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Nightwish - The Greatest Show on Earth (with Richard Dawkins) React/Review
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- Опубликовано: 24 дек 2021
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Our reaction to Nightwish - The Greatest Show on Earth (with Richard Dawkins) (OFFICIAL VIDEO LINKED BELOW)
• NIGHTWISH - The Greate...
Mat & Chels React
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![Nightwish - The Greatest Show on Earth [Live at Tampere 2015] ( REACTION | LYRICAL BREAKDOWN )](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rctBerC7rH8/mqdefault.jpg)
EDIT: Mat realizes he needs to educate himself more on bagpipes after finding out that these are actually Uilleann and not Electric.
The SIDH have some good rock instrumental songs featuring traditional Scottish bagpipes.
@@Bolo2028 Troy Donockley plays all shorts of old tribal instruments , as a Celtic uilleann pipes , when song progress he changes to more modern instrument , from tin whistle to uilleann pipes . Triddana , Argentinian Celtic folk metal band uses bagpipes and run on stage in kilts .
Good call. Bag pipes = Scotland. Uilleann pipes = Ireland.
@@davebrowne8252 actually Irish have Bag pipes also. Villeann pipes are an Irish form of short pipes. Which we Scotts have also. Their a Bello filled bag Rather then from breath.
Someone said that Scottish bagpipes are for war and Uilleann pipes are for story telling at the pub.
Floor: Enter Luca
Marko: Enter Ionia
Emppu: Enter Sandman (old joke, but a good one 😉)
This is the story of our planet and the Evolution as a one massive song.
As a patriotic Finn, i suggest you to check out the Tampere 2015 performance. It's maybe even more epic.
Merry Christmas! 🎅👍
These are not electric bag pipes. The are an Irish version called the Uilleann Pipes. Uilleann is Gallic for elbow. This type of pipe is played by pumping on an air bag under your arm with the elbow. The bag is fill with air by a bellows which is pumped with the opposite elbow. The sound is not created by blowing into a canter. Then it is amplified using a mic or pickup of some sort. This instrument is much more expressive musically. More like a voice. The traditional Scottish Bagpipes are much less compatible with a band situation. They are only able to play in one key. They also use a drone tone to play over. This is why they are only able to play in one key. They are also only able to play at one volume, Loud. I also love the Scottish pipes.
Excellent and concise bagpipe knowledge.
Only band tried Bagpipes is AC/DC when Bon Scott was still alive. Song is IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP (IF YOU WANNA ROCK 'N' ROLL)
Bon even plays his Bagpipe
@@MrTech226 Very true. If you listen closely, you will hear that they are slightly out of pitch to the guitars. Still a very cool vibe to the song.
@@Drinckx2 *Uilleann Pipe knowledge >_>
That’s cool! Thanks for the music lesson. These sound great!
The Enter The Sandman portion was actually the last part of diverse music which exemplifies evolution of nusic throughout history. It was from tribal, to medieval, to Toccata and Fugue by Bach, to Enter The Sandman... and some other in between.
There is a surprise in Tampere version (several surprises) and you can watch it with subtitles, it makes so much more sense.
And also there were Floor's parents in the audience which made her go extra mile in emotions.
Enter Sandman is one of the homages to a history of music, there are more to find in the song, like Easter hunt.
When Richard Dawkins spoke on stage, he was quoting Charles Darwin. Him joining them on stage at the end is why I love the Wembley show.
Me too. Plus the fact that I was there and not at Tampere ;-) Richard Dawkins quotes the final two sentences of "Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin. I have a band-signed copy of this intellectual tour de force in my bookcase.
A beautiful song of NIGHTWISH.
TUOMAS is a Genius, everything he makes becomes GOLD 💫
Love the different instruments that make this song so special.
Also the beautiful images on the screen with each Theme.
The message is CLEAR.
And the beautiful words of RICHARD DAWKINS.....
Let's take care of our beautiful Earth 💙🌏🪐🌌
Yes.....
WE WERE HERE.
Thank You So Much 🤍
Wish you all Happy Holidays 🎄🎅 and a Happy New Year 🌟 2022 PEACE 🕊
Love from The Netherlands
❤🤍💙🇳🇱🙋🏼♀️
Tampere Greatest show On Earth has more pizazz, but the Wembley concert is alright too. Just saying Tampere is more upscale.
Tampere has fireworks and Wembley has Dawkins.
@@6alcantara the piano and flute opening @Tampere is preferred by me. the guitar/e-bow opening doesn't feel right.
I love both versions ❤
For me it's the fact Tampere is in the open air.
There's direct contact between everyone and the universe they're singing about.
It gives it yet another dimension.
Wembley feels too confined for a song of this magnitude.
