Nightwish’s Tuomas Holopainen talked about the mysterious lyrics of “Ghost Love Score”: “For me it has a specific meaning that I am not going to reveal.”

During a wonderful interview for Metal.hu, shortly before the Budapest concert scheduled for 20 December, Tuomas Holopainen, mastermind of Nightwish, talks about his career, the complexity of his songwriting, and the immortal power of imagination. It is no news that Tuomas’ Nightwish has gone through several narrative phases. From the gothic and passionate moments of the first albums to the evergreen reminiscences of dream and fantasy, up to touch the most moving moments of escapism, and finally the infinite forms of science.

As Tuomas himself explains:

I’m not really embarrassed or ashamed of anything that we have done. But, yes, if you read through the lyrics of that song or the song “Elvenpath”, for example, they are pretty hilarious. But nothing to be ashamed of, cause that’s just what we were back then. I love roleplaying games and we play boardgames all the time, I read fantasy all the time, so it is still there. Just during the last two albums, we have been keen on focusing something else – more science and reality, nature-based. But fantasy still lives strong.

– Tuomas Holopainen

One of the most curious things is that the meaning of some songs still remains a mystery today, a riddle that Tuomas has no intention of revealing. This is the case of the sublime “Ghost Love Score”. Its power is contained in an anecdote featuring our Karelian bard and Floor Jansen:

We haven’t even talked about the themes of the songs with the other band members, I think there are still some songs… Just the other day we were talking about “Ghost Love Score” with Floor, and I asked her – do you know what the song is about? And she said “No, I’ve made my own story around it, so I know what I’m singing, but it’s likely not the same thing what you mean by it.” And this is the beauty of art, of music.
(…)
It is something different for everybody, but for me it has a specific meaning that I am not going to reveal of course

– Tuomas Holopainen

We can safely say that Tuomas has achieved his goal. Considered the manifesto of symphonic metal, “Ghost Love Score” owes its beauty to its nuanced dictation and its indecipherable atmospheres.
Then, Tuomas talks again about the future of Nightwish:

It’s not a dream for me at all to play Wembley Stadium one day or anything like that. All the ambitions and dreams lie in the music itself. I still hope that the best Nightwish album is yet to be made.

– Tuomas Holopainen

So it seems that Nightwish still have a lot to say. Meanwhile, since we’ve talked about “Ghost Love Score” why not take a look back? With the two incredible performances of the End of An Era Tour and Wacken 2013.