PAN has reminded me of when I was a small child, half a century ago: then I left alone on foot, over the fields, to reach the horizon by hand, no more, no less :) It's written with the same creativity and innocence as "Storytime", "I Want My Tears Back" and "Dark Chest Of Wonders". Thank you for another brilliant analysis. Stay safe.
If I were a voice major, this song would be extremely intimidating. Can you imagine practicing the chromatic pentatonic scales, the flat 2nds, the dissonant jumps without the music to find your place?
For this one, one has to have read quite a bit or then help with the lyrics that are full of book titles and references: There is at least: Keystone Earth: Stephen King and Dark Tower series There and Back: Tolkien Something wicked....:Macbeth winds will be named: name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss To fallen stars: stardust by Neil Gaiman. Tales of dust: the book of dust/his dark materials by philip pullman The sea lady: H G Wells Snow, Glass, Apples: Neil Gaiman The Great Escape: Brickhill (non-fiction, movie by the same name) + many other possible meanings/references Stories that built cathedrals: e.g. Ken Follet: The World Without an End + 2 independent sequels And there is actually a compilation book title Words That Shelter... And then: Tir Na Nog: Celtic Otherworld Labyrinth - Pan's Labyrint? Movie by the same name by Guillermo del Toro?
Thats pretty cool, when listeining to Pan lots of times i have sometimes thought that i recognise some phrases, i now know from where. Ive read several of these books u refer to. Thank you for that!
This song is one of heavy songs on this album with certain elements of how it is put together compositionally and vocally that was not present on previous albums quite to this extent. I don´t remember Tuomas putting drum blast beats (the part from 9:57 - lower in the mix) into any of his previous compositions, but I am prepared to be corrected on this.
Once again it was really nice to follow your reaction and points what you found. This song, as whole album must is so good. This album must be my all time favorite now, cos that musicianship, songwriting, lyrics..., everything, including these 10 music videos. Just feel so good!
The idea I get from this song is that the world is a giant stage where we all play our role, like pawns in a chess game or actors in a play. We all have our script written the moment we are born, but it's up to each one of us to use the possibility of writing our own story ("to lose yourself, to find who you are") and "reach the stars" (do something meaningful). We are the only species who can reimagine and reset the world through fantasy and imagination. We all have a white canvas in front of us, let's try to do something good with it.
The tone of the guitar on this album is sooo good. Fat, full and heavy. I’m so impressed with Emppu as a lead guitarist. Normally they wanna show off and lead the band.
Thank you again for these videos, Kelly! I think this was one of your best ones. I really like how you analyze the lyrics. Reading them even before hearing the song worked really well here.
@@davidhughes8204 i know many miss jukka but i think there was an upgrade with kai. i think for those that miss the wishmaster days, tuomas is now free to write what he wants because this iteration can play anything he throws at them.
The themes I was reminded about by this song were things like quantum-randomness (does true randomness really exist on quantum&larger scales?) and simulations. The song touches on many "otherworldly" things, but lines like "we're the writers of another way to be", "reset the world, imagine home" can be interpreted in very real ways, too. "An ape in awe before a door" could be *any* technological (or philosophical, knowledge based) advancement, really. Any person from the 19th century looking at our every day lifes would be an "ape" in front of that door of possibilities and most definetely in awe. Musically, the chromatic scales in this song sound really fantastical - it's what was used in Imaginaerum as well.
If I was quantum sized I'm sure I would still be random ...but would never be aware of the order which created my randomness...such is the way of life ...Spinning in Random order...Controlled chaos ....Endless searching for that which is unseen but believing that it must be there because we can dream it..
It’s such a good song. That part where they sing ...”beautiful tragedy wonderful fantasy..” automatically takes me to an old Disney animated movie ...can’t remember it but in that movie some old witch (or some other female character ) sings “bippity boppity ...etc..” My memory is hazy but that part of the song just took me there right off the bat. I wonder if they did that on purpose to reference that song in that movie. The fantastical elements of the song would fit that reference for sure. It’s brilliant if Thomas did that ...or it can just be coincidence.
