightwish Army! Great to see you enjoying the magnificence that is Floor Jansen and Nightwish. Check out "Sleeping Sun", another live performance in Tampere. It's softer and Floor sounds amazing. Also, check out Beste Zangers from 2019 to see Floor singing different types of songs in different languages. She's always awesome!
Tuomas is such an amazing song writer. This song consists of 5 sections. In one section where you hear the boy say “now I only have 3 minutes and counting”. Thats where it goes into a new section and, that section is exactly 3 minutes before it goes into a new section. This song is a very personal song for Tuomas. And it is so lovely to see Emppu and Marko checking with Tuomas how he is doing.
The combination of Floor Jansen and Nightwish is a match made in heaven - a once in a lifetime occurrence - 2 great albums recorded together, with a third currently in production for a 2024 release, and Floor is now heading into her 12th year as front lady for the music of The Metal Mozart
Great reaction, many thanks👍🏻 Tuomas borrowed heavily from "The Pit and The Pendulum" when he wrote this, which is a short story written in 1842 by Edgar Allan Poe. The story describes the psychological torment of a prisoner during the Spanish Inquisition who is publicly tortured and executed for opposing the Catholic Church. The prisoner is trapped in a dark, rat-infested room with slippery, sloped floors leading to a Pit with a swinging Pendulum above. The Pit signifies Death, the Pendulum represents Time and the sloped floors, rats and darkness symbolise Fear. The protagonist of the story opposed the Catholic Church because he was angry with God for taking away his birth mother, adopted mother and wife with plague and disease. I wonder whether Toumas's anguish was NOT due to the fact that he fired Tarja (the original singer) from the band, but because he felt he was being publicly tortured and executed by his so-called fans for doing so. I also wonder whether the song was arranged into 5 parts to reflect the 5 stages of grieving: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. An awesome musical adaptation of classical literature.
Boy Soprano at the start was Guy Elliott from St Mary's Choir School, Reigate, UK. "Sparkle my scenery...." was also sung by another boy soprano on the album but Floor said that she could do it and Tuomas agreed! This opus was one of a trilogy about the tempestuous history of the band in 2004/5. The other two are "Bye, Bye Beautiful" and "Master, Passion, Greed" - the latter has never been performed live. So glad Tuomas took his way out in song rather than reality! WE need his music! and it's his birthday and mine! Merry Christmas!
Thanks for another great reaction! A lot of people will insist that one do some research before listening to this piece. There are plusses and minuses to that approach, but, on the whole, I prefer that people experience this piece the same way most of us did; as a surprise. You were clearly focused on the music instead of the lyrics and that's great! The music speaks for itself and you felt the message. As you listen to this more on your own, you will learn the lyrics and discover how somber they are. That's what we all did.
Keyboardist Tuomas is the brains behind Nightwish's songs This song hits hard on every Nightwish fan including myself, you should really learn the story behind this one. Love you reactions, keep it up!
Those damn Onion Ninja again….Every bloody time I listen to this they get me….When she sings "Tuck me in beneath the blue" I am normally done…this is a masterpiece. And I have heard this one like 683 times already…. Awesome piece of Music. Love it. Thanks for the time ! All Hail Queen Floor !
You’re killing it Stacey👍🤘 The brilliance, nuance and mastery of Tuomas’ songwriting lyrics and composition never ceases to amaze me. 3 minutes exactly from where he says “I have 3 minutes and counting “ is when he simulates with his hand the pendulum cutting his throat.This is just an amazing piece and experience in music art!🤘🤘
Hi Stacey! Love your videos and Nightwish is my favourite band so it's always awesome to see how others react to their amazing music! I think you're ready for the big one by Nightwish... the 20 minute spectacle that is "The Greatest Show on Earth". I would love to see your reaction to that as it's a song about the big bang and the creation of life on Earth and it's amazing.
Nightwish, although existed from 1996, is showing the direction to the future of Music, the saviour of the Music from it's decaying money only matters status and showing how one can advance from only songs performing band into the larger than life spectacles with an ingenuity of a composer/Lyricist and the perfectionist performance on the band members creating together a wholeness of a another dimension or world. If I would be a Musician, I'd do everything to achieve the same "second level" performance and skills!
To get your journey easier Nightwish with lyrics may be helpful Or get them pull up before And every time it's journey through emotions 🔥❤🤘❤🔥 More to explore Thanks for reaction 🙏
Floor just does what she does best in every one of her songs - shows her raw heart, emotions and feelings, and because we, fans, know what this song is about, it hits so much deeper to realise what Floor must have felt there, on stage.. I still can't watch this ong without tears in my eyes...
What I find amazing is Tuomas is just brilliant when you hear the spoken words "Now I only have three minutes and counting" if you start a timer at that point it's exactly 3 minutes to where Tuomas chops his head off. now that's easy to do in the studio but this is live it's amazing the timing of this song is really amazing.
The Poet and the Pendulum was written after firing Tarja the original singer. She was the face of Nightwish at the time, and Tuomas (Keyboards) wrote this and considered her a muse to many of the songs he had written at that point. They had also grown up in the same city and knew each other since early childhood. All the band members decided together to fire her for acting too much of a diva And her husband & Manager was stepping way outta bounds concerning the band business He always wanted more money , only big paying show but the band did it for the love of music and there fans . According to all the band members, Tarja was missing lots of rehearsals and would not even travel with the band anymore. Tuomas was painted as the devil by many fans, and went through a deep depression. He even considered ending the band . He wrote The Poet and the Pendulum at that time, and actually kills himself in the song. He said he killed himself in the song at the 10:00 time stamp , as to kill the pain he was going through . To this day every time he plays it, it takes him back to those feelings, and shows on his face. In the last part, Mother and Father, words are said to him that his real mother said to him at that time of his deep depression. One part that touches me at the end when the guitarist Emppu and bassist Marko, the only other two involved with firing Tarja (that were still active with the band at the time of this show )were standing with Tuomas at the end in solidarity and love., NOTE : the 1st two words are (The End) and the last two words are (The Beginning) representing the end of the 1st era of Nightwish and the beginning of the next era
I noticed you have yet to do any Epica. This should be another must-listen-to band if you want to continue on your symphonic metal journey. I suggest you start with the live version of Sancta Terra (feat Floor Jansen).
Epica is much heavier but still same genre and same epic 😉 I give to you 3 other suggestions from their live performances: Unleashed (Afas), Kingdom of heaven (Retrospect) and Consign to oblivion (Zenith). Enjoy your symphonic metal journey 😊
This song is perhaps one of the most personal. Written to reflect the depression Tuomas felt when attacked by the public for firing Tarja in such a public manner. What he did, while not prudent, had a significant backlash that he didn't expect. Many of his friends betrayed him publicly. A Finnish government official publicly criticized him. When Anette was singing this at a concert, she found out she lost a custody suit. This song rattled her so much that she broke and ran off stage in tears. Floor puts such emotion in it that you feel it every time to your core.
I love how you talk about your awakening to metal music. I was the same as you before and when I finally got into the genre (thanks to reactors like yourself) I realized just as you did the incredible skill, talent and pure hard work they put into their music. I guess we don’t know what we don’t know right? I’m grateful that I and many people like you are now awake :)
Thank you Stacey, it's always a pleasure to see how different a first reaction is without knowing the background of the song. It always strucks me again the moment that the 3 minutes counting starts in the song before Tuomas commits suicide in the song. Luckily only in the song... I'm catching up on some of your reaction video's as you may have noticed. 🙂Really enjoy them! To give you some other direction: do you know songs from Genesis? For example "tell me why?"from 1992
Hello stacey and Merry christmas to you and your family and your two babies cats 🎆 another albums it's almost a 30 minutes song (The Greatest show on earth )but its for another time .the Poet and the Pendulum is about the depression Tuomas (the keyboard player and composer of Nightwish °) suffered after they fired their first singer Tarja ( its controversial because they gave her a letter after their last concert together in 2005 but some rumors said she never came to rehearsal and stuffs and started to behave like a diva) the second singer is Anette Olzon but not a lot of live with her and in 2012 she left or was fired and Floor came in the band and had 48 hours to learn the setlist and of course she did 🙂
The singer at the start is a boy treble from an English choir not Floor. Boy treble voices are used in choirs (especially Church choirs) for the purity of tone. This is an absolutely beautiful composition from Tuomas, full of emotional elements! Floor makes such a good job of singing this as does Marco. It’s just a masterpiece! Very nice reaction to this epic song 🌹 Edit: you really should listen to Floor on Yours is an empty hope - Live at Wembley!
