Ponder upon thy actions . . .

Taken from the latest album (The Heart of Everything) by Within Temptation, 'Our Solemn Hour' is one of the more appealing tracks to me. It has a strong theme, filled with the rich vocals of the lead singer and backed by a choir. The overall melody is well arranged too, in my opinion.

As a side note, the few lines of speech recited in the background occasionally is from 'Be Ye Men of Valor' by Winston Churchill. (You can select the song from the playlist located in the column on the right)



'Our Solemn Hour' - Within Temptation

Sanctus Espiritus *
Redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus
Insanity is all around us
Sanctus Espiritus Sanctus Espiritus Sanctus Espiritus

In my darkest hours I could not foresee
That the time could turn so fast to this degree
Can’t believe my eyes
How can you be so blind ?
Is the heart of stone, no empathy inside ? **

Time keeps on slipping away and we haven’t learned
So in the end now what have we gained ?

Sanctus Espiritus
Redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus
Insanity is all around us
Sanctus Espiritus
Is this what we deserve,
Can we break free from chains of never-ending agony ?

Are they themselves to blame, The misery, the pain ?
Didn’t we let go, allowed it, let it grow ?
If we can’t restrain the beast which dwells inside
It will find it’s way somehow, somewhere in time

Will we remember all of the suffering
Cause if we fail it will be in vain

Sanctus Espiritus
Redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus
Insanity is all around us
Sanctus Espiritus
Is this what we deserve,
Can we break free from chains of never-ending agony ?


* Latin for Holy Spirit

** Not too sure if this line's accurate, since I couldn't exactly make it out clearly. You can select the song from the playlist on the right and correct me if I'm wrong.


The theme seems to revolve around some sort of evil (or evil in general) present and spreading within mankind, and their ignorance towards it. Should they choose to forget instead of learning from all the painful experiences in history, and in turn allow the evil to fester, detrimental consequences such as misery and suffering could be forced upon mankind.

With the inclusion of lines from 'Be Ye Men of Valor', would the lyrics be refering to War and Fighting ?