The mood at the beginning of the song was forcibly reminiscent of Fantasy Movies ... but it changed in tone as the song progressed. Maybe a domino effect, a chaos theory, a butterfly effect ... a balance between man and nature.It is Tuomas' skill that he gives the listener the power to interpret the song. I listened to this several times in a row and focused on the words and metaphor I found several of here.
Great to be with you again my friend. I think the flying dominoes and chess pieces represent chaos. Both of these things have their places and arrangements. The dice are chance like life. An ape before a door. Only way in is to enter and leave reality & safety behind? Maybe? What do you think? Then, something wicked their way came Showed a way to the Great Escape Evoke the worlds, sparked the brain An ape in awe before a door Is this the door to our imagination where all is possible?
That's my interpretation as well. While the actual creative process might be very structured, I feel that the initial spark, that first moment of inspiration (Pan's influence, if you will) that kicked it all off can often appear as quite "random".
That sentence evokes the scene in Space Odyssey 2001 where the ape-men are standing in front of the obelisk which is about to change them truly from apes to men.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to do a lyric analysis, it adds such an important dimension to what you do, and Nightwish is not a band to take lightly, because of so many details which can go amiss.
To me Pan is about imagination, childhood wonder and maybe the reality of the adult life that try to stomp over it. There are great references to Fairy Tales (the books title that is on the table) playing cards, movie strips, dices etc. In the lyrics references too about fairytales, first that comes to my mind SnowWhite, Cinderella and Little Mermaid maybe. References to books Labyrinth, Keystone Earth and There and Back etc. Some old Tarot cards have ravens on them, raven is in celtic mythology the messenger between this life and Tir Na Noog. This song was for me the most Nightwishy and instant fav, it was like home, you know, familiar and easy to listen. Still in my top3, just loving it.
The only thing I can really think of as a reference for the game pieces would be Alice in Wonderland and the whole deal between the red and white queens.
Some people just get it right away, but it's taken me a few listens to latch onto this album. It is complex and the lyrics play a bigger role than ever in their compositions. You may remember me commenting that I have never really paid attention to lyrics and usually just enjoy the musical and vocal performances. I suppose that's one reason why I was a little underwhelmed by the album on first listen. The other reason is that I didn't give it 100% of my attention...I had it playing in the background while doing other stuff and it was also playing through my crappy speakers. The next time I heard it was with headphones and with volume cranked so I had no choice but to pay attention. It was much better that way. Anyways, the more I listen, the more I hear and the more I like. Cheers!
Tuomas actually pointed out in several recent interviews that the song title does explicitly NOT refer to the Greek god of the same name (the guy with the flute;), but to the word (actually it's a prefix) "pan...", also from the Greek language, meaning "all..." or "of everything". Just like in pan-demic...
To me this song, apart from absoultely densely packed set of references, is mostly about a person living their life with a random set of cards, unrehearsed and doing the best they can in their short time on earth, while still trying to figure out which "rule book" to follow, sometimes even more than one, hence the many different games in the visuals. Another thing in the visuals - this album is very space themed and all those cards by the end behave a lot like asteroids in the asteroid belt, coincidentally (or more likely not), if you follove the planet locations: 1 Mercury 2 Venus 3 Earth 4 Mars 5 the Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter And Pan is the 5th song on the album And we as humans also behave like those asteroids a lot of the time, with many random collisions (encounters)
And the part : reset the world - imagine home.... As someone who has moved many times, it's about the human ability to reinvent themselves when things no longer work the way they used to. Doesn't even need to be a physical move, just the state of mind, adapt to changes
@@vedranb87 i think since it oes talk imagination that point with the drumming where we see chess pieces replace other almost invisible ones like when in chess a pawn can go and get promoted is how basicaly that reinventing of reality is supposed to change ur surroundings -key line here..."reset the world, imagine home" imagination working as a previsualisation of what he wishes to be reality and of course then can work to make it reality.