Tuomas is truly a musical genius. To compose, arrange, write the lyrics, and conceive the stage presentation, lighting etc is just remarkable. Plug into that, absolutely top level musicianship and you have magic...... Oh, and then there is the Goddess that is Floor Jansen..... Vocal beast!!! ...... Btw it is a boy singing in the intro
It's really too bad that out of all of those requests, not one person told you about the story that you were about to be swept up in. The place was Helsinki, Finland. The time was right after the band had fired their first singer, Tarja. She was Tuomas' closest friend, they went through school together, he almost certainly loved her. It was probably the hardest thing that he ever had to do. Afterwards the fans turned against Tuomas, leveling their hate on him for firing her, even though it was a joint decision by the whole band. It was so bad that the Prime Minister of Finland had to call for order. Tuomas fell into despair, nearly ending his own life. Thankfully he decided to write this song instead of walking into the ocean, otherwise we would have lost almost two decades worth of music. This is the second song of what is called the holy trinity of Nightwish: Ghost Love Score, Poet and the Pendulum, and The Greatest Show on Earth. TGSoE is a 22 minute long song about the formation of our planet, the evolution of life, and the rise (and fall) of mankind. Here's a link: th-cam.com/video/45brzDJKZ3o/w-d-xo.html
Great reaction! By exploring Nightwish you have opened an entire world! There are so many great songs. I would love to se you reaction to: "The greatest show on earth" Wembley,- and enjoy who is entering the stage late in the song to tell this epic story of the entire history of this planet, and the small part belonging to humans. Also the same song performed at Tampere is fantastic.
So my apologies for whoever encouraged you to dive into this complex masterpiece without the backstory. Most fans advise people to wait until they know the band and it's history well. This is Tuomas's (keyboardist and main composer) most personal and emotional song. It is also very personal and emotional for most fans. In 2005 the band had reached a breaking point with their first lead singer, Tarja. Things between her, her husband/manager and the band had been deteriorating for some time and had reached the point where they could no longer work together. The band decided to fire her, which they did via an open letter, right after the End of an Era concert. Tarja responded with her own open letter explaining her side of things. Both letters are on the internet and worth reading to get a feel for their emotions at the time. The backlash against the band, but mostly against Tuomas, was massive and very nasty. Tuomas felt betrayed by Nightwish's fans and sank into a deep depression. He wrote this song as way of expressing and exploring all of the emotions of his depression and grief. Tuomas has said that he never got to the place of killing himself in real life but that he killed him self in this song as a form of carthsis and recoverry . Tuomas often uses the poet in his lyrics to reference himself and yes, he does have a great affinity for the ocean. He sees it as a place of refuge. It would take too much space to explain everything going on in this song. Best analysis of this song I have ever read is by the artist and musician Annika Hausen. It is a Master's Thesis level analysis that is very insightful. I won't provide a link (YT algorithms delete my comment every time I do) but a google search on her name and Poet and the Pendulum will get you there. For me this is Nightwish's greatest song. Their Magnum Opus. Tuomas pouring out his heart and anguish in the music and lyrics. Floor perfectly channeling the anger and pain. The final section's lyrics are the actual words Tuomas's mother spoke to him during the depth's of his depression. Floor perfectly captures the anguish of a mother who has lost her child. This song is no longer performed live. Tuomas has said they (him, Empuu, and at the time Marko) are not those people anymore and they have moved on. Performing it just takes Tuomas back to that difficult place emotionally. He often would have the sound engineers turn off the vocal feed in his in ears because it would make him too emotional. Read the open letters. Read Annika's analysis and listen once again and I know you will get the full emotional impact and the greatness of this song! If you do I would love to hear how your reaction to the song changed.
Does Tuomas place a sticker on the cds telling them to do research? What happened to self-discovery and not given some list to follow? Like people need a secret decoder ring to get it. It's silly.
I came across the song rather early in my journey and did not know the backstory, and was so impressed that I found the lyrics after the I had listened the song 3-4 times in a row. And it took me about a week to recover from astonishment.
@@SpartanGuy83 If people choose to go in blind more power to them. Having seen dozens and dozens of reactions to this song my observation is that reactors feel this song and "get it" if they know the backstory and "get it" even more if they have some experience and personnel investment in the band. I see nothing wrong in wanting everyone to have that experience and they can't if we don't advise them ahead of time to learn the backstory. If they knowingly choose not to do the research to preserve a blind reaction then I respect that choice. But if they didn't know that understanding the backstory has a big impact on how you react to the song then I feel, as a fan, that I have let them down.
@@rnowak85 you're missing the whole point of discovery. Same with GSOE. Let people interpret things individually. Music is about discovery and not others people's experience. Tuomas alluded to this in a print interview when he was asked about reaction vids.
20:26 As for metal in general, this genre was originally about epicness, catchy melodic guitar parts and strong voices. Over time, more aggressive metal bands began to appear playing faster and heavier, their vocalists growled and screamed and then it was called "extreme metal". For some reason, extreme metal eventually became the "standard" of metal music in the US and ordinary people began to believe that all metal music is so heavy and intimidating, although this is not the case. So Nightwish is one of the bands that follows and develops the traditions of the original heavy metal, such as Iron Maiden for example, so if you like this music, then you can confidently consider yourself a metal fan, and you don't have to like extreme metal subgenres at all.
This is their masterpiece. The harshness is necessary, the softness too, to tell the story. This is not only metal, it is more than that (I am not a metal fan).
Hi Stacey not sure your aware but you keep mentioning the guy on the keys (Tuomas) who is actually the heart and founder of NIGHTWISH. Most of these songs are his babies and this one is in particular you should research what this one is about. Great reaction as usual
I remember when I first heard this song on The Poet and the pendulum album, which came out after their first singer was kicked out of the band and replaced by Annette Olson. It still sends chills down my spine to this day.
Of all the amazing and wonderful Nightwish songs, this one has been my favorite ever since I first heard it. Even without knowing the backstory, this song is freaking amazing, but once you’ve learned the story behind it, it just ratchets up your appreciation even more!
Hello The song "The Poet and the Pendulum" is a 13 Minute journey through the mind and turmoil of Tuomas Holopainen after the year 2005. It was in that year the band parted with their long-time singer Tarja Turunen and had a personal falling out with her. The pain of the separation was big on both sides, and shown in this song. There is the responsibility that the band and Holopainen had to show towards the fans,. It was the End of an Era for them, and reason for Holopainen being lost as described in these lyrics. We can only of course to a certain degree suppose how much of these are truly Holopainen's feelings, wishes and pains - but we do know that the lyrics of Nightwish have been up to then very personal. Other songs on the album also digest this separation and falling out of the members with Turunen. This is one of the interpretations and i know lots of fans do not agree, they just need to read the open letter that was given to Tarja by the whole band at her last concert with Nightwish, where they fired her. And the main reason that Tuomas went through a depression was that specially the Tarja fans where furious and showed that in the media and everyone was blaming Tuomas. (the fans spit on his grave). He felt the whole world was against him. However personal and "real" these thoughts are, I feel like this song definitely takes us not only on a journey with Holopainen but also into ourselves. The music underlines the emotional gravity of the song extremely well. And I believe a lot of people can actually relate to a sense of guilt and being overwhelmed that all they desired for is the safety of home and innocence. While being personal, the song can still ring true to it's listener. That's a quality Nighwish possesses in many, many more songs. The emotional journey is one we can all share and very few bands know how to put that journey into song and especially into sound as well as Nightwish does. The band remains through all it's shores and Oceans, one of my main favourites and I hold special place for the band in my musical heart. I hope you have enjoyed reading my analysis and share some of my thoughts. If you do have any comments, please feel free to let me know. And remember the beauty of interpretation is that it is subjective; we can see all and feel different things in the same song and continue to love it endlessly. Lyric analysis by Annika Hausen Greetings from the Netherlands
Just finished your Comfortably Numb reaction and then this. This songs last section reminds me of Pink Floyd. Likely just the slowing of tempo on guitar and the emotional delivery. Two very different bands but both use music to pull on those emotional threads.
