"Holy Diver" is a song by American heavy metal band Dio. It was released in August 1983 as the lead

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the band's debut album of the same name. Although it only reached number 40 on the Mainstream Rock chart at that time, it is one of Dio's most popular songs today.

Reception

Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

, the song was placed on the list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles distributed by Clear Channel. In 2009, "Holy Diver" placed 43rd on VH1's ''Top 100 Hard Rock Songs''.

Content

Dio said the lyrics are about a

Christ figure A Christ figure, also known as a Christ-Image is a literary technique that the author uses to draw allusions between their characters and the biblical Jesus. More loosely, the Christ figure is a spiritual or prophetic character who parallels Jesus ...

on another planet who sacrifices himself to redeem his people. When the people learn that he intends to leave them to save people on other planets, they selfishly ask him to stay. "What does Ronnie ''mean'' when he writes stuff like 'Holy Diver'?" exclaimed

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

bassist Gene Simmons. "What is it, a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

diving off a cliff? A rabbi with swimming trunks?!"

Music video

The music video for "Holy Diver", directed and edited by Arthur Ellis, features Dio as a hairy barbarian adventuring through a desolate church (the then recently burnt-out St Mark's Church, Silvertown in east London, which is now a music venue). First he strikes a shrouded figure and his

hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nig ...

friend with his sword, but instead of killing them he turns them into rats. He later visits a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

who is forging a sword. He throws his old sword away and deftly catches the newly forged one. Walking through a corridor, he encounters three seated hooded figures. As the camera pans across them, the third slowly raises its head to reveal eyes resembling those of a cat. The final shots show Dio exiting the church.

Chart positions

Killswitch Engage version

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel an ...

covered the song for the compilation '' High Voltage!: A Brief History of Rock'' for ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' magazine. The song was later re-released for the special edition of ''

As Daylight Dies ''As Daylight Dies'' is the fourth studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on November 21, 2006 through Roadrunner Records. It was produced by Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel. Background and release T ...

''. A live version of the song is also featured on the Special Edition of their 2009 album ''

'', then in 2014, the song was re-released on the compilation album entitled '' Ronnie James Dio This Is Your Life''. This version of the song as well as the original composed by Dio are DLC for the guitar video game

Rocksmith 2014 ''Rocksmith 2014'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft. It is a followup to the 2011 game ''Rocksmith'', but has been described as a replacement to the original game rather than a sequel. Like its predecessor, the game allows players to plug ...

Music video

The band released a music video for their version. Directed by Brian Thompson, the video features a comical take on Dio's original music video.

Chart positions

Personnel

Killswitch Engage * Howard Jones – lead vocals *

Adam Dutkiewicz Adam Jonathan Dutkiewicz (born April 4, 1977) is an American musician, recording engineer, songwriter, and music producer, best known as the lead guitarist and backup vocalist from Massachusetts metalcore bands Killswitch Engage, Aftershock, and ...

– lead and rhythm guitar, vocals, keyboards *

Joel Stroetzel Joel Michael Stroetzel (born July 24, 1980) is best known as the rhythm guitarist from the Massachusetts metalcore band Killswitch Engage. Background Stroetzel attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston but did not graduate. Stroetzel's gu ...

– rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals *

Mike D'Antonio Michael D'Antonio (born May 19, 1973) is best known as the bass guitarist and founder of Massachusetts metal band Killswitch Engage and of the band Overcast. Career D'Antonio's writing influences include old New York Hardcore bands like Cro-Ma ...

– bass guitar *

Justin Foley Justin Foley is an American musician, best known as the drummer of the metalcore band, Killswitch Engage. He is also a former member of the band Blood Has Been Shed along with Killswitch Engage's former lead singer, Howard Jones. Biography E ...

– drums, percussion

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1983 debut singles Dio (band) songs Songs written by Ronnie James Dio Killswitch Engage songs 1983 songs Vertigo Records singles Mercury Records singles Warner Records singles Roadrunner Records singles