Amaranth (song)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Amaranth" is the thirteenth single by
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...
band
Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...
. It was released as the first official single from their sixth studio album, ''
Dark Passion Play ''Dark Passion Play'' is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. It was released on 26 September 2007 by Spinefarm Records in Finland, 28 September by Nuclear Blast in Europe and 2 October 2007 by Roadrunner Records in th ...
'', and was the second single overall to feature former frontwoman
Anette Olzon Anette Ingegerd Olsson (born 21 June 1971), known by the stage name Anette Olzon, is a Swedish singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish from 2007 to 2012. She is also the vocalist of Swedish class ...
, following the
promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...
"
Eva Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...
". The official release date was 22 August 2007 but it was leaked onto the Internet earlier, though the exact date it leaked is unknown. The title song includes all of the band members, but the single contains a bonus track called "
While Your Lips Are Still Red "While Your Lips Are Still Red" is a 2007 song written by Tuomas Holopainen and Marko Hietala of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. It was performed by Holopainen, Hietala, and Jukka Nevalainen for the Finnish film '' The Matriarch'' ...
", on which Olzon and the guitarist
Emppu Vuorinen Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nev ...
do not play. This song is used in the Finnish film ''The Matriarch'', released in September 2007. The official video for "Amaranth" was released on 15 June and has had over 100 million views. On 24 August 2007 the Nightwish's official website reported that "Amaranth" had already achieved gold status in Finland two days after its release, meaning sales of over 5,000 copies. On 29 August it was announced that the single had topped the
Finnish Singles Chart The Official Finnish Charts ( fi, Suomen virallinen lista; sv, Finlands officiella lista) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiell ...
. On 6 September the official site also announced that Amaranth had reached the top of the charts in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
too.


Reach

"Reach" was the original title for "Amaranth" when Nightwish began recording the demos for ''Dark Passion Play''. After they had chosen a new female singer in February 2007, the lead vocal of the song was changed from
Marko Hietala Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala (born 14 January 1966) is a Finnish heavy metal vocalist, bassist and songwriter. Internationally, he is best known as the former bassist, male vocalist and secondary composer to Tuomas Holopainen, of the symphonic ...
to Olzon and the lyrics of the chorus and parts of the music were changed, becoming "Amaranth". "Reach" was later included as the second track on the "Amaranth" CD single.


Music video

The video for the song is the first from the ''
Dark Passion Play ''Dark Passion Play'' is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. It was released on 26 September 2007 by Spinefarm Records in Finland, 28 September by Nuclear Blast in Europe and 2 October 2007 by Roadrunner Records in th ...
'' album, succeeded by another, "
Bye Bye Beautiful "Bye Bye Beautiful" is the second track on Nightwish's ''Dark Passion Play'' album. The song was confirmed to be the second single from ''Dark Passion Play'' by Tuomas Holopainen in an interview, but it was changed to the third single after the an ...
"; both were directed by
Antti Jokinen Antti Juhanpoika Jokinen (born 26 April 1968) is a Finnish music video and film director as well as a former college basketball player. He is married to actress Krista Kosonen. Biography Early life Born in Nurmijärvi to the family of a sports ...
and filmed in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in spring 2007 and cost more than €270,000. In June
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
, Olzon said that the video, which was released with the single, is based on a Finnish painting called ''
The Wounded Angel ''The Wounded Angel'' ( fi, Haavoittunut enkeli; sv, Sårad ängel; 1903) is a painting by Finnish symbolist painter Hugo Simberg. It is one of the most recognizable of Simberg's works, and was voted Finland's "national painting" in a vote held ...
'',Nightmail
''Nightwish.com''
which was painted at the turn of the 20th century by
Hugo Simberg Hugo Gerhard Simberg (24 June 1873 – 12 July 1917) was a Finnish symbolist painter and graphic artist. Life and career Simberg was born on 24 June 1873, at Hamina (in the original Swedish: ''Fredrikshamn''), Finland, the son of Colonel Nicol ...
and voted the most loved painting of the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki in 2006. The video alternates between the band playing underground and scenes of a story of two boys who find a fallen
angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
. It begins with the boys playing by a
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
, having a good time, but when one of them looks up from his toy boat, he sees an angel lying on the other side, unconscious and bleeding from her eyes. The boy points out the angel to his brother, and they run to her aid. Subsequently, they are seen carrying the now blindfolded angel on a makeshift stretcher. They travel to a nearby
village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in order to treat her. Residents of the village are confused and some look upon her with contempt, possibly seeing her not as an angel, but as an object of
evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...
. This may be a reference to
Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
, who fell from
Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
during the great battle. Because of Lucifer's treachery, a fallen angel is often viewed as evil. The boys reach their house and set the angel down on a bed. One of them touches the angel's
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
s, and she regains consciousness. The boy tilts her chin up, and a drop of blood falls from her eyes into his open hand, which closes. A mob of men, made up of some of the villagers who saw the boys bring in the angel, barge into the house and drag the boys out, away from the angel, who has begun to thrash helplessly. A man outside sets the house on fire with a torch. The mob outside rejoice as the house burns down, but the angel escapes back to Heaven.


Track listing

The first version of the single was presented by
Spinefarm Records Spinefarm Records is a Finnish independent record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. It is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. History Spinefarm Records was originally founded in 1990 by Riku Pääkkönen as a mail-order distrib ...
on 22 August 2007. The track listing was revealed on the website of Nightwish's official fanshop on 21 June, as the pre-sales began.


Charts performance

"Amaranth" is Nightwish's most successful single, reaching number 1 in Spain, Hungary and Finland. It went straight to number one in Finland and stayed there for three weeks, dropping to number 2 in its fourth week on the chart. "Amaranth" then returned to the top spot the following week and remained there for a further six weeks. In total it spent 21 weeks inside the Finnish Top 40. In the UK, it charted at #120 on the mainstream chart but topped the Rock Singles Chart for five weeks.


Sales and certifications


In popular culture

*"Amaranth" (alongside "
Poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
" by
Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
) was sampled by the German dance-act Baracuda in the 2008 single "Where is the Love". *The song was made available for download on 14 August 2012 to play in ''
Rock Band 3 ''Rock Band 3'' is a 2010 music video game developed by Harmonix. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, in late October 2010. Mad Catz took over both roles and re-released the title on N ...
'' basic and pro mode utilizing real guitar and bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits and keyboards.


References


External links


Nightwish's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaranth (Song) 2007 singles Nightwish songs Number-one singles in Finland Songs containing the I–V-vi-IV progression Songs written by Tuomas Holopainen 2007 songs Spinefarm Records singles Nuclear Blast Records singles lt:Dark Passion Play#Amaranth