Tuomas mirrors perfectly the chaos of thoughts, depression, hopelessness, and taking of one's life, then the aftermath. He definitely studied the psychology of a person in writing this.
@StacyRPG: Actually, Marko and Emppu -- the two guitarists -- are checking in on Tuomas, given how personal the song is to him. He wrote it at such a depth of depression, that he "killed himself" figuratively in the song, hence the eulogy and obituary. To put no finer a point on this song, Tuomas is so masterful at composition that when you hear "I have but three minutes and counting," three minutes later in the performance, you see Tuomas' hand slice his own neck from front to back right before the pendulum swings past, everything goes dark, and you hear the heartbeat that stops.
When I heard the song for the first time all those years ago it broke me emotionally. This Song is special to me, as someone who have had some real los in his live which made me question if living is still worth it. Even till this day if I hear this song I still cry with the memories and feeling of los and despair this song brings with it. Especially the soft crying that Floor does at the end hits me really hard.
You said you like marco's voice, good drumming and emppu's guitar...well i have to recommend, Nightwish performing Pink Floyd song, High Hopes...i know you will love it. Greetings from finland ❤️🇫🇮
@StacyRPG.....I am glad you enjoyed the epic song! This song is extremely personal to the keyboard player, Tuomas Holopainen. From what I know, he had gone into a state of depression, as he fired the first lead singer, Tarja. They had been close friends for many years, and personally, I understand what it's like to be depressed, and he wrote the song to keep his sanity...by committing suicide in the song rather than the alternative. When I listen to this song, I have tears rolling down my cheek, as the song is so emotional! I am sure others will explain the whole circumstances that surrounded the firing of Tarja.
Toumas is the heart and soul of Nightwish, and when Tarja was let go it had such an impact on him that he contemplated suicide but wrote this masterpiece instead, thank god for Floor Jansen making everyone forget about Tarja!
I'm not a fan of metal, but Nightwish is symphonic melodic metal, and that is different. I love that band, and Floor of course. Glad that you've found this sub-genre.
This song is about the roller-coaster of feelings during a self-destructive depression Tuomas had after the backlash he experienced from media and his own guilt from firing Tarja in such an ugly way, that made him perform a su****e in a song as a cleansing rite, so he wouldn't have to think about doing it in real life It is a an extemely emotional ride of mixed emotions, from deep depression to mania to apathy and anything in between
Great reaction Stacy! I am enjoying watching your Nightwish journey! I also like the way Marko makes you blush. LOL! Out of curiosity, what was your sport?
I love that you're still experiencing Nightwish and enjoying them. I just hope you don't limit yourself to just them (like a lot of these channels do), because there is so much more Symphonic Metal has to offer: Epica: Sancta Terra (It features Floor, so it's an easy one to transition to) - th-cam.com/video/cx22Yuj2nzg/w-d-xo.html Epica: Kingdom of Hevean Part 3 (Live Omega Alive stream) - th-cam.com/video/BdBCVMD8TiM/w-d-xo.html Epica: Design Your Universe - th-cam.com/video/9nlPx-HEpCU/w-d-xo.html Epica: Rivers (feat Apocolyptica): th-cam.com/video/7imPLmvLyQA/w-d-xo.html Within Temptation: Sinead (they're the poppiest of the symphonic metal bands, so it's another good beginning point): th-cam.com/video/KuMB2pTsZP0/w-d-xo.html Within Temptation: Candles (Feat George Oosthoek) - th-cam.com/video/KuMB2pTsZP0/w-d-xo.html Within Temptation: Ice Queen - th-cam.com/video/KuMB2pTsZP0/w-d-xo.html Within Temptation - Somewhere (feat. Anneke from The Gathering) - th-cam.com/video/ScjEJRIZGvg/w-d-xo.html Within Temptation - Angels - th-cam.com/video/m5fMRcFjBHc/w-d-xo.html Blackbriar: Cicada - th-cam.com/video/cKYTrDM2mpw/w-d-xo.html Oceans of Slumber: A Return to the Earth Below - th-cam.com/video/eR5x8NNHy4o/w-d-xo.html Vintersea: Crack the Light - th-cam.com/video/1qWrrvPtZ4g/w-d-xo.html And when you're ready to see the band that started the whole Dutch/European female fronted metal movement. Their singer, Anneke Van Giersbeirgen, is credited as an inspiration for both Epica and Nightwish's singers: The Gathering: Strange Machines (Live in 1996) - th-cam.com/video/1HUMwinV2AQ/w-d-xo.html The Gathering: Travel (Live in 2016) - th-cam.com/video/Y46Lft_BZxo/w-d-xo.html
Stacey, you need to understand the meaning, the reasoning, the timing of this song in the Nightwish chronicles to really give it some justice. You will then understand why Marko and Emppu stand at the side of Tuomas. This is not just a masterpiece, this is a moment into the life of the the one, the only Metal Mozart. You'll also understand why they have said they will never play this song live again.
This is Your interaction with Nightwish. : Strong , extremly talented worldknown singer Floor Jansen , And Tuomas on keys are the songwriter. Kai Hahto , extreme , current drummer (replaced by withdrawn Jukka , (Loved) -Bassplayer / singer Marco (Loved!) Now replaced by Jukka Koskinen - Guitarist : Emppu Vuorinen ! All Highly talented musicions!! Huge proudctions , songs ! One of the greatest bands out there! .
..I am not sure why YOU would possibly want to have a conversation with me. ..But I would LOVE to... You are Young and Beautiful. I am not. .. I know something about music.. Since I have been a "musician" for the last decades. And I am keeping up with contemporary music..@UCB4FUsGpvnClKIc8lRviOnw
I agree what was said a few comments ago, there is a huge backstory that goes with this song. It needs a bit of research to fully understand this song.
One of the best Nigthwish songs and a masterful performance by Floor In the song indicated below you can see her at 23 years old and her group After Forever After Forever - Monolith Of Doubt Live At Kopspijkers (2002)
Beautiful, this is a very emotional song ..good job .. you need to read more about the meaning of this song .. the band leader Tuomas ( keyboard player) killed himself in this song because he couldn’t in real life .. deep stuff .. read about the meaning
❤️💯 Agreed!! @StaceyRPG - please take the time, and search and read the open letter from the band to Tarja and her response open letter back to them about what led to Tuomas mindset, wanting to take his life and wrote this song instead. Rewatch this version of this song, with either subtitles on, or find the version with subtitles to hear each word that was written in this song. Then pay attention to the band as they watch over him during the performance of this song. Your reaction was amazing, heartfelt, and beautiful. But if you take the moments to deep dive and learn and watch this on your own again, you’ll understand how amazing he is as Composer, and his heart, and how wonderful this band truly is. This song, in my opinion, is truly one of the great masterpieces you will hear and experience in your lifetime. Much love - Nightwish Army, Florida division ❤
A great reaction to just the song itself without knowing the backstory to it including cause and effect. One an always learn afterwards. I'm looking forward to when you react to their longest song Greatest Show on Earth. :)
I so cant wait til you do the song The Greatest Show on Earth. Your reactions are in my view one of the best out there. I also cant wait until you go down the Epica and Within Temptation rabbit holes as well. TY so much for bringing an reaction that is like an breathe of fresh air and has an innocence to the reaction. Hiya from London Ontario Canada.
