Nightwish - Nemo

Nightwish - Nemo - Meaning of the song

"Nemo" is the eighth single by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish and the first from the album Once. A big-budget video was made for the song, the director was Antti Jokinen, who had previously worked with Shania Twain, Celine Dion and Eminem. The video was number one on MTV Brasil Video Chart. The song was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. Although Nightwish already enjoyed a solid fan base in Europe and South America by the time of the single's release, it is considered their breakthrough song since it helped them reach a wider audience.

Keyboardist and songwriter Tuomas Holopainen says the song was "one of the most difficult songs" the band's ever done. It took them months to work on the arrangement. The first version was faster and two minutes longer, but recording engineer Tero Kinnunen suggested they cut off a certain section and slowed it down by about 10 bpm.

Holopainen has stated that the title is Latin for "nobody" or "no name" and the song is based on his occasional feelings of being lost, longing for the past and feeling nameless. This contradicts speculations that the song simply borrows on a Nemo character of an earlier work, such as J. Verne's Captain Nemo, Homer's Ulysses alias Nemo, C. Dickens’ Captain Hawdon alias Nemo, W. McCay's Little Nemo, or the Disney Studio's film Finding Nemo. Asked about that, Holopainen responded:

Not the fish! I cannot believe how everyone seems to be convinced it's that. Nemo, which is Latin for "nobody," has nothing to do with the Disney film. It revolves around the feelings I have from time to time. I feel nameless and do not know who I am or where I will go. I only know my past and I long to be back there. The song is about being lost, not knowing where to go or what to do, yet desperate for everything in life. That’s not always me, but when I wrote Nemo, that's the way I felt. Now I feel better.

Nemo - Lyrics

This is me for forever One of the lost ones The one without a name Without an honest heart as compass This is me for forever One without a name These lines the last endeavor To find the missing lifeline Oh how I wish For soothing rain All I wish is to dream again My loving heart Lost in the dark For hope I'd give my everything My flower, withered between The pages 2 and 3 The once and forever bloom gone with my sins Walk the dark path Sleep with angels Call the past for help Touch me with your love And reveal to me my true name Oh how I wish For soothing rain All I wish is to dream again My loving heart Lost in the dark For hope I'd give my everything Oh how I wish For soothing rain Oh how I wish to dream again Once and for all And all for once Nemo my name forevermore Nemo sailing home Nemo letting go Oh how I wish For soothing rain All I wish is to dream again My loving heart Lost in the dark For hope I'd give my everything Oh how I wish For soothing rain Oh how I wish to dream again Once and for all And all for once Nemo my name forevermore

-Nightwish - Nemo - Live