Tampere is also home country and Floor’s parents were in attendance, my vote is for Tampere 🤘🏼💥🤘🏼
This song is a musical masterpiece executed by incredible musicians, nothing else to say, apart from the version from Tampere is even better 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Yes i agree with that. With the fireworks in the begin. Only is Dawkins not there at the end
@@hellen__1 To be fair that’s not a necessity,the recorded lines are fine..I prefer the spectacle and sound quality over a minutes live speech
Tuomas has hidden small melody bits inside the song which describe the history and development of music. I’ve tried to put together all the bits that many commentators have said the song contains (I don’t know if everything is true): African tribal drumming, a medieval hymn (presumably by Thomas of Celano) - "Dies irae", Johan Sebastian Bach (Christian Petzold) - "Minuet in G major and Toccata & Fugue in D minor", American banjo music, Metallica - "Enter Sandman", the bassline from Nightwish - "Wish I Had An Angel" and Megadeth - "Symphony of Destruction". There's also a rap song at the end and an electronic bit and Mozart somewhere and the intro has apparently some Johann Pachelbel at the core.
the banjo bit is duelling banjos made famous in the film deliverance
@@darrenhalliday5133 Thanks, I have to add that info to my list.
Awsome. I didnt know that all those songs were in there aswell. Ghansk alot.
Some Khöömei throat singing early in that section as well.
@@jpdemer5 Okay, thank you.
My belief is that this is the finest song ever crafted by man. Stunning in every respect.
The part that gives me chills is watching 12,000 screaming metal heads go completely silent to listen to Richard Dawkins. Just amazing.
Silent and standing dead still.
It was almost like a religious experience without the fiction. ;-)
that's SIR Richard Dawkings for you!
@@wazzalord3
1. Dawkins
2. He is not a Sir
Except for the ones who know the words by heart. ❤
FYI the crowd applauds when Richard says 'Endless Forms Most Beautiful', because it is the title of the album released before this tour, that his song comes from.
Richard Dawkins is a hero of mine, to see him collaborate with Nightwish was a dream come true. A dream I never knew I had until it happened.
"I did my fucking research this time, people!" And a miss on the bagpipes . . . ;) And ya, that was a nuclear weapons test. Emppu did a Metallica nod as it was a section on the history of music. Listen again and you'll hear tribal drums, Bach, banjos and Metallica.
The ending is from the last paragraph of the "Origin of Species" by Darwin.
You should watch this song from the Tampere concert. The song was synced to fireworks and was awesome. The last speech was from "The Origin Of The Species" by Charles Darwin.
NW didn't make it easy. The only way to do is is watch Tampere, then watch the last few minutes of Wembley.
@@erlaed Agreed! Best of both shows.
It's the last paragraph of Darwin's book.
@@erlaed While I do enjoy the fireworks from Tampere, I prefer this version more, due to Troy staring on the Ebow.. That sound is just so much more fitting..
We were here too, with my wife and my daughter and that was the greatest show I've ever seen in my entire life !
Those "WE WERE HERE's" always make me tear up, without fail!
They’ve been performing this as the final song of the show ever since the album came out, I’ve seen them do it twice now, once on the “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” tour and again on the “Decades” tour, it doesn’t get old, it just evolves :)
Ahhhh ... I see what you did there!! Nice!
On the EFMB tour they pl;ayed whole song, on the two tours since they played a cut down version.
Saw them in Buenos Aires and they played the complete song too
Other bands: Let’s write a song …
Nightwish: Let’s compose a song …
Absolutely Nightwish at its best. But you should check out the Tampere version of this song also 🤘❤
While this song was a masterpiece since first listen, it's a "grower". You gonna pick up more and more details everytime, and it gets shorter too...which normally hardly classifies as a grower 😂My favorite version is from their Tampere concert. That surely is the greatest show on earth. Some people are complaining, that it has worse sound, but it's a matter of taste...and you can find a bit better version from my channel. Merry Xmas!
Worse sound? This version drowns out the narration and even other parts in the beginning, like Floor's entrance. The Tampere version is excellent balancing and mixing. The improved parts in this version is actually showing Troy's vocal contributions and, of course, Richard Dawkins at the end, but I like the runway stroll before the bow of Tampere. Then there are the fireworks, the depiction of the Big Bang, which really doesn't come across in this version. Since both are so amazingly good, everybody should watch both - they are the two best live performances EVER!
@@chadbennett7873 I said, that the sound is matter of taste. And of course your equipment affects a LOT. I just bought new studio headphones, AKG K240, and they have very "cardboard box" sound. They supposed to be flat curve headphones for mixing, but I can't stand their sound, as they are boosting low-mids around 200-400hz. When I listen to this Wembley show with them, it is pretty horrible. With my over 10 years old Sennheiser 212PRO's it's better. Of course my ears are used to listen to those Sennheisers, and all of my remasters are done with them. But Tampere show sounds better for me with both of my headphones.