@@galadballcrusher8182 I never said anything about the imagination interpretation being wrong, I mean, Tuomas said it himself. I just added my own interpretation of what it means to me and by doing so, I'm actually proving him right. Imagination is infinite.
They have another song named The Crow, The Owl, and the Dove , as well, and both Song of Myself and The Escapist mention the nightingale, which is also an old tale. could be a little of that as well.
This seems to harken back to the real, uncontrived life, as portrayed by the whirlwind that carries off the game pieces... the big ones smash the small, but it is all just a game, an escape for the mind, when it might (re)turn to nature - the primeval call of Pan. I think there is also a bit against organized religion, but not too wild, and supported by the call to rediscover the initial "world of youth" - that is before any organized faith or dogma. Btw, the birds on the backs of cards seem to me to be ravens - the wise birds, and for one, sentinels of the Norse high god Odin (also called the Eyes of Odin, himself one-eyed). Layers of meanings.
my breakdown: the song refers to pan only in that its speaking of returning to a more naturistic lifestyle ( also tir na nog ) and the game peices and rest of the song lyrics seem to me to be about how society is just a game we are playing and that real things are stomping out the illusions of the past? maybe? that was what i got from it.
To be fair "Pan" refers to the "Pan-European renaissance". The meaning of the game pieces is quite simply the freedom of the mind. The pieces who crushes the others are those who stepped out of the old religious mindset and was pioneers in a era when things that once used to be sins became allowed. But since the lyrics are written in a way so you could either think about imagination from a individual perspective or as a description of the renaissance era anything goes.
@@magnuscarlsson9969 I noticed that all the chess pieces crushing the pawns seem to be bishops. I can't help but wonder if this is criticism against organised religion, the priesthood (bishops) crushing the people (pawns). If what you wrote was the intention, I'd have expected the reverse - the pawns crushing the bishops.
When you need a little break from Nightwish, may I suggest you a very nice Finnish cinematic metal band called Dark Sarah. I did not notice you reacting to them. Originally it was a three record project, a continuing story of a betrayed woman who finds her dark side. You can find the songs in order from youtube. Here is a suggestion from the middle of the story, Dance with the Dragon th-cam.com/video/dc3XcTcTjaw/w-d-xo.html Dark Sarah's songs have a mighty list of guests, like for example Marco in case the band caught your attention. They are very nice indeed.
this album is a masterpiece ... what a beautiful composition like ... "All the Works of Nature Which Adorn the World" ... simply WOW !!!
YES!! It can't be underestimated, it's simply fantastic
PAN has reminded me of when I was a small child, half a century ago: then I left alone on foot, over the fields, to reach the horizon by hand, no more, no less :) It's written with the same creativity and innocence as "Storytime", "I Want My Tears Back" and "Dark Chest Of Wonders". Thank you for another brilliant analysis. Stay safe.
You can’t go wrong with Nightwish! Every song is excellent and always a surprise. Welcome to the rabbit hole!🤘🎸
PAN is also the God of tricks in play hihi...
If I were a voice major, this song would be extremely intimidating. Can you imagine practicing the chromatic pentatonic scales, the flat 2nds, the dissonant jumps without the music to find your place?
For this one, one has to have read quite a bit or then help with the lyrics that are full of book titles and references:
There is at least:
Keystone Earth: Stephen King and Dark Tower series
There and Back: Tolkien
Something wicked....:Macbeth
winds will be named: name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss
To fallen stars: stardust by Neil Gaiman.
Tales of dust: the book of dust/his dark materials by philip pullman
The sea lady: H G Wells
Snow, Glass, Apples: Neil Gaiman
The Great Escape: Brickhill (non-fiction, movie by the same name) + many other possible meanings/references
Stories that built cathedrals: e.g. Ken Follet: The World Without an End + 2 independent sequels
And there is actually a compilation book title Words That Shelter...
