Stand Up And Shout
It's the same old song, [And thus begins our tale of recurring themes...]
you've gotta be somewhere at sometime[I think that's a law of physics]
They never let you fly [not
even in Coach seats?]
It's like broken glass [Dio-ism #1: rapid
and disrelated imagery shift]
You get cut before you see it, so open up your eyes
[Shouldn't I be shielding my eyes from flying pieces of glass?]
You've got desire, so let it out
You've got the fire,
stand up and shout! Shout! [classic
heavy metal rhyme combo!]
You've got wings of steel, but
they never really move you
[maybe it's not
"they" who are responsible for you not flying, but those
silly, retarded metal flappers of yours.]
You only seem to crawl
You've been nailed to the wheel [important Dio word or phrase #1]
But never really turning; you know you've
got to want it all. [maybe I'm fine
with just a little.]
You've got desire, so let it out, you've got the fire, stand up and shout![One of my old email signatures]
You are the strongest chain and not just
some reflection[so weak chains are
reflections? what does THAT mean?]
So never hide again
[Not even "in the sun till I see the light"? Not even "to be invisible?]
You are the driver, you own the
road [with wings of steel, driving may be
your only mode of transportation available]
you are the fire, go on explode
[somehow, driving and exploding into flames
sounds bad. Standing up and shouting in a speeding car on fire
is an even worse idea.]
You've got desire, so let it out, you've got the power, stand
up and shout!
Holy Diver
Holy Diver [Question:
what is a holy diver?]
You've been down too long in the midnight sea; oh,
what's becoming of me? [Call me kooky,
but somehow I'm focused more on what's becoming of the drowning
priest; he has my attention at this moment in time]
Ride the tiger, you can see his stripes
but you know he's clean [so, normally
seeing his stripes means that the tiger is dirty? That brings
us to Dio-ism #2: seemingly deep points obscured to all who are
not Dio]
Oh, don't you see what I mean?
[as a matter of fact, NO!]
Gotta get away - holy diver!
[Is this "get away FROM the Holy Diver", or telling the Holy Diver to do so?]
Shiny diamonds, like the eyes of a cat
in the black and blue [someone beat
up a cat? maybe Dio? the holy diver? WHO?]
Something is coming for you - LOOK OUT!
[important Dio word or phrase #2]
Race for the morning [See Dioism #2]
You can hide in the sun 'till you see the
light [Dio-ism #3: blatant use of
paradox]
Oh, we will pray it's all right
Gotta get away - get away
Between the velvet lies [Does that mean fibs made of Elvis paintings, or "lies" as a verb?]
there's a truth that's hard as steel [Same Truth-with-Many-Lies from "Straight Through The Heart"?]
The vision never dies, life's a never-ending
wheel [one that, according to "Stand
Up And Shout," we are all nailed to. Thanks, Dio]
Holy diver, you're the star of the masquerade,
no need to look so afraid
Jump on the tiger [any
masquerade where they invite tigers may be one to avoid; jumping
on him may be bad, too]
You can feel his heart, but you know he's mean
Some light can never be seen [PARADOX ALERT!]
(repeat verse one)
[Note: this song, like many Dio songs, has
a problem with clearly defining what is happening to whom. who's
got "shiny diamonds?" Who has to "get away?"
We'll NEVER know!]
Don't Talk To Strangers
Don't talk to strangers, 'cause they're
only there to do you harm [okay, this is paranoia. not everyone you don't
know is out to get you]
Don't write in starlight 'cause the words
may come out real [a)
how do you write in starlight? b) how do words "come out
real?"]
Don't hide in doorways [no problem there;
I'd be easily found! it's a doorway!!]
You may find the key that opens up
your soul [strange
place to find a key that opens my soul, eh?]
Don't go to heaven 'cause it's really only hell [Ooh, I'm sure the PMRC and religious nuts jumped all over this one back in the days]
Don't smell the flowers; they're an evil
drug [opium?] to make you lose
your mind [opium
with PCP?]
Don't dream of women, 'cause they'll
only bring you down [Dio-ism #4: women are evil! Look out!]
Hey you, you
know me [yeah,
you're Dio], you've
touched me [hey,
you can't prove that!]
I'm real [But as later mentioned, he "can be invisible"]
I'm forever the one that lets you look
and see and feel me [now, THIS is getting kinky!]
I'm danger
- I'm the stranger
[another classic metal rhyme
combo!]
And I, I'm darkness, I'm anger, I'm pain [Because "pissed off from a headache at 3:00 AM" didn't sound as cool]
I am master, the evil song you sing inside your brain - drive you insane
- don't talk
[Dio sez: be crazy, but quiet!]