I love the Wembley version for seeing Dawkins in person on the stage. Tampere has fireworks, I love those as well. Cannot say that one sounds better than the other though.
Imagine a song that were to embody the entirety of existence, from the beginning of time and the universe, to humanity’s present-day realizations. That would mean encompassing billions of years and the plethora of events that occurred in that lengthy timespan. It would be an amendable feat and one of the greatest musical pieces ever written, were such a song to exist.
Well, it does.
And it’s “The Greatest Show on Earth” by Nightwish.
The Greatest Show on Earth is (in my humble opinion) on of the best songs written of any genre. The lyrics are brilliant as is the music and vocals. I feel sorry for people who have never heard NightWish, as they are missing out on perfection.
There is loads of musical hints that you didn't pick up first listen... musically it goes through the whole evolution of music as well... this is such a sick song
Well done Mat and Chels. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Tampere version includes some amazing fireworks and Floor in beautiful dress and makeup. :)) And they actually play this at every show, right after Ghost Love Score, which is unreal. Two long songs one after another.
Also, as a biochemistry major, this whole album is so cool!
If you listen to this again try Tampere version you don't get Troy using the Ebow on guitar but you do get fireworks Although you don't get Richard Dawkins in person you still get his words spoken. The Tampere version has Floors parent's watching her perform. It's a great version too.
Love the Tampere version, even if audio is not as good.
Musically think it beats Wembley version 10-0.
@@antoniotheemojinator The Tampere concert had better sound quality,better vocal performance and was far more spectacular……..there’s a few differences for you😊👍
Hi from the Uk guys. Great reaction! Nightwish instrumentalists...there are few words. Always epic performances, sometimes inclusive with audience participation and brilliant compositions, like “The Greatest Show on Earth”, which takes you on a journey!
The Uilleann pipes are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms píobaí uilleann, from their method of inflation. Great reactions and analysis. Best wishes have a great 2022 and stay safe. Best wishes.
Irish bagpipes are powered by "elbow pressure"leaving the mouth free to sing AND drink..
How very Irish! hahaha
Tuomas credits Metallica as one of the greatest bands ever and that they are one of the sole reasons he got into music at all hence the nod to Metallica and 'Enter Sandman' riff toward the end.
Excellent point - he also has a snippet of Bach's Minuet in G on the harpsichord just before.
“Man, he took his place in the sun, had a dream to understand a single grain of sand”. Repeat until the penny drops!
Would you have ever imagined a bunch of metal heads listening in religius silence to a Richard Dawkins lecture? Yes that was a nod to music from Bach to Metalica!
Update. Nightwish closed out their Denver show with The Greatest Show on Earth.
Killer performance on May 15, 2022.
We Were There
Thanks for choosing my favourite version! 😊
I know Tampare has more fans but well ... I like not swimming with the stream... 😅
The look on her face when the keys came in was priceless
Troy first plays guitar with an E-bow and then Uilleann ( elbow ) pipes, not electric but bellows pumped under Troy's right elbow while he squeezes a bag under his left arm to push air through the reeds. Might have a wire to a mike somewhere. If you listen to the whole section that ends with Enter The Sandman you will hear different types of music in the background travelling forward in time from Gregorian chants, a piece of Bach, some banjo, etc. Final part spoken by Richard Dawkins is a quote from Charles Darwin and of course the crowd cheered at Endless Forms Most Beautiful as it is the album title.
Every reactor lately is choosing this version over Tampere.....i guess because of Richard Dawkins..... thats too bad , this is good but Tampere is EPIC .
This one is epic too. I prefer the ending here and the fireworks in the beginning of the Tampere version, both versions are worth watching.
I prefer the Tampere version simply because the cinematography is more professional.
No doubt both are fantastic , to me Floor and Marko sound better in Tampere.
@@silverblack5475 Don't forget Troy too ... they didn't show him singing except at a distance, but he was contributing.
@@chadbennett7873 👍
@ Ioa Kouts - has an excellent very concise and organised interpretation of the lyrics, I had a go at it, rather more disorganised and rambling but here it is in three parts owing to YT limitations and based on the Tampere version..
#1
"The Greatest Show On Earth"
(Spoken parts are in quotations)
[Part 1: Four Point Six] (4.6 billion years ago)
Archaean horizon
(part of the Precambrian period, in which there was no life on the earth. Earth's history is divided into four principal Eons: the Hadean, the Archean, Proterozoic, and the Phanerozoic. The Hadean is the Eon during which the Earth and Moon formed; in the Archaean, primordial life appeared. )
The first sunrise
On a pristine gaea
(Greek personification of the Earth as a goddess)
Opus perfectum
(the perfect work, the perfect creation, a masterpiece)
Somewhere there, us sleeping
(the DNA and carbon for life was in the space dust)
"After sleeping through a hundred million centuries we have finally opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet, sparkling with colour, bountiful with life.