And then:
Tir Na Nog: Celtic Otherworld
Labyrinth - Pan's Labyrint? Movie by the same name by Guillermo del Toro?
Thats pretty cool, when listeining to Pan lots of times i have sometimes thought that i recognise some phrases, i now know from where. Ive read several of these books u refer to. Thank you for that!
I also thought the line "an ape in awe before a door" was a reference to the 2001 Space Odyssey where the ape men are confronted by the Obelisk.
Something Wicked this way comes is also a Ray Bradbury reference.
Another amazing song, one of my favourites on the album. The vocal melodies are very catchy and the instruments are shining. Great reaction as always!
Oh my God! In my top 5 of my favorite Nightwish songs!
This song is one of heavy songs on this album with certain elements of how it is put together compositionally and vocally that was not present on previous albums quite to this extent. I don´t remember Tuomas putting drum blast beats (the part from 9:57 - lower in the mix) into any of his previous compositions, but I am prepared to be corrected on this.
Your analysis & some of the comments on here of the lyrics & visuals are very interesting. 👏
Once again it was really nice to follow your reaction and points what you found. This song, as whole album must is so good. This album must be my all time favorite now, cos that musicianship, songwriting, lyrics..., everything, including these 10 music videos. Just feel so good!
The idea I get from this song is that the world is a giant stage where we all play our role, like pawns in a chess game or actors in a play. We all have our script written the moment we are born, but it's up to each one of us to use the possibility of writing our own story ("to lose yourself, to find who you are") and "reach the stars" (do something meaningful). We are the only species who can reimagine and reset the world through fantasy and imagination. We all have a white canvas in front of us, let's try to do something good with it.
The tone of the guitar on this album is sooo good. Fat, full and heavy. I’m so impressed with Emppu as a lead guitarist. Normally they wanna show off and lead the band.
Thank you again for these videos, Kelly! I think this was one of your best ones. I really like how you analyze the lyrics. Reading them even before hearing the song worked really well here.
It’s hard to choose one but this might be my favourite from the album!
it's mine
Mine too!!!
I love how much reflection and emotions you pit in your videos, you do it well
kai sounds like a freaking a gatling gun on this
His work on this album is incredible. Technical yet understated. He is a beast of a drummer!
@@davidhughes8204 i know many miss jukka but i think there was an upgrade with kai. i think for those that miss the wishmaster days, tuomas is now free to write what he wants because this iteration can play anything he throws at them.
These are is very cryptic meanings fantastic ..
Hiya.... tir .na . nog..... or ( Land of young ) is about irish celtic mythology...... This is a master piece !!!!!!
The themes I was reminded about by this song were things like quantum-randomness (does true randomness really exist on quantum&larger scales?) and simulations. The song touches on many "otherworldly" things, but lines like "we're the writers of another way to be", "reset the world, imagine home" can be interpreted in very real ways, too. "An ape in awe before a door" could be *any* technological (or philosophical, knowledge based) advancement, really. Any person from the 19th century looking at our every day lifes would be an "ape" in front of that door of possibilities and most definetely in awe.
Musically, the chromatic scales in this song sound really fantastical - it's what was used in Imaginaerum as well.
Totally agree, wow 💯👌
If I was quantum sized I'm sure I would still be random ...but would never be aware of the order which created my randomness...such is the way of life ...Spinning in Random order...Controlled chaos ....Endless searching for that which is unseen but believing that it must be there because we can dream it..
It’s such a good song. That part where they sing ...”beautiful tragedy wonderful fantasy..” automatically takes me to an old Disney animated movie ...can’t remember it but in that movie some old witch (or some other female character ) sings “bippity boppity ...etc..” My memory is hazy but that part of the song just took me there right off the bat. I wonder if they did that on purpose to reference that song in that movie. The fantastical elements of the song would fit that reference for sure. It’s brilliant if Thomas did that ...or it can just be coincidence.