Don't let them inside your mind, yeah [who are
"them" now? isn't Dio master, darkness, etc. in this
song?] - run away, run away, go!
No, no - don't let them in your mind
Protect your soul [so, "they" ALSO have a key that opens up my soul? Geez, everybody's got a copy now!]
Don't dance in darkness, you may stumble
and you're sure to fall [unless you're writing in starlight, then it's
not really all that dark, is it?]
Don't write in starlight, 'cause the words may come out real [Perhaps an anti-astrology statement?]
Don't talk to strangers, 'cause they're only there to make you
sad
Don't dream of women, 'cause they'll only bring you down - yeah! [yeah!!!]
Run, run, run, run away!
Invisible
If your circle stays unbroken, then you're
a lucky man
'Cause it never, never, never has for me
[then you should draw your circle
more pronounced]
In the palace of the virgin lies
the chalice of a soul [who's soul? yours? mine? the virgin's? WHO?]
And it's likely you might find the
answer there [answers,
in the house of some sexually-frustrated chick or guy? that's
just weird!]
She had fourteen years of teenage tears,
and never a helping hand [if she's a virgin,
she may be looking for more than a... a-hem... hand]
She had fourteen more of rain before, she saw the sight of land [So she moved to Seattle?]
She was a photograph just ripped in half, a smile inside a frown[See Dioism #3]
And in the light, the answer right inside her coming down
I can go
away, I can leave here, I can be
invisible
[Dio-ism #5: variants on
a theme: go away, get away, run away, get out, etc.]
He was just eighteen and in between a lady and a man
[I think this is the only song that
Dio ever sings about transvestism in]
He's daddy's girl in momma
world [so Mom's thinks
that her son is her husband's daughter? man, that's a screwed-up
family. I'd leave, TOO!]
and that was when he ran
[run, Zsa-Zsa LaMour, RUN!]
You know the word confused has been
abused [uh,
can I abuse it one last time and say, "what the heck is going
on here?"]
but that's just what he was
[so why is it that drag queens didn't
latch onto this song and, instead, are so hot for disco and diva
acts? Dio could have been their brother-in-arms ... or armor,
as the case may be.]
And then the spark inside the dark, the answer came because it
said
You can go away, you can leave here, you can be be be be be...[Uh-oh, Dio's beeper is going off]
Well, I grew up quick and I felt the
kick of life upon a stage [with dragons and
crystal balls and laser beams and swords and ... oh, you know.]
So, I bought the book and took a fast look at just the very last
page [You mean, his souvenir tour book?]
It was a single word that I'd just heard from the two that came
before [I have two degrees in mathematics and I'm still trying to grasp this one]
The only way to really stay is to
walk right out the door [PARADOX ALERT!]
You can go away, you can leave here,
you can be invisible
You can go away, you can leave here, you can be invisible
You can go away, Lord, you know it's right to leave here, so I
just became invisible
Rainbow In The Dark
When there's lightning,
you know it always brings me down
[well, I know it NOW!]
'Cause it's free and I see that it's me who's lost and never found
I cry out for magic - I feel it dancing in the light
But it was cold
- I lost my hold to the shadows of the night [the
magic was cold? the light was cold? the weather was cold? WHAT?]
There's no sign of the morning coming - you've been left on your own - like a rainbow in the dark [PARADOX ALERT!]
Do your demons, do they ever let you
go? [just long enough to hear the
evil backwards messages in Dio songs that tell me to "Do
it!" No, wait, that's Judas Priest. Sorry.]
When you've tried, do they hide, deep inside, is
it someone that you know [not unless
I'm chummy with demons]
You're just a picture, you're an image caught in time
We're a lie - you and I - we're words without
a rhyme [unless you're this song,
which rhymes the word rhyme with time]
There's no sign of the morning coming - you've been left on your own - like a rainbow in the dark
When there's lightning, you know it always
brings me down [Well just look at this video. Standing on top of a tall building, hands in the air, chained by metal...OF COURSE he's going to get hurt by a lightning storm]
'Cause it's free and I see that it's me who's lost and never found[Wow, this one ISN'T a paradox]
Feel the magic - I feel it dancing in the air [But remember, "Don't Dance In Darkness!"]
But it's fear - and you hear it calling you, beware - LOOK OUT![I will never forget one of the times I saw him live, I was up near the front, and he pointed right at me when he said LOOK OUT. Man, that was the coolest thing ever.]
There's no sign of the morning coming - there's no sign of the day - you've been left on your own - like a rainbow in the dark