Within decades we must close our eyes again.
Isn't it a noble and enlightened way of spending our brief time in the sun, to work at understanding the universe and how we have come to wake up in it?"
(Dawkins refers to the birth of the earth as a planet and mankind's brief geologic time on earth to understand how we came to be here at all)
[Part 2: Life]
The cosmic law of gravity
Pulled the newborns around a fire
(Planetary gravity aligning the solar system around the sun)
A careless cold infinity in every vast direction (space)
Lonely farer in the Goldilocks zone
(The earth moving on its own in the exact place for life to thrive - mother bear’s porridge was just right for Goldilocks)
She has a tale to tell
From the stellar nursery into a carbon feast
(the condensing big bang dust clouds into planets and the earth and all life is carbon based)
Enter LUCA
(Last universal common ancestor - a simple life form that all life carries a genetic marker for, LUCA was not the first living organism but the sole survivor of previous types)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_universal_common_ancestor
The tapestry of chemistry
(The periodic table of the elements and combinations)
There's a writing in the garden
(DNA and the garden, earth)
Leading us to the mother of all
(the trail to our beginnings)
We are one
(having a common DNA marker and we are all made from the galactic space dust and condensing gas. All the material from the big bang is still here, state might have changed for some things, but it is here.)
We are a universe
(This is the natural conclusion to draw from the fact that life shares common origin, that all life is built with the same blocks, and that all life on Earth is interdependent (gaia hypothesis). The multiplicity of beings on Earth are one, just as the cells in a body are one. Lately it has been shown that we are indeed made of star dust material from the birth of our universe)
Forebears of what will be
Scions of the Devonian sea
(419.2 to 358.9 million years ago from rocks found in Devon England, scion is a young shoot of a plant, the land grew plants and the multitude of fishes started to come ashore and walk on fins briefly)
Aeons pass
Writing the tale of us all
(The DNA and evolution branching out into other forms)
A day-to-day new opening
(The continuity of evolution)
For the greatest show on Earth
(a poetic reference to life developing and evolving)
Thank's for that. It is my pleasure to "hunt" everyone doing a reaction to this masterpiece
@@ioaKouts Well done, it is a masterpiece and a lot of food for thought in it, you're doing a grand job, keep at it.
We'll likely fall over each other again with this masterwork from Tuomas and you may well assume you'll get the same credit from me for a job very well done.
thanx to great reaction to this magic song. every outside nightwish concert always ends fireworks with sky. check out your own time this same song but tampere concert and you can see. thanx and have great last week soon this year.
You chose right. This is better than Tampere in many different ways. Ebow and Hawkins and Wembley sound production
Swap "think" for "know" and you're there buddy!
Great reaction, as always, you two!!
This song gets everyone i know emotional, especially in the end of the song !!!
Now do the Tampere version it is in my opinion even better
Loved Troy’s guitar work on the beginning of this! Amazing song and merry Christmas to you both 🏴
A small Enter sandman riff, to celebrate their own influece bands, ans pay respect to Metallica, by putting the riff in one of their own great productions.
Richard Dawkins was on this show, and proberly never more, they also tryed do a simular thing on newest album Human Nature, as they invited David Attenborough to do some spoken parts, but he wouldnt be part of it, so the idea was then shelfed.
Tuomas was askes in a interview i did see, what was hes favorite moments on stage, and one being from this song, when they sing WE WERE HERE with the crowd, he pointed that out as a moment he always enjoy a lot.
Great masterpiece, from one of the best bands in the world..
Yeah the bagpopes are not electric, but you do not blow in it, and put the sack beneath albue, to push out the air, Troy say himself, its a hard instrument to master..
…if you are not touched at the “WE WERE HERE” part, you have something broken inside…I was at the concert in Sofia and I screamed my voice out with my eyes full of tears - I didn’t wanted the song to finish…Definitely one of the best songs ever!
Talk about the Enter Sandman riff there. Tuomas put a brief lesson in the evolution of music in this chapter. A harpsichord plays, followed by the Georgian chant in Dies Irae by Mozart, J.S. Bach's Minuet in G major, followed by his famous Fugue in D Minor, then followed by Metallica's Enter Sandman riff, finally ending in Rap/Hip-Hop and 90s dance music.
The bit before the "nuclear bomb" drop has pieces from several musical works in it, including Beethoven.
And yes, they threw Enter Sandman in there too.
Tuomas once said, without Metallica there would be no Nightwish. He is heavily influenced by them. So yes, that riff surely was a little homage.