After this.. EPIC,EPIC, EPIC... it's time for EPICA, EPICA, EPICA !!! 🤣 Begin with EPICA - Consign To Oblivion - Live at the Zenith (OFFICIAL VIDEO) Must See ! as good as Nightwish, little bit harder.... with Lead singer Simone.
I recommend to purchase the End Of An Era DVD/Bluray. There is a lot to discover. One amazing thing is the Live cover of Pink Floyeds "High Hopes" by Marco Hietala only singing, also you can hear the original Frontlady of Nightwish: Tarja Turunen on lead vocals. In fact it was the last Live Show with Tarja on vocals, so it's pretty emotional too.
Tuomas said this about Floor's singing of this song, "Floor puts all the anguish, and hurt, and deep dark feelings I was feeling when I wrote this, she has a way of putting my emotions back into the songs."
Honestly what I feel is often overlooked is Tuomas' songwriting capability. That man is a treasure to mankind and Floor Jansen is one of the most versatile vocalists out there.
Not overlooked by us Nightwish Army though!
I am not even a metal fan, but I acknowledge the skill and dedication of Tuomas and Floor. I just do not share their preferences in music. Pity for me.
This is why Tuomas was given the name "The Metal Mozart" by me, years ago.
after all, he does write almost all of the band's music, plus, his side project "Auri", with Troy and Tuomas's wife
Thomas used to look up from his key boards when Anette would not or could not sing this song live as it was recorded in the studio but I have never heard him say a bad word about the vocals that Floor has brought to Nightwish
Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards) wrote this epic when Nightwish did not have a lead singer between 2005 and 2007... This was after the original female singer Tarja Turunen was fired in '05 after she and her husband kept demanding more from the band (finances and other conveniences) to the point where the band's business was in jeopardy... The band wanted to tour N. America again in '05 for less money in smaller venues (Nightwish was bigger in Europe & S. America at the time), but Tarja refused... She started canceling shows and not rehearsing or traveling w/ the band... And finally, she announced that she would work on a solo album - Nightwish was not the priority for her anymore... Tuomas made the decision to let her go; it was difficult because they were friends for years... and the music business had driven them apart. That was why Tuomas referred to himself as a "wh+re for the cold world" - the business & income had become the priority over friendships within the band... Tarja and Tuomas no longer had the same goals as far as Nightwish was concerned.
Tarja was handed a letter after the last show for the 'Once' tour in '05 and it was posted online the next day to lay out the past year's drama that had led to the split between her and the band... Tuomas told Tarja bluntly that he couldn't write any more songs for her to sing w/ the threat of her departure from Nightwish hanging over him.
From Tarja's point, she wanted her demands fulfilled while touring and employed her husband as her personal manager to talk to Nightwish's managers... She was blindsided by her firing and was hurt that her husband was mentioned as part of the reason she was out of Nightwish.
In the aftermath, the backlash from fans was immediate w/ Tuomas getting the brunt of the criticism... Others blamed Tarja. But a majority of Nightwish fans clearly went in their favor. But Tuomas was left w/ the decision of whether to continue Nightwish... He wrote songs and poured his frustration and uncertainty of the future... the song "Bye bye Beautiful" was directed at Tarja.
After over a year of writing and re-writing the album 'Dark passion play'... Tuomas and Nightwish started auditioning new female singers... Anette Olzon was picked to sing the new songs, even though she was not operatically trained like Tarja... Tuomas wanted a different vocal delivery from their operatic past - Anette was more of a pop singer and it sounded different... 'Dark passion play' was finally released in 2007 and Nightwish had their biggest-selling record w/ a new vocalist.
in your vid at 9:43 the voiceover says: now i have only 3 minutes and counting. After exactly 3 minutes in the song Tuomas making that gesture where blade cutting off his head. Every time when i see this i have shivers! What an amazing songwriting by Tuomas!!! Moreover in this song you can see present drummer of Nightwish, Kai Hahto! This man is a machine behind the drumset, you should check his videos also! Speaking about Kai i have to mention of another band he played, Wintersun. Wintersun is a melodic death metal band, i think it will be good to start with their song TIME as the first one, this song is a killer masterpiece!
As others have explained, this is a deeply emotional song for the band and in particular Tuomas. The "thank you" from Emppu was for the support and love the crowd were showing knowing full well how painful the song is for the band to play. This is probably the last time it will ever be played lived.
Well.... MADRID 2016 I think that was the last time.
If you look closely at the crowds at their concerts, you will see ALL ages represented. Nightwish is Metal for Everyone...
the Floor's voice and your eyes..........paradise......
Check out "While your lips are still red" for more Marco singing.
My favorite song from them is "Song of myself"
100% yes to both of these!
I personally have no problem for people to react to the song without knowing the backstory, but this song defiantly hits different when you know it. Great reaction! :)
First singer is an English boy soprano...
BTW her tattoos are in honor of her mother Lily, behind her ears is a wolf and a dog,
her homely and her adventurous side.
This is a serious story about coming out of a deep personal depression. It's personal because it's Tuomas's story - but it could fit so many others in the situation.
All Nightwish songs are deep stories - their music are sometimes referred to as 'Metal music for adults' - and you will see why, when you starts analyzing the lyrics, and realize how masterfully the music are composed to enhance the stories.
And Floor's abilities to use all kinds of different techniques also to enhance the stories - and the same goes for all the others as well - everything is done for the purpose of enhancing the story. Look at the backgrounds also - everything is there for a purpose !.
Enjoy the ride into this incredible Universe of emotions wrapped in music 🎶
Such a passionate masterpiece. It's so good to know Tuomas is well past this point, and is happy with his wonderful wife, Johanna. He is simply the greatest composer of my lifetime, and his compositions beyond this song are masterpieces that will live longer than any of us! Enjoyed your reaction!
Many people mistakenly believe that this song is about breaking up with Tarja, Nightwish's first singer - it's not. It's about the consequences: The feelings that Tuomas felt when, after Tarja's dismissal, the music press and many fans turned away from the band, blamed Tuomas and the rest of the members for for the breakup and proclaimed the death of Nightwish.
I believe you are right. It is about social death through the negative opinions of fans and press (and even the prime minister?) after firing Tarja. Tuomas got the blame. "Crows feasting on the Poet" is people or/and press picking on someone. The unconditional love of Tuomas parents kept him mentally alive, helped him recover.
@randomphantom 1. No, it's not about the breakup. Tuomas has talked about this many times in various interviews.
He wrote another song about Tarja for that album - it's called "Bye Bye Beautiful". ;)
2. You should read the official biographical book "Once Upon a Nightwish", where those events are described in detail from the words of a variety of people:
- The whole "mess", as you called it, was caused by Marcelo, Tarja's husband and manager, who decided that Tarja's "irreplaceability" allowed him to impose his business decisions on the whole band, constantly threatening them that otherwise "Tarja would not perform."
- Tuomas was also not the only one who wanted to fire Tarja - Marko and Jukka were even more angry at Marcelo and Tarja, to the point that Marko even wanted to quit the band because of their behavior.
- And the only reason why they kept their decision a secret from Tarja until the last moment was that they were afraid that Tarja would sabotage the rest of the tour if she found out that she would inevitably be fired.
It is the same event, not two separate events
@@SokolRockWhile most of what you state seem accurate and collaborated by the band members and others in various interviews and books over the years, you might still want to take a lot of it with a grain of salt.
Not only was Marko an alcoholic at the time, he has had untreated adhd and rsd (which made him quite unstable at times), and he and the band has given a lot of evasive and conflicting comments about various things over the years. Also, Tuomas has clearly changed public narrative on many things over the years to be more amiable
He is obviously the type of person who would not confess his true feelings to anyone but himself while publically telling politically correct white lies to preserve group harmony. Which is also one reason I think he felt such a need to burst down the floodgates of his emotions with this song lest they consume him
tl;dr; I think only Tuomas will ever know what his songs really meant for himself, since I don't think he'd ever tell the actual truth to anyone but himself
I so wanted to watch this but I have a personal belief that I only watch this video reaction if they did the research of the backstory history in my opinion without the history of the song this is just any ordinary song sorry I know not everyone would agree but I do I've watched hundreds of reactions and what seems to be hundreds not watching I love this song so much and feel that I should be emotional along with the reactor both this song and The greatest Show on Earth should be done later on down the road when you have more of an appreciation for the greatness of this band also probably just me but we all have our opinions and I'm actually looking forward to your next reaction which I think since you've done my other three favorites I would love to hear you do devil and the deep dark ocean or 7 days to the wolves which would round out my top five thank you and merry Christmas
I think this is second only to "The Greatest Show on Earth" at Tampere, as far as Nightwish epic performances.