I believe you're talking about Disney's Cinderella where the Fairy Godmother sings "bippity boppity boo"
this song? - th-cam.com/video/VNKuARjkWEg/w-d-xo.html
Immortall1408 Yes that was it. Thank you. It’s been a long time since I seen it so I couldn’t remember.
Linda ! Maravilhosa ! Emocionante sua emoção ! Parabéns ! Rodolfo - Brazil
The mood at the beginning of the song was forcibly reminiscent of Fantasy Movies ... but it changed in tone as the song progressed. Maybe a domino effect, a chaos theory, a butterfly effect ... a balance between man and nature.It is Tuomas' skill that he gives the listener the power to interpret the song. I listened to this several times in a row and focused on the words and metaphor I found several of here.
Great to be with you again my friend. I think the flying dominoes and chess pieces represent chaos. Both of these things have their places and arrangements. The dice are chance like life. An ape before a door. Only way in is to enter and leave reality & safety behind? Maybe? What do you think?
Then, something wicked their way came
Showed a way to the Great Escape
Evoke the worlds, sparked the brain
An ape in awe before a door
Is this the door to our imagination where all is possible?
That's my interpretation as well. While the actual creative process might be very structured, I feel that the initial spark, that first moment of inspiration (Pan's influence, if you will) that kicked it all off can often appear as quite "random".
That sentence evokes the scene in Space Odyssey 2001 where the ape-men are standing in front of the obelisk which is about to change them truly from apes to men.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to do a lyric analysis, it adds such an important dimension to what you do, and Nightwish is not a band to take lightly, because of so many details which can go amiss.
To me Pan is about imagination, childhood wonder and maybe the reality of the adult life that try to stomp over it. There are great references to Fairy Tales (the books title that is on the table) playing cards, movie strips, dices etc. In the lyrics references too about fairytales, first that comes to my mind SnowWhite, Cinderella and Little Mermaid maybe. References to books Labyrinth, Keystone Earth and There and Back etc. Some old Tarot cards have ravens on them, raven is in celtic mythology the messenger between this life and Tir Na Noog. This song was for me the most Nightwishy and instant fav, it was like home, you know, familiar and easy to listen. Still in my top3, just loving it.
The only thing I can really think of as a reference for the game pieces would be Alice in Wonderland and the whole deal between the red and white queens.
Pan is a masterpiece.
I can't wait for Kelly to react to Procession.
Thank you for what you do for PeterB :)
Brother Firetribe-For Better Or For Worse .Great video .Emppu play :)
Some people just get it right away, but it's taken me a few listens to latch onto this album. It is complex and the lyrics play a bigger role than ever in their compositions. You may remember me commenting that I have never really paid attention to lyrics and usually just enjoy the musical and vocal performances. I suppose that's one reason why I was a little underwhelmed by the album on first listen. The other reason is that I didn't give it 100% of my attention...I had it playing in the background while doing other stuff and it was also playing through my crappy speakers. The next time I heard it was with headphones and with volume cranked so I had no choice but to pay attention. It was much better that way. Anyways, the more I listen, the more I hear and the more I like. Cheers!
its not a 1st listen grabber but it grows with each listen as i think wishmaster declines with each repeated listen.
As always very nice explain about another masterpiece of the new masterpiece
for a nice analysis on this masterpiece I recommend you to look at your ”colleague reaction” Patrol gaming. I think he is absolutely right!🤘🏻
And you just have to love his reaction where after having seen it in silence: "I have to look at it one more time" and he does :)
Tuomas actually pointed out in several recent interviews that the song title does explicitly NOT refer to the Greek god of the same name (the guy with the flute;), but to the word (actually it's a prefix) "pan...", also from the Greek language, meaning "all..." or "of everything". Just like in pan-demic...
To me this song, apart from absoultely densely packed set of references, is mostly about a person living their life with a random set of cards, unrehearsed and doing the best they can in their short time on earth, while still trying to figure out which "rule book" to follow, sometimes even more than one, hence the many different games in the visuals.