One word MASTERPIECE. Have a great Christmas, Mat and Chels.
I didn't see this anywhere so i'll say it. GSOE is usually the closer of every Nightwish concert but sometimes it switches with Ghost Love Score.
Was at a festival this summer where Nightwish was the main performer during the last day. They ended the show by going from Last Ride of the Day to Ghost Love Score to Greatest Show On Earth and with Ad Astra at the end as they were bowing goodbye.
@@CorporalCookie Yes this tour. As they stand behind Floor. Ive seen the footage from Europe.
epic. the big bang, creation of earth,life and even the evolution of music in one...WE WERE HERE...thanx for that.
You have hands down the best intro music of all reactors!
Unlike some others, I am glad you chose the correct version;) (The Tampere version is worth watching too, but it is not the better nor the correct version, it is just different and amazing too).
And unlike some reactors, you have watched it till the very end, which makes me really happy:)
That's the 1st time I noticed the Enter Sandman part, I've always heard Symphony of Destruction's main riff in a few parts.
Great reaction. I always get emotional just listening to this song and I enjoy it even more when others like it as well.
Bagpipes are Uillean pipes, Irish elbowpipes, not electricpipes.
Good evening from Liverpool.....Great Reaction,, amazing band... but,, you Really, Really need to see the Tampere version.... out of this world.....
Great reaction but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed thar you did this version - great as it is I think the Tampere version is better 🤘
Mat and Chels. Do yourselves a favor and watch the Tampere performance of this song when you get a chance. (Not a reaction, just for yourselves.) So many great additional touches.
This is truly The Greatest Show on Earth. Great reaction and awesome that you did the research which adds so much weight to the understanding of this song
Please have a listen in on the Tampere version. It’s a bit more epic and a surprise
I was fortunate enough to be there, it was mind blowing.
"Endless forms most beautiful" gets a cheer because that's the title of the album/tour.
Perfect reaction for Christmas..... Merry Christmas you two
to clarify Uilleann bagpipes are irish bagpipes , he uses his arm to push air into the bagpipe thats even more difficult than you use your mouth and breath like with scottish bagpipes because you have more control on your breath /airflow . I guess Troy is the most versatile musician in nightwish , he plays bagpipes , mandoline , guitar / E Guitar and Flutes and sings in some songs in the background , since Marco left nightwish he replaces him in some songs but it sounds not that good as Marco , he has not Marcos unique voice , that does not mean it sounds bad . I hope Marco will come back to nightwish sometime since it was not Tensions between the band members why he left .
Interestingly the part where floor sings... "lonely farer in the goldilocks zone, she has a tale to tell.." refers to planet earth itself, it is the oly planet in the "habitable" zone where water can exist as a liquid, (not too hot, or too cold) it is thought that during the early formations of the planets the sun was a little bit hotter and the goldilocks zone stretched out to encompass Mars as well as the Earth. making early Mars a suitable candidate for life too, but the sun got colder, and Mars is now just outside the goldilocks zone...
Greetings from Romania! Love your reactions.
That was a great reaction to a great song. Rock X-Mas for you and all others.
Kalmah - Moon Of My Nights (live in Vernissa 14.2.2020)
I'm not sure but that riff is maybe actually originally from Finland. It was in a song called Get stoned by finnish rock band Stone. That song came out before Enter sandman (1988). Just a little fun fact😉!
In my opinon, this not a Song. It is a Symphony. Opus Perfectum. 🤘 WE WERE HERE. Merry Christmas to all🌲🥂 forget, great Reaction.
In my opinion, the greatest musical composition of my long lifetime, by the greatest composer of my long lifetime. The competition is extensive, but for total impact: meaning, presentation, performance ... nothing comes close. The closest, and trust me, it's also brilliant is "The Gates of Delirium" by Yes. This hits you in the brain AND the heart. I only hopes that it opens a few eyes, but typically those with the closed eyes are not going to listen to music that isn't three verses and two choruses in three minutes. I can tell this touched both of you. I have seen it at least three digit times, and I still tear up in several places ... especially when she whispers "Us Sleeping!" When they bow at the end, I always think of Lord of the Rings ... "My friends, you bow to no one!" The audience should have bowed to them!
Merry Christmas U 2 .. yep they are so good/ great.. greetings from Amsterdam
I got the notification that this was uploaded while at my mom and step dad's for our Christmas dinner and could not wait to get home to watch this. So excited lol
Troy is using an Ebow. It make the guitar that violin sound. Troy is an amazing singer as well as the 5or6 instruments he plays.
You really should have done the Tampere version
I love this piece of music so much! Can I fast forward to seeing Nightwish in concert in a few months? It's only been since '09 since I last saw them lol
If im correct they have had this song as the last song of their setlist like every gig since it was released in 2015. So its not rare but ofc there was this wembley and tampere shows which were the "big ones" with pyros etc.