Some will be butt-hurt that you don't know the story behind the song, but it is such a masterpiece, it can be appreciated as a musical work of art, without knowing the background. The context raises the level even further, but it is not necessary to appreciate the songwriting and musicianship.
I so very much agree with the whole comment
Totally agree. As a german i also since 50 years mostly just listen to english vocals as just another instrument and not because of the lyrics. Good lyrics are nice to have, but in the end for me the music comes always first, else i would just listen to Bob Dylan maybe.
@@beldin2987 For me, I got Bob Dylan #1, Nightwish / Led Zeppelin, #2/#3.
But Floor is levels higher with Bob as a song writer
Got to one of the big ones pretty early. Knowing everything behind this, the backstory, makes it all the more powerful. It is an outpouring of Tuomas’s soul, the grief and torment he felt having had to part ways with Tarja. It is a masterpiece all around. His magnum opus in my opinion. Only performed 20 times with Floor, who takes it to another level, and not since 2016, and not likely ever again. Stay on your Nightwish journey. Get to know the band and the history, then come back to this one and experience it again, like new, with even more emotion. You’ll appreciate it even more. - Nightwish Army North Texas division.
I concur.
I just binge watched all of your videos you posted so far and .... congrats you just gained a new follower😊😊😊❤❤❤❤ loved all of them and especially the nightwish ones.... there's only one thing left to say from me.... welcome to the nightwish army, private Stacey 😊😊😊😊😊
Metal is moden classical music. Im classical trained piano teacher. Ive had vocal training and have sung in choirs. Harmonies and dynamics are crucial for me. Nightwish gives me everything in music. Never boring!
P.S. Dive into the backstory of this song and listen to it again. It will get even richer. There is nothing better than then the catharsis of the last part 'Mother And Father'. But as a whole song, listen to The Greatest Show On Earth live at Tampere(!) that in my opinion is their best. Watch it until the end titles are done
Concur
Totally concur because I'm a concurpa!
Absolutely will do :) we can even discuss it on stream sometime! It’s an absolute masterpiece!
@@StaceyRPGReacts yes, please: there's so much to discover about this band, its story and all of the artists, past and present.
On another topic: FYI, there's a bot using your picture and your channel's name in the comnent section...
I reported it for Spamming (could also be some sort of scam aimed to your viewers)
Hope this helps you...🤞
Greetings from Italy, Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!✨🎄✨
👋🇮🇹🖖
@@StaceyRPGReactsyes I agree... When you understand the song a bit better (pretty much impossible on a first listen, especially if you're non-initiated on the story) it just becomes even more epic. For your second listen, and after gaining a bit of knowledge, choose the video with lyrics... you'll have the shivers in no time. I already saw you acknowledging someone commenting on "3 minutes and counting", and others have left comments that'll also help understand it better.
I can't wait for you to check out The Greatest Show on Earth... a masterpiece on the evolution of the universe, Earth, nature and mankind (and music 😊).
Welcome on the Nightwish train, greatings from the Netherlands
I've been struggling with depression for the last few years, and this song always brings tears to my eyes. Some of the emotions and feelings Tuomas describes in the lyrics are the same ones I feel every day. And the emotion that Floor puts into it... Uff!
I know that feeling, you are not alone. We are family and we love you 🤗
Same here, it makes me wanna go on
Dang...this woman always makes me cry with her vocals..
If you want to dive in some more metal music with Nightwish as a starting point, i would like to recommend the following bands:
Epica (another symphonic metal band / they are from the Netherlands and their lead singer Simone Simmons is Floors best friend / sometimes Floor is featured in a few of their performances)
Sabaton (a swedish power metal band, who is singing songs about real stories which happend in war, mostly WW1 and 2 / the drummer is Floor's husband)
Arjen Lucassen (a dutch prog metal composer, who has created the projects Ayreon and Star One in which musicians of different groups come together and play his awesome compositions / Floor is seen very often in these projects)
Floor has of course some solo projects and was a guest in the dutch show "Beste Zangers" as well as the german show "Sing meinen Song". There she is singing her own version of the songs of the other artists and vice versa. Perhaps you want to check these out as well?!
They weren't having a conversation. Empuu was checking on tuomas making sure he was ok. This is a very emotionally taxing and personal song for tuomas. Even at the end Marco even stands by him in support.
Stacey, welcome to the Nightwish Army! Great to see you enjoying the magnificence that is Floor Jansen and Nightwish. Check out "Sleeping Sun", another live performance in Tampere. It's softer and Floor sounds amazing. Also, check out Beste Zangers from 2019 to see Floor singing different types of songs in different languages. She's always awesome!
Tuomas is such an amazing song writer. This song consists of 5 sections. In one section where you hear the boy say “now I only have 3 minutes and counting”. Thats where it goes into a new section and, that section is exactly 3 minutes before it goes into a new section.
This song is a very personal song for Tuomas. And it is so lovely to see Emppu and Marko checking with Tuomas how he is doing.
The combination of Floor Jansen and Nightwish is a match made in heaven - a once in a lifetime occurrence - 2 great albums recorded together, with a third currently in production for a 2024 release, and Floor is now heading into her 12th year as front lady for the music of The Metal Mozart
Great reaction, many thanks👍🏻
Tuomas borrowed heavily from "The Pit and The Pendulum" when he wrote this, which is a short story written in 1842 by Edgar Allan Poe. The story describes the psychological torment of a prisoner during the Spanish Inquisition who is publicly tortured and executed for opposing the Catholic Church. The prisoner is trapped in a dark, rat-infested room with slippery, sloped floors leading to a Pit with a swinging Pendulum above. The Pit signifies Death, the Pendulum represents Time and the sloped floors, rats and darkness symbolise Fear.
The protagonist of the story opposed the Catholic Church because he was angry with God for taking away his birth mother, adopted mother and wife with plague and disease.
I wonder whether Toumas's anguish was NOT due to the fact that he fired Tarja (the original singer) from the band, but because he felt he was being publicly tortured and executed by his so-called fans for doing so.
I also wonder whether the song was arranged into 5 parts to reflect the 5 stages of grieving: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.
An awesome musical adaptation of classical literature.
Wow that is a hard one to sink your teeth into right about Christmas. Tear jerker defo. Looking forward to more music reactions by you.
Boy Soprano at the start was Guy Elliott from St Mary's Choir School, Reigate, UK. "Sparkle my scenery...." was also sung by another boy soprano on the album but Floor said that she could do it and Tuomas agreed! This opus was one of a trilogy about the tempestuous history of the band in 2004/5. The other two are "Bye, Bye Beautiful" and "Master, Passion, Greed" - the latter has never been performed live. So glad Tuomas took his way out in song rather than reality! WE need his music! and it's his birthday and mine! Merry Christmas!
Thanks for another great reaction! A lot of people will insist that one do some research before listening to this piece. There are plusses and minuses to that approach, but, on the whole, I prefer that people experience this piece the same way most of us did; as a surprise. You were clearly focused on the music instead of the lyrics and that's great! The music speaks for itself and you felt the message. As you listen to this more on your own, you will learn the lyrics and discover how somber they are. That's what we all did.
Keyboardist Tuomas is the brains behind Nightwish's songs
This song hits hard on every Nightwish fan including myself, you should really learn the story behind this one.
Love you reactions, keep it up!
