He feeds on fear, he feeds on pain
He rules again
If for all he cares he will guide
The faith againOur light in the darkness
Is too small to see
There’s always a sparkle of hope
If you just believeHe told the tale so many times
About the dream not meant to be
In a world of the free
(He plays with your mind)As faith for the future faded fast
He grows strong with their displeasure
It sets him free
I was listening to this today — Deceiver of Fools, by Within Temptation — or, actually, watching the video from Black Symphony — and decided to look at the lyrics after I saw some odd stuff in the background, up on the DiamondVision behind the orchestra. (Sadly, I have trouble understanding English sung with a Dutch accent sometimes.)
I didn’t realize till I parsed the lyrics that the song was about the man on horseback.* And how much it makes me think of what Barack Obama did to his adherents back in 2008, and what Donald Trump is doing to us now. (Well — to his followers, anyway. I don’t do the man on horseback thing, unless, I suppose, the man is Ronald Reagan.)
Please awake and see the truth
He can only be if you believe what he tells you
Remember who you are, what you stand for
There will always be a way(…)
In my heart there is a place
In my heart there is a trace
Of a small fire burningA sheltering ray shines through this night
Although it’s small it’s bright
But darkness is lurkingHe will sell your soul
To bitterness and cold
Oh fear himDeceiver of hearts
Deceiver of fools
He rules with fearDeceiver of hopes
Deceiver of fools
Shall he rule again?
Let’s hope not.
(Video at YouTube because WMG are cunts and won’t let me embed it. Lyrics from Metrolyrics. No ownership claimed; using excerpts under “fair use”.)
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* I had actually been under the impression that it was about a man who did the ladies wrong. Not that far off, I guess. I’ve seen reference on the ‘net that Sharon den Adel shouted before they played the song one night that it was about avoiding future Hitlers and Stalins. That would follow, I suppose, for a band from Europe with a sense of history.