WE WERE HERE 🤘😎🤘!!!!
Who else is going to vote for this song's inclusion on the next Voyager golden record, if there'll ever be one?
I want to beam this song into space forever.
Troy plays Uilleann Pipes (elbow pipes) and the only electrical thing is either a microphone or some kind of pickup
And actually this song is played quite often. This song is on Human. :II: Nature. world tour Setlist !
Thank You for this reaction !!!!
Nightwish Shadow Unit from Estonia .
Just for now, it is my duty to introduce you to some info about the lyrics.
Lyrics are in " "
[Part 1: Four point Six]
"Archaean horizon, The first sunrise"
Earth's history is divided into four principal Eons: the Hadean, the Archean, Proterozoic, and the Phanerozoic. The Hadean is the Eon during which the Earth and Moon formed; in the Archaean, primordial life appeared. Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Earth
"On a pristine gaea"
Gaia is the primordial Greek goddess of the Earth. More recently, the Gaia hypothesis is a recognition of the living and nonliving Earth systems which form an interdependent whole. Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia
"Opus perfectum, Somewhere there, us sleeping" Pristine perfection (of silence, of a blank page, of the very point from which the big bang itself sprung) implies a rich creative potential. Here Earth is painted in the same powerful way. Diversity awaits; unborn beings are sleeping the same sleep to which they will return at death. This interpretation is thematically linked with the album's opening track, "Shudder before the Beautiful," which includes the lyrics, "The music of this awe, Deep silence between the notes, Deafens me with endless love." Or as the furious hobbit screamed at the novice trumpeter, "An artist respects the silence, it serves as the foundation of creativity."
[Part 2: Life]
"The cosmic law of gravity Pulled the newborns around a fire, A careless cold infinity in every vast direction. Lonely farer in the Goldilocks zone"
Gravity pulls Earth and the other planets around the energizing Sun in an otherwise inhospitable universe. Earth is the only planet in our solar system's circumstellar habitable zone, orbiting at the "just right, not too hot, not too cold" distance from the Sun. Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumstellar_habitable_zone
"She has a tale to tell, From the stellar nursery into a carbon feast, Enter LUCA"
In astronomy, stellar nurseries are the birthplaces of stars: they nurse stars Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_formation#Stellar_nurseries
Poetically, our solar system is another "stellar nursery," in which a star is the nurse, caring for and warming a planet of 'newborns,' early carbon-based life. "Feast" evokes the incorporation of plentiful chemical building blocks into rudimentary life forms. "LUCA" stands for "Last universal common ancestor," the one single organism from which all other presently existing life on Earth descended. Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_universal_ancestor
"The tapestry of chemistry is a writing in the garden, Leading us to the mother of all"
The periodic table of elements does look like a sort of patchwork tapestry, but this can go further. The historical function of tapestries was as "nomadic murals," pictographical histories which moving people could pack up and revisit wherever they went. The "writing in the garden," in nature, is not only the stone murals left by dead animals in the form of fossils, but is also this chemical writing that encodes the relatively nomadic DNA molecule with the instructions for life. The scientific investigation of this information leads us back to LUCA, and further. Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapestry#Function
"We are one, We are a universe,"
This is the natural conclusion to draw from the fact that life shares common origin, that all life is built with the same blocks, and that all life on Earth is interdependent (gaia hypothesis). The multiplicity of beings on Earth are one, just as the cells in a body are one.
"Forebears of what will be Scions of the Devonian sea."
The Devonian geologic time period marked the first significant, rapid diversification of life (and the more well-known Cambrian explosion is another of these 'adaptive radiation' events). It was during the Devonian that the 'higher plants' appeared and blanketed the continents with forests. Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devonian
. The word "scion" refers to a shoot of a plant cut for grafting, and is also used to denote a descendent of a notable family. Both meanings apply.
"Aeons pass, Writing the tale of us all. A day-to-day new opening For the greatest show on Earth"
Evolutionary adaptation is written in the DNA and as fossils in the rocks, and is ongoing. Species die, diversifiy and delineate. Every day is different, every day something changes.
"Ion channels welcoming the outside world To the stuff of stars"
Ion channels are found in the membranes of all cells, controlling the flow of energy through the cells. The stuff of stars is all the physical matter we're made of. So it's the ion channels, guiding enery, which allow living bodies to interact with the rest of the world by exchanging energy with it. "Stuff of stars" is surely a Sagan reference: "The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff." For fun: ruclips.net/video/XGK84Poeynk/видео.html
"Bedding the tree of a biological holy, Enter life"
The bed of a tree is the nutrient-rich soil from which it grows, a soil made of dead things. The "tree of a biological holy" is probably the tree of life en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life_(biology)
. This line refers to the "holy" legendary tree of everlasting life but also means the conceptual, branching family tree of all life, whose bed consists of all deceased beings (in a more literal sense), or all extinct ancestral species (in a more abstract sense). This is thematically linked with the song "Alpenglow."