Those damn Onion Ninja again….Every bloody time I listen to this they get me….When she sings "Tuck me in beneath the blue" I am normally done…this is a masterpiece. And I have heard this one like 683 times already….
Awesome piece of Music.
Love it.
Thanks for the time !
All Hail Queen Floor !
If you like to hear Floor growling, it´s worth to hear Nightwish - Yours Is An Empty Hope.Vehicle Of spirit Live at Wembley (2015)
You’re killing it Stacey👍🤘
The brilliance, nuance and mastery of Tuomas’ songwriting lyrics and composition never ceases to amaze me. 3 minutes exactly from where he says “I have 3 minutes and counting “ is when he simulates with his hand the pendulum cutting his throat.This is just an amazing piece and experience in music art!🤘🤘
Hi Stacey! Love your videos and Nightwish is my favourite band so it's always awesome to see how others react to their amazing music! I think you're ready for the big one by Nightwish... the 20 minute spectacle that is "The Greatest Show on Earth". I would love to see your reaction to that as it's a song about the big bang and the creation of life on Earth and it's amazing.
Nightwish, although existed from 1996, is showing the direction to the future of Music, the saviour of the Music from it's decaying money only matters status and showing how one can advance from only songs performing band into the larger than life spectacles with an ingenuity of a composer/Lyricist and the perfectionist performance on the band members creating together a wholeness of a another dimension or world. If I would be a Musician, I'd do everything to achieve the same "second level" performance and skills!
To get your journey easier
Nightwish with lyrics may be helpful
Or get them pull up before
And every time it's journey through emotions
🔥❤🤘❤🔥
More to explore
Thanks for reaction 🙏
Floor just does what she does best in every one of her songs - shows her raw heart, emotions and feelings, and because we, fans, know what this song is about, it hits so much deeper to realise what Floor must have felt there, on stage.. I still can't watch this ong without tears in my eyes...
What I find amazing is Tuomas is just brilliant when you hear the spoken words "Now I only have three minutes and counting" if you start a timer at that point it's exactly 3 minutes to where Tuomas chops his head off. now that's easy to do in the studio but this is live it's amazing the timing of this song is really amazing.
The Poet and the Pendulum was written after firing Tarja the original singer. She was the face of Nightwish at the time, and Tuomas (Keyboards) wrote this and considered her a muse to many of the songs he had written at that point. They had also grown up in the same city and knew each other since early childhood. All the band members decided together to fire her for acting too much of a diva And her husband & Manager was stepping way outta bounds concerning the band business He always wanted more money , only big paying show but the band did it for the love of music and there fans . According to all the band members, Tarja was missing lots of rehearsals and would not even travel with the band anymore. Tuomas was painted as the devil by many fans, and went through a deep depression. He even considered ending the band . He wrote The Poet and the Pendulum at that time, and actually kills himself in the song. He said he killed himself in the song at the 10:00 time stamp , as to kill the pain he was going through . To this day every time he plays it, it takes him back to those feelings, and shows on his face. In the last part, Mother and Father, words are said to him that his real mother said to him at that time of his deep depression. One part that touches me at the end when the guitarist Emppu and bassist Marko, the only other two involved with firing Tarja (that were still active with the band at the time of this show )were standing with Tuomas at the end in solidarity and love., NOTE : the 1st two words are (The End) and the last two words are (The Beginning) representing the end of the 1st era of Nightwish and the beginning of the next era
I noticed you have yet to do any Epica. This should be another must-listen-to band if you want to continue on your symphonic metal journey. I suggest you start with the live version of Sancta Terra (feat Floor Jansen).
Epica coming soon :) I promise!
Epica is much heavier but still same genre and same epic 😉 I give to you 3 other suggestions from their live performances: Unleashed (Afas), Kingdom of heaven (Retrospect) and Consign to oblivion (Zenith). Enjoy your symphonic metal journey 😊
This song is perhaps one of the most personal. Written to reflect the depression Tuomas felt when attacked by the public for firing Tarja in such a public manner. What he did, while not prudent, had a significant backlash that he didn't expect. Many of his friends betrayed him publicly. A Finnish government official publicly criticized him. When Anette was singing this at a concert, she found out she lost a custody suit. This song rattled her so much that she broke and ran off stage in tears. Floor puts such emotion in it that you feel it every time to your core.
Idk why. You loving nightwish, makes me happy.
Love your reaction Lady ❤.... you're pure and Authentic.... thank you for being here 🦋🦁💜🕊💥🪷🐬🙏
I love how you talk about your awakening to metal music. I was the same as you before and when I finally got into the genre (thanks to reactors like yourself) I realized just as you did the incredible skill, talent and pure hard work they put into their music. I guess we don’t know what we don’t know right? I’m grateful that I and many people like you are now awake :)
Floor was not mommy yet during this performance (2015)! Freya was born in March 2017😌
Love this! Ordered their blue ray ❤
Thank you Stacey, it's always a pleasure to see how different a first reaction is without knowing the background of the song. It always strucks me again the moment that the 3 minutes counting starts in the song before Tuomas commits suicide in the song. Luckily only in the song... I'm catching up on some of your reaction video's as you may have noticed. 🙂Really enjoy them! To give you some other direction: do you know songs from Genesis? For example "tell me why?"from 1992
Hello stacey and Merry christmas to you and your family and your two babies cats 🎆 another albums it's almost a 30 minutes song (The Greatest show on earth )but its for another time .the Poet and the Pendulum is about the depression Tuomas (the keyboard player and composer of Nightwish °) suffered after they fired their first singer Tarja ( its controversial because they gave her a letter after their last concert together in 2005 but some rumors said she never came to rehearsal and stuffs and started to behave like a diva) the second singer is Anette Olzon but not a lot of live with her and in 2012 she left or was fired and Floor came in the band and had 48 hours to learn the setlist and of course she did 🙂
Thank you for a thoughtful reaction.
You can't feel the same when you have the whole backstory of this song. It's more and more difficult for me to listen to it without tears
The singer at the start is a boy treble from an English choir not Floor. Boy treble voices are used in choirs (especially Church choirs) for the purity of tone.
This is an absolutely beautiful composition from Tuomas, full of emotional elements! Floor makes such a good job of singing this as does Marco. It’s just a masterpiece!
Very nice reaction to this epic song 🌹
Edit: you really should listen to Floor on Yours is an empty hope - Live at Wembley!
Floor offered to sing the opening (as she surely could have), but Tuomas wanted to use the original recording.
@@TheRealRedAce and…….. I was just making a statement of the fact!
...she is really a GREAT and BIG singer 😜😉
Tuomas is truly a musical genius. To compose, arrange, write the lyrics, and conceive the stage presentation, lighting etc is just remarkable. Plug into that, absolutely top level musicianship and you have magic...... Oh, and then there is the Goddess that is Floor Jansen..... Vocal beast!!! ...... Btw it is a boy singing in the intro
It's really too bad that out of all of those requests, not one person told you about the story that you were about to be swept up in.
The place was Helsinki, Finland. The time was right after the band had fired their first singer, Tarja. She was Tuomas' closest friend, they went through school together, he almost certainly loved her. It was probably the hardest thing that he ever had to do.
Afterwards the fans turned against Tuomas, leveling their hate on him for firing her, even though it was a joint decision by the whole band. It was so bad that the Prime Minister of Finland had to call for order. Tuomas fell into despair, nearly ending his own life. Thankfully he decided to write this song instead of walking into the ocean, otherwise we would have lost almost two decades worth of music.
This is the second song of what is called the holy trinity of Nightwish: Ghost Love Score, Poet and the Pendulum, and The Greatest Show on Earth. TGSoE is a 22 minute long song about the formation of our planet, the evolution of life, and the rise (and fall) of mankind. Here's a link:
th-cam.com/video/45brzDJKZ3o/w-d-xo.html
Not Floor in the beginning but a child
Great reaction! By exploring Nightwish you have opened an entire world! There are so many great songs. I would love to se you reaction to: "The greatest show on earth" Wembley,- and enjoy who is entering the stage late in the song to tell this epic story of the entire history of this planet, and the small part belonging to humans. Also the same song performed at Tampere is fantastic.
