Nemo (Nightwish song)
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CD single - Finland - 1st edition. |
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Nemo is a symphonic metal song by the band Nightwish. It was the first single released off the album Once and appears to be the source of the album's title. The single was first released on 2004-04-19 and album version on 2004-06-07. There are multiple versions of the song including the orchestral version, single version (also called the fade out version), a radio edit, the cold end version, and various live recordings. Among the various singles that have been released, B-sides usually include Live to Tell the Tale, Planet Hell, and White Night Fantasy.
Tuomas Holopainen composed the song's music and wrote the lyrics. The song was performed by Tarja Turunen on vocals, Tuomas Holopainen on keyboard and piano, Emppu Vuorinen on guitar, Jukka Nevalainen on drums, Marco Hietala on bass, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra performing the orchestra and choral background.
Tuomas Holopainen has explained that the song is based on his occasional feelings of being lost, longing for the past, and feeling nameless. The title is Latin for "nobody," a common theme in fiction, but Holopainen has explained that the song is not based on the characters created by Jules Verne (Captain Nemo in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), Winsor McCay (Little Nemo in Little Nemo in Slumberland), and certainly not Andrew Stanton (Nemo in Finding Nemo).
Contents
Personal
I think I heard this song around 2006, a couple years after I first discovered the band and after the release of the album. Nemo quickly became my favorite song on the album. The song is still a favorite of mine, but it lacks staying power because it's mostly chorus. Still, I love the combination of a simple piano theme and driving electric guitars, Tarja's vocals are very fitting to this morose song, the orchestra and choir really add weight, and the guitar in the instrumental break is fantastic.
Lyrics
This is me for forever One of the lost ones The one without a name Without an honest heart as compass This is me for forever One without a name These lines the last endeavor To find the missing lifeline Oh how I wish For soothing rain All I wish is to dream again My loving heart Lost in the dark For hope I'd give my everything My flower Withered between The pages two and three The once and forever bloom gone with my sins Walk the dark path Sleep with angels Call the past for help Touch me with your love And reveal to me my true name Oh how I wish For soothing rain All I wish is to dream again My loving heart Lost in the dark For hope I'd give my everything Oh how I wish For soothing rain Oh how I wish to dream again Once and for all And all for once Nemo my name for evermore Nemo sailing home Nemo letting go Oh how I wish For soothing rain All I wish is to dream again My loving heart Lost in the dark For hope I'd give my everything Oh how I wish For soothing rain Oh how I wish to dream again Once and for all And all for once Nemo my name for evermore Nemo my name for evermore
Media
Album Art
I'm not thrilled about any of these covers. The palette is muddy, and the band members just look like they're trying too hard.
US promo cover (same photo as back of Once.