"We are here to care for the garden, The wonder of birth Of every form most beautiful"
"We" could be human beings tasked with acting as nature's stewards, garden of eden style, but that's not chronological -- human beings haven't quite appeared in the song yet. "We" could instead be all of life itself, in a gaia-philosophy sense, which posits that life creates environments ever more hospitable to more life. Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_philosophy
Or maybe it's a combination of these two thoughts: life eventually creates an environment suitable for the development of consiously acting, thinking human stewards.
[Part 3: The Toolmaker]
"After a billion years, The show is still here. Not a single one of your fathers died young."
Every single one of a given person's ancestors, male and female, lived past puberty at least. But "fathers" evokes "forefathers," which has a nicer storytelling ring to it than "parents."
"The handy travelers Out of Africa Little Lucy of the Afar"
Handymen are good with tools; travelers posessing hands rather than forefeet walk upright. Hominids originated in Africa and spread to the rest of the world from there. Lucy is a particular specimen of the Australopithecus, one of many "missing links" between modern humans and nonhuman ancestors.
Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(Australopithecus)
"Gave birth to fantasy, To idolatry, To self-destructive weaponry. Enter the God of gaps Deep within the past. Atavistic dread of the hunted!"
The brain grows, consciousness and creativity along with it. Atavism is the tendency to revert to ancestral type, an evolutionary throwback. Fight-or-flight instincts that helped human ancestors survive have now been creatively projected onto the world to both explain it (origins, meaning, suffering) and gain security in it (bargaining through sacrifice). These are the roots of theism.
Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atavism
"Enter Ionia, the cradle of thought, The architecture of understanding. The human lust to feel so exceptional, To rule the Earth"
Nomadic people develop agriculture and settle down into civilizations. The word "architecture" is at once both literal and figurative. The efficiency of civilization graces people with free time to do more than just feed themselves. They develop rich cultural traditions, arts and philosophies, much of which are deeply influenced by how different humans now are from all the rest of life.
"Hunger for shiny rocks, For giant mushroom clouds, The will to do as you'd be done by."
Shiny rocks are wealth: gold, precious stones, jewels, and later uranium which leads to the nuclear arms race. The golden rule -- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" -- is a coin with a dark side: "an eye for an eye," revenge. This ensures the "MAD"ness of mutually assured destruction. Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction
"Enter history, the grand finale. Enter ratkind."
"Ratkind" comes from Richard Dawkins' book "The Ancestor's Tale." Dawkins imagines a post-apocalyptic world in which rodents feast on the remnants of humanity (and humanity's garbage). The rat population explodes, and then as they exhaust these resources they turn on one another for food. As a consequence of natural selection, the rats diverge into new carnivorous and herbivorous species, and perhaps, eventually, a specices of rodent whose intelligence rivals that of humans. This is "ratkind." Https://iberianature.com/wildworld/tag/ratkind/
"Man, he took his time in the sun, Had a dream to understand A single grain of sand."
From William Blake: "To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour." ...And the story of the planet in 24 minutes. Not bad.
"He gave birth to poetry, But one day'll cease to be. Greet the last light of the library"
A bittersweet redundancy: poetry with library, the last light with ceasing to be. Reminiscent of Elan: "Be the first to greet the morn [...] Travel with great élan, dance a jig at the funeral."
"We were here!"
Who else is going to vote for this song's inclusion on the next Voyager golden record, if there'll ever be one?
I want to beam this song into space forever.
#3
Gave birth to fantasy
To idolatry
To self-destructive weaponry
Enter the God of gaps
(God of the gaps is a theological perspective in which gaps in scientific knowledge are taken to be evidence or proof of God's existence. The term "gaps" was initially used by Christian theologians not to discredit theism but rather to point out the fallacy of relying on teleological arguments for God's existence)
Deep within the past
Atavistic dread of the hunted
(relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral)
Enter Ionia, the cradle of thought
(Ionia is accepted as the cradle of thought and philosophy)
The architecture of understanding
The human lust to feel so exceptional
To rule the Earth
Hunger for shiny rocks
(Diamonds being suggested)
For giant mushroom clouds
The will to do just as you'd be done by
(A reference to Mutually Assured Destruction)
Enter history, the grand finale
(when we will become extinct too)
Enter ratkind
(this suggests after mankind has perished/killed itself, the rats will become dominant and sentient life, then they hypothesise how we became extinct. It is a fact that the first life forms returning to nuclear test sites are rats living in radiation levels lethal to us, this hypothesis is from Dawkins also.)