So my apologies for whoever encouraged you to dive into this complex masterpiece without the backstory. Most fans advise people to wait until they know the band and it's history well. This is Tuomas's (keyboardist and main composer) most personal and emotional song. It is also very personal and emotional for most fans. In 2005 the band had reached a breaking point with their first lead singer, Tarja. Things between her, her husband/manager and the band had been deteriorating for some time and had reached the point where they could no longer work together. The band decided to fire her, which they did via an open letter, right after the End of an Era concert. Tarja responded with her own open letter explaining her side of things. Both letters are on the internet and worth reading to get a feel for their emotions at the time. The backlash against the band, but mostly against Tuomas, was massive and very nasty. Tuomas felt betrayed by Nightwish's fans and sank into a deep depression. He wrote this song as way of expressing and exploring all of the emotions of his depression and grief. Tuomas has said that he never got to the place of killing himself in real life but that he killed him self in this song as a form of carthsis and recoverry . Tuomas often uses the poet in his lyrics to reference himself and yes, he does have a great affinity for the ocean. He sees it as a place of refuge.
It would take too much space to explain everything going on in this song. Best analysis of this song I have ever read is by the artist and musician Annika Hausen. It is a Master's Thesis level analysis that is very insightful. I won't provide a link (YT algorithms delete my comment every time I do) but a google search on her name and Poet and the Pendulum will get you there. For me this is Nightwish's greatest song. Their Magnum Opus. Tuomas pouring out his heart and anguish in the music and lyrics. Floor perfectly channeling the anger and pain. The final section's lyrics are the actual words Tuomas's mother spoke to him during the depth's of his depression. Floor perfectly captures the anguish of a mother who has lost her child. This song is no longer performed live. Tuomas has said they (him, Empuu, and at the time Marko) are not those people anymore and they have moved on. Performing it just takes Tuomas back to that difficult place emotionally. He often would have the sound engineers turn off the vocal feed in his in ears because it would make him too emotional. Read the open letters. Read Annika's analysis and listen once again and I know you will get the full emotional impact and the greatness of this song! If you do I would love to hear how your reaction to the song changed.
Does Tuomas place a sticker on the cds telling them to do research? What happened to self-discovery and not given some list to follow? Like people need a secret decoder ring to get it. It's silly.
@@SpartanGuy83very silly
I came across the song rather early in my journey and did not know the backstory, and was so impressed that I found the lyrics after the I had listened the song 3-4 times in a row. And it took me about a week to recover from astonishment.
@@SpartanGuy83 If people choose to go in blind more power to them. Having seen dozens and dozens of reactions to this song my observation is that reactors feel this song and "get it" if they know the backstory and "get it" even more if they have some experience and personnel investment in the band. I see nothing wrong in wanting everyone to have that experience and they can't if we don't advise them ahead of time to learn the backstory. If they knowingly choose not to do the research to preserve a blind reaction then I respect that choice. But if they didn't know that understanding the backstory has a big impact on how you react to the song then I feel, as a fan, that I have let them down.
@@rnowak85 you're missing the whole point of discovery. Same with GSOE. Let people interpret things individually. Music is about discovery and not others people's experience. Tuomas alluded to this in a print interview when he was asked about reaction vids.
Awwww you call Floor mommie, that is so cute. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
20:26 As for metal in general, this genre was originally about epicness, catchy melodic guitar parts and strong voices. Over time, more aggressive metal bands began to appear playing faster and heavier, their vocalists growled and screamed and then it was called "extreme metal". For some reason, extreme metal eventually became the "standard" of metal music in the US and ordinary people began to believe that all metal music is so heavy and intimidating, although this is not the case.
So Nightwish is one of the bands that follows and develops the traditions of the original heavy metal, such as Iron Maiden for example, so if you like this music, then you can confidently consider yourself a metal fan, and you don't have to like extreme metal subgenres at all.
This is their masterpiece. The harshness is necessary, the softness too, to tell the story. This is not only metal, it is more than that (I am not a metal fan).
"The keybordist" tuomas is the guy who creates all this stuff. Im so thankful for that. Respect🤩🫡
Great reaction, thanks and greetings from Colombia
Nice! Nightwish will never disappoint-Tuomas is a genius 👍
Good music is Good music.
It can not be disputed.
These guys are such talented professionals; they care about the music and the fans.
Hi Stacey not sure your aware but you keep mentioning the guy on the keys (Tuomas) who is actually the heart and founder of NIGHTWISH. Most of these songs are his babies and this one is in particular you should research what this one is about. Great reaction as usual
I remember when I first heard this song on The Poet and the pendulum album, which came out after their first singer was kicked out of the band and replaced by Annette Olson. It still sends chills down my spine to this day.
Watch out !
Your smile can melt the sun !
👍👍👍💕🇸🇪😎🎅🏼
Of all the amazing and wonderful Nightwish songs, this one has been my favorite ever since I first heard it.
Even without knowing the backstory, this song is freaking amazing, but once you’ve learned the story behind it, it just ratchets up your appreciation even more!
Hello
The song "The Poet and the Pendulum" is a 13 Minute journey through the mind and turmoil of Tuomas Holopainen after the year 2005. It was in that year the band parted with their long-time singer Tarja Turunen and had a personal falling out with her. The pain of the separation was big on both sides, and shown in this song. There is the responsibility that the band and Holopainen had to show towards the fans,. It was the End of an Era for them, and reason for Holopainen being lost as described in these lyrics. We can only of course to a certain degree suppose how much of these are truly Holopainen's feelings, wishes and pains - but we do know that the lyrics of Nightwish have been up to then very personal. Other songs on the album also digest this separation and falling out of the members with Turunen.
This is one of the interpretations and i know lots of fans do not agree, they just need to read the open letter that was given to Tarja by the whole band at her last concert with Nightwish, where they fired her. And the main reason that Tuomas went through a depression was that specially the Tarja fans where furious and showed that in the media and everyone was blaming Tuomas. (the fans spit on his grave). He felt the whole world was against him.
However personal and "real" these thoughts are, I feel like this song definitely takes us not only on a journey with Holopainen but also into ourselves. The music underlines the emotional gravity of the song extremely well. And I believe a lot of people can actually relate to a sense of guilt and being overwhelmed that all they desired for is the safety of home and innocence. While being personal, the song can still ring true to it's listener. That's a quality Nighwish possesses in many, many more songs. The emotional journey is one we can all share and very few bands know how to put that journey into song and especially into sound as well as Nightwish does.
The band remains through all it's shores and Oceans, one of my main favourites and I hold special place for the band in my musical heart. I hope you have enjoyed reading my analysis and share some of my thoughts. If you do have any comments, please feel free to let me know. And remember the beauty of interpretation is that it is subjective; we can see all and feel different things in the same song and continue to love it endlessly.
Lyric analysis by Annika Hausen
Greetings from the Netherlands
And now you really must listen to Epica ft Floor sancta terra. You need to meet Simone a close friend of Floor .
Just finished your Comfortably Numb reaction and then this. This songs last section reminds me of Pink Floyd. Likely just the slowing of tempo on guitar and the emotional delivery. Two very different bands but both use music to pull on those emotional threads.
Tuomas mirrors perfectly the chaos of thoughts, depression, hopelessness, and taking of one's life, then the aftermath. He definitely studied the psychology of a person in writing this.
@StacyRPG: Actually, Marko and Emppu -- the two guitarists -- are checking in on Tuomas, given how personal the song is to him. He wrote it at such a depth of depression, that he "killed himself" figuratively in the song, hence the eulogy and obituary.
To put no finer a point on this song, Tuomas is so masterful at composition that when you hear "I have but three minutes and counting," three minutes later in the performance, you see Tuomas' hand slice his own neck from front to back right before the pendulum swings past, everything goes dark, and you hear the heartbeat that stops.
When I heard the song for the first time all those years ago it broke me emotionally.
This Song is special to me, as someone who have had some real los in his live which made me question if living is still worth it.
