"Ice Queen" is a song by
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
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
Within Temptation
Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...
. It was released in June 2001 as the second single from their second studio album ''
Mother Earth''. The song was the band's commercial breakthrough, and it remains one of the band's most successful songs to date in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. It has been featured on the annual Dutch
Top 2000
The ''Top 2000'' is an annual Dutch marathon radio programme that plays the 2,000 songs voted most popular of all time. The show runs 24 hours a day, starting Christmas and ending on New Year's Eve. The show is hosted by the Dutch national radio ...
since 2011.
Along with the singles "
Mother Earth," "
Angels
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 incl ...
," and "
Stand My Ground", "Ice Queen" has become one of the band's
signature song
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...
s and is played as ending song on the setlist on almost every concert, except for some shows of ''
The Unforgiving Tour'' onwards, where they started to end with the songs "
Mother Earth" or "Stairway to the Skies".
Lyrics
Like many of Within Temptation's songs, the lyrics of Ice Queen take their inspiration from nature.
"It's a song about nature", said vocalist Sharon den Adel, in an interview with Dennis Weening on Westpop. "And how things go in nature". Guitarist Robert Westerholt further added that "it's about winter".
Video
There are two official videos for the song "Ice Queen". The first video, released only in the
Netherlands
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even though it is generally known as the "German Version", starts with a girl checking a website for concert videos. Then she finds two links, one saying 'Within Temptation'. She clicks on that link and their concert in
Landgraaf
Landgraaf (; li, Lankgraaf ) is a municipality in southeastern Limburg, Netherlands, forming part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. ''Snow World'' is the largest indoor ski piste in Europe.
Population centres
* Nieuwenhagen
* Schaesberg ...
in 2001, is shown on her screen. While watching the concert on her computer, she clicks on a couple of links and information on the band appears on her screen.
The second video was made for international release. Sharon, the singer, is dancing on a background of a blue, starry sky. She is wearing a white dress and has white extensions in her hair. The other band members are also shown before various backgrounds made with
green-screen effects. Such as Robert, the rhythm guitarist, who is shown on a background of fire, or the drummer, who is shown on a background of a thunderstorm. After a while, all band members are shown together on a red planet.
Track listing
;CD single (original)
#"Ice Queen" (radio edit) (3:48)
#"Mother Earth" (album version) (5:29)
;CD multi single (original) and U.S.
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
EP released May 28, 2001
#"Ice Queen" (radio edit) (3:48)
#"Mother Earth"
ive 11.02.2001 at Leidsekade, Amsterdam(5:44)
#"Caged"
ive 11.02.2001 at Leidsekade, Amsterdam(5:55)
#"Ice Queen"
ive 11.02.2001 at Leidsekade, Amsterdam(5:11)
#"Believer" ("Ice Queen" demo version, August 2000) (4:32)
#"Caged" (demo version, August 2000) (4:32)
;CD single (2002 release)
#"Ice Queen" (radio edit) (3:48)
#"Caged"
ive 11.02.2001 at Leidsekade, Amsterdam(5:55)
;CD single (2003 release)
#"Ice Queen" (radio edit) (3:48)
#"Mother Earth"
ive 11.02.2001 at Leidsekade, Amsterdam(5:44)
#"Ice Queen" (acoustic at "MXL") (3:52)
;CD multi single (2003 release) and U.S.
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
EP released May 12, 2003
#"Ice Queen" (radio edit) (3:48)
#"World of Make Believe" (non-album track) (4:47)
#"Ice Queen" (acoustic at "MXL") (3:52)
#"Ice Queen"
ive 11.02.2001 at Leidsekade, Amsterdam(5:11)
#"Mother Earth" (orchestra version) (3:29)
#"Mother Earth"
ive 11.02.2001 at Leidsekade, Amsterdam(5:44)
Charts
Weekly Charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
References
External links
{{authority control
2001 songs
Within Temptation songs
Songs written by Sharon den Adel
Songs written by Robert Westerholt
Songs about weather