Man, he took his time in the sun (us now)
Had a dream to understand
A single grain of sand
He gave birth to poetry
But one day'll cease to be
Greet the last light of the library
(the cessation of mankind and the ending of our recorded knowledge)
Man, he took his time in the sun (us now)
Had a dream to understand
A single grain of sand
(in this second iteration, the first two bars of Metallica “Enter the Sandman” are played as a nod to them, one of the first HM bands to work with an orchestra and the sand reference. Metallica is rather a favourite of Tuomas too as they set him off on a musical path. There are several Easter eggs in this too with some phrases from classical and pop music too. Someone said, and I take no credit for this analysis, the little hidden melody bits were some African tribal drumming, a medieval hymn (Dies Irae), Johan Sebastian Bach (Christian Petzold) - Minuet in G major and Toccata & Fugue in D minor, American banjo music, Metallica - Enter Sandman and the bassline from Nightwish - I Wish I Had An Angel. Also Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction.)
He gave birth to poetry
But one day'll cease to be
Greet the last light of the library
Man, he took his time in the sun
Had a dream to understand
A single grain of sand
He gave birth to poetry
But one day'll cease to be
Greet the last light of the library
(There will be a human extinction event, no if's, just when. The sun is getting bigger by capturing space hydrogen, space is not exactly empty, it will eventually turn the planet to sand and boil the seas, we will be long gone by then, or on a different planet. It will become a red giant and swallow Mercury, Venus and the Earth. None of us need worry presently, it's a very long way off, a very long way off being about 5 billion years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Life_phases)
We were here!
We were here!
We were here!
We were here!
(We have always been here, we're made of the space dust and condensing gasses from the big bang, everything before us is still here in a different state and everybody and everything to come is here, as yet un-assembled, we are a universe as the atoms and molecules that make us and we have come from a universe.)
[Part 4: The Understanding] (From Richard Dawkins)
"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones.
Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara.
Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people.
In the teeth of those stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred"
[Part 5: Sea-Worn Driftwood] (original text from Charles Darwin read by Dawkins)
"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."
This. A masterpiece of detail and references. Thank you for your service.
Great reaction. Even if you hadn’t said a word, your facial expressions made it clear how much you enjoyed it. Sometime on your own, check out the Tampere version…even more of a spectacle.
Thank you for this version, galactic good
Merry Christmas 🎄 You lovely people
The Greatest Show on Earth is my favorite song, but you NEED to check Endlessness
I love "Endlessness" 😍!
@@marinaandersson4381 I think Endlessness is part 6 of The Greatest Show on Earth
Yeah, Endlessness is soooooo good ❤
There is another really good live show, there they use a flute and really awesome special effects. So if you want to watch it in private or do another reaction. It's the Tampere live show.
THE GREATEST BAND ON EARTH.
A very brillant but also emotional reaction from you both, thank you for this.😘😘
Just for your own fun, check also Tampere version of this song. For me, even better version of this masterpiece. 😃
I recommend you watch the Live version from Tampere, Finland. It's much better in my opinion.
Merry Xmas Chels and Mat. Been waiting for you to review this juggernaut of a masterpeace. On the Vehicle of Spirit package, the Wembley concert contains Ghost Love, The Poet and Greatest Show [ 3 mega compositions on the same night!!! ] and the Tampere Open Air show leaves out The Poet. All The Best - Keep Rockin'
The song was based on Richard Dawkins' book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. He is a very famous scientist, especially among atheists. Cause he's also a militant atheist.
Yes! The Greatest Show on Earth.
By the Greatest band on Earth
There's more to life than Slaughter to Prevail. LOL 🤣
If you think Slaughter To Prevail is all we react to you clearly aren’t watching the channel. 🤣
@@MatandChelsReact I failed at giving my comment a "global attendee" sense while I clearly had it in mind. My appologies.
Hey again Mat and Chels. super nice reaction to this masterpiece... want a hidden gem ? 2 and 3 part harmonies, tin whistle and audience chanting.. Nightwish - Come Cover Me ( Buenos Aires )
If you decide to rewatch this for your own enjoyment, I would suggest watching the Tampere version. A truly great visual show. The pyro alone is absolutely amazing. Also the vocal mix is much much better than Wembley.
Nightwish Army UK popping in because WE WERE HERE :)
And no you were right, that was footage from atomic bomb tests…they are epic to watch. The awesome power.
That’s life. That’s Nightwish. We were here ❤️
Nice. You NEVER can choose a wrong version with NW, but I prefer Tampere because of many reasons. Maybe because Floor IS LOOKING like the goddess creating Gaia herself 😁. And I am still missing "Kiss while your lips are still red live from Wembley". You have promised, because you did the "wrong" version 😂😂😂