Even till this day if I hear this song I still cry with the memories and feeling of los and despair this song brings with it.
Especially the soft crying that Floor does at the end hits me really hard.
You said you like marco's voice, good drumming and emppu's guitar...well i have to recommend, Nightwish performing Pink Floyd song, High Hopes...i know you will love it. Greetings from finland ❤️🇫🇮
@StacyRPG.....I am glad you enjoyed the epic song! This song is extremely personal to the keyboard player, Tuomas Holopainen. From what I know, he had gone into a state of depression, as he fired the first lead singer, Tarja. They had been close friends for many years, and personally, I understand what it's like to be depressed, and he wrote the song to keep his sanity...by committing suicide in the song rather than the alternative.
When I listen to this song, I have tears rolling down my cheek, as the song is so emotional! I am sure others will explain the whole circumstances that surrounded the firing of Tarja.
Toumas is the heart and soul of Nightwish, and when Tarja was let go it had such an impact on him that he contemplated suicide but wrote this masterpiece instead, thank god for Floor Jansen making everyone forget about Tarja!
I'm not a fan of metal, but Nightwish is symphonic melodic metal, and that is different. I love that band, and Floor of course. Glad that you've found this sub-genre.
This song is about the roller-coaster of feelings during a self-destructive depression Tuomas had after the backlash he experienced from media and his own guilt from firing Tarja in such an ugly way, that made him perform a su****e in a song as a cleansing rite, so he wouldn't have to think about doing it in real life
It is a an extemely emotional ride of mixed emotions, from deep depression to mania to apathy and anything in between
Great reaction Stacy! I am enjoying watching your Nightwish journey! I also like the way Marko makes you blush. LOL! Out of curiosity, what was your sport?
Epic song love your reaction Stacey
Welcome to Nightwish Magic. Good Job
This and songs like "7 Days to the Wolves" are epic NW masterpieces.
Great reaction , Please react Nightwish ,, Greatest show on earth ,, live Tampere . (That"s a 20 min. masterpiece)
Happy Christmas to you and your family!
I love that you're still experiencing Nightwish and enjoying them. I just hope you don't limit yourself to just them (like a lot of these channels do), because there is so much more Symphonic Metal has to offer:
Epica: Sancta Terra (It features Floor, so it's an easy one to transition to) - th-cam.com/video/cx22Yuj2nzg/w-d-xo.html
Epica: Kingdom of Hevean Part 3 (Live Omega Alive stream) - th-cam.com/video/BdBCVMD8TiM/w-d-xo.html
Epica: Design Your Universe - th-cam.com/video/9nlPx-HEpCU/w-d-xo.html
Epica: Rivers (feat Apocolyptica): th-cam.com/video/7imPLmvLyQA/w-d-xo.html
Within Temptation: Sinead (they're the poppiest of the symphonic metal bands, so it's another good beginning point): th-cam.com/video/KuMB2pTsZP0/w-d-xo.html
Within Temptation: Candles (Feat George Oosthoek) - th-cam.com/video/KuMB2pTsZP0/w-d-xo.html
Within Temptation: Ice Queen - th-cam.com/video/KuMB2pTsZP0/w-d-xo.html
Within Temptation - Somewhere (feat. Anneke from The Gathering) - th-cam.com/video/ScjEJRIZGvg/w-d-xo.html
Within Temptation - Angels - th-cam.com/video/m5fMRcFjBHc/w-d-xo.html
Blackbriar: Cicada - th-cam.com/video/cKYTrDM2mpw/w-d-xo.html
Oceans of Slumber: A Return to the Earth Below - th-cam.com/video/eR5x8NNHy4o/w-d-xo.html
Vintersea: Crack the Light - th-cam.com/video/1qWrrvPtZ4g/w-d-xo.html
And when you're ready to see the band that started the whole Dutch/European female fronted metal movement. Their singer, Anneke Van Giersbeirgen, is credited as an inspiration for both Epica and Nightwish's singers:
The Gathering: Strange Machines (Live in 1996) - th-cam.com/video/1HUMwinV2AQ/w-d-xo.html
The Gathering: Travel (Live in 2016) - th-cam.com/video/Y46Lft_BZxo/w-d-xo.html
Stacey, you need to understand the meaning, the reasoning, the timing of this song in the Nightwish chronicles to really give it some justice. You will then understand why Marko and Emppu stand at the side of Tuomas. This is not just a masterpiece, this is a moment into the life of the the one, the only Metal Mozart. You'll also understand why they have said they will never play this song live again.
This is Your interaction with Nightwish. : Strong ,
extremly talented worldknown singer Floor Jansen , And Tuomas on keys are the songwriter.
Kai Hahto , extreme , current drummer (replaced by withdrawn Jukka , (Loved) -Bassplayer / singer Marco (Loved!) Now replaced by Jukka Koskinen - Guitarist : Emppu Vuorinen ! All Highly talented musicions!! Huge proudctions , songs ! One of the greatest bands out there! .
..I am not sure why YOU would possibly want to have a conversation with me. ..But I would LOVE to... You are Young and Beautiful. I am not. .. I know something about music.. Since I have been a "musician" for the last decades. And I am keeping up with contemporary music..@UCB4FUsGpvnClKIc8lRviOnw
I agree what was said a few comments ago, there is a huge backstory that goes with this song. It needs a bit of research to fully understand this song.
One of the best Nigthwish songs and a masterful performance by Floor
In the song indicated below you can see her at 23 years old and her group After Forever
After Forever - Monolith Of Doubt Live At Kopspijkers (2002)
When you do the greatest show on earth, you need to see the words. 🤘😁👍
Beautiful, this is a very emotional song ..good job .. you need to read more about the meaning of this song .. the band leader Tuomas ( keyboard player) killed himself in this song because he couldn’t in real life .. deep stuff .. read about the meaning
❤️💯 Agreed!! @StaceyRPG - please take the time, and search and read the open letter from the band to Tarja and her response open letter back to them about what led to Tuomas mindset, wanting to take his life and wrote this song instead. Rewatch this version of this song, with either subtitles on, or find the version with subtitles to hear each word that was written in this song. Then pay attention to the band as they watch over him during the performance of this song.
Your reaction was amazing, heartfelt, and beautiful. But if you take the moments to deep dive and learn and watch this on your own again, you’ll understand how amazing he is as Composer, and his heart, and how wonderful this band truly is.
This song, in my opinion, is truly one of the great masterpieces you will hear and experience in your lifetime.
Much love - Nightwish Army, Florida division ❤
Not a criticism at all … what you do brightens my day … you will get a lot more from this song if you know the back story
you need to hear this: Epica - Sancta Terra (feat Floor Jansen)
A great reaction to just the song itself without knowing the backstory to it including cause and effect. One an always learn afterwards. I'm looking forward to when you react to their longest song Greatest Show on Earth. :)
Beautiful song, beautiful transitions, great Nightwish.
I so cant wait til you do the song The Greatest Show on Earth. Your reactions are in my view one of the best out there. I also cant wait until you go down the Epica and Within Temptation rabbit holes as well. TY so much for bringing an reaction that is like an breathe of fresh air and has an innocence to the reaction. Hiya from London Ontario Canada.
After this.. EPIC,EPIC, EPIC... it's time for EPICA, EPICA, EPICA !!! 🤣 Begin with EPICA - Consign To Oblivion - Live at the Zenith (OFFICIAL VIDEO) Must See ! as good as Nightwish, little bit harder.... with Lead singer Simone.
This is Floor at her best, so many emotions. Tuomas had to have her voice turned off his earphones.
I recommend to purchase the End Of An Era DVD/Bluray. There is a lot to discover.
One amazing thing is the Live cover of Pink Floyeds "High Hopes" by Marco Hietala
only singing, also you can hear the original Frontlady of Nightwish: Tarja Turunen
on lead vocals. In fact it was the last Live Show with Tarja on vocals,
so it's pretty emotional too.
this gets so much epic when you understand the context of the song and the lyrics