Another thing in the visuals - this album is very space themed and all those cards by the end behave a lot like asteroids in the asteroid belt, coincidentally (or more likely not), if you follove the planet locations:
1 Mercury
2 Venus
3 Earth
4 Mars
5 the Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
And Pan is the 5th song on the album
And we as humans also behave like those asteroids a lot of the time, with many random collisions (encounters)
And the part : reset the world - imagine home.... As someone who has moved many times, it's about the human ability to reinvent themselves when things no longer work the way they used to. Doesn't even need to be a physical move, just the state of mind, adapt to changes
@@vedranb87 i think since it oes talk imagination that point with the drumming where we see chess pieces replace other almost invisible ones like when in chess a pawn can go and get promoted is how basicaly that reinventing of reality is supposed to change ur surroundings -key line here..."reset the world, imagine home" imagination working as a previsualisation of what he wishes to be reality and of course then can work to make it reality.
@@galadballcrusher8182 I never said anything about the imagination interpretation being wrong, I mean, Tuomas said it himself. I just added my own interpretation of what it means to me and by doing so, I'm actually proving him right. Imagination is infinite.
Waiting for the reaction to the second part of the album at once)
They have another song named The Crow, The Owl, and the Dove , as well, and both Song of Myself and The Escapist mention the nightingale, which is also an old tale. could be a little of that as well.
I'd assumed it was 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe as he is an inspiration to Tuomas (see The Pit and the Pendulum)
While i do love all the songs on the new album i have to say Pan is my favorite. As allways a great reaction
This seems to harken back to the real, uncontrived life, as portrayed by the whirlwind that carries off the game pieces... the big ones smash the small, but it is all just a game, an escape for the mind, when it might (re)turn to nature - the primeval call of Pan. I think there is also a bit against organized religion, but not too wild, and supported by the call to rediscover the initial "world of youth" - that is before any organized faith or dogma.
Btw, the birds on the backs of cards seem to me to be ravens - the wise birds, and for one, sentinels of the Norse high god Odin (also called the Eyes of Odin, himself one-eyed). Layers of meanings.
I think this one will kick @ss live.
i think this is floor's most difficult vocal to master.
my breakdown: the song refers to pan only in that its speaking of returning to a more naturistic lifestyle ( also tir na nog ) and the game peices and rest of the song lyrics seem to me to be about how society is just a game we are playing and that real things are stomping out the illusions of the past? maybe? that was what i got from it.
To be fair "Pan" refers to the "Pan-European renaissance". The meaning of the game pieces is quite simply the freedom of the mind. The pieces who crushes the others are those who stepped out of the old religious mindset and was pioneers in a era when things that once used to be sins became allowed. But since the lyrics are written in a way so you could either think about imagination from a individual perspective or as a description of the renaissance era anything goes.
@@magnuscarlsson9969 I noticed that all the chess pieces crushing the pawns seem to be bishops. I can't help but wonder if this is criticism against organised religion, the priesthood (bishops) crushing the people (pawns). If what you wrote was the intention, I'd have expected the reverse - the pawns crushing the bishops.
Tuomas is genious, perfect music
Pan... это сковородка??
hello kelly. one kiss from ITALY
🐱🐱🤘🤘👍👍!!!
Nightwish-procession
When you need a little break from Nightwish, may I suggest you a very nice Finnish cinematic metal band called Dark Sarah. I did not notice you reacting to them. Originally it was a three record project, a continuing story of a betrayed woman who finds her dark side. You can find the songs in order from youtube. Here is a suggestion from the middle of the story, Dance with the Dragon th-cam.com/video/dc3XcTcTjaw/w-d-xo.html Dark Sarah's songs have a mighty list of guests, like for example Marco in case the band caught your attention. They are very nice indeed.
Please react to Within Temptation - All I Need(Live Black Symphony). ❤