I became a Literature major when the college I transferred to didn’t offer Writing.
The thing I liked best about studying lit was deconstructionism. Discovering the reasons why writers wrote what they did, what events influenced their content, and how they integrated strong symbolism into their works.
I then took the idea of deconstructionism to other art forms. From painting, to film, to music.
When I was a young man I listened to too much heavy metal. My hearing loss today is directly attributed to attending metal shows with no hearing protection. Because when you’re 16, you’re invincible. And hearing protection at an Iron Maiden concert would be way uncool.
One of the bands I followed back in the day was Black Sabbath. Only, not the Ozzie version of Sabbath. It wasn’t until Heaven and Hell came out in 1980 that I listened to them. That’s when Ronnie James Dio became the vocalist (and writer) for two albums.
But back in 1980 I didn’t care about deconstructionism. I just knew, like the rest of my metalhead buddies, that angels playing cards and smoking cigarettes on an album titled Heaven and Hell was badass. The music was tight and crisp, unlike the heavy Ozzie stuff, and the lyrics were poetic. Plus, they were delivered with Dio’s unrelenting passion.
Fast forward to 2017. We have a new president. A guy I loathed when he was just a douchebag celebrity developer in the 80s. This guy swindles people. Always did. He was a casino boss, after all. But alas, he was voted into most powerful office in the world—and has since been proven to be a bold-faced liar. That’s my take on Trump and it has nothing to do with him being a professed Republican. I was raised in a Republican house and have nothing against Republicans. In fact, like our nation’s forefathers, I firmly believe that we need dissenting views because one-party rule is a quick ride to the end of our democracy. Only this guy would have said that he’s a farm animal if it meant he could get votes. But the fact is that thanks in part to #TrumpCulture, facts have become opinions. And that’s a big fucking problem. Throw the idea of #FakeNews in there and, well, nobody knows what to believe anymore. These are dark days when deception and dishonesty are a means of gleaning power.
And it reminds me of the lyrics from the song Heaven and Hell.
Sing me a song, you’re a singer
Do me a wrong, you’re a bringer of evil
The devil is never a maker
The less that you give, you’re a taker
So it’s on and on and on, it’s heaven and hell
Oh well
The lover of life’s not a sinner
The ending is just a beginner
The closer you get to the meaning
The sooner you’ll know that you’re dreaming
So it’s on and on and on, oh it’s on and on and on
It goes on and on and on, Heaven and Hell
I can tell
Fool, fool
Oh uh
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Well if it seems to be real, it’s illusion
For every moment of truth, there’s confusion in life
Love can be seen as the answer, but nobody bleeds for the dancer
And it’s on and on, on and on and on and on and on and on and on
They say that life’s a carousel
Spinning fast, you’ve got to ride it well
The world is full of kings and queens
Who blind your eyes and steal your dreams
It’s heaven and hell, oh well
And they’ll tell you black is really white
The moon is just the sun at night
And when you walk in golden halls
You get to keep the gold that falls
It’s heaven and hell, oh no
Fool, fool
You’ve got to bleed for the dancer
Fool, fool
Look for the answer
Fool, fool, fool
On paper you might think – meh, it’s not very catchy. I’ve embedded a video below to disprove that thought. (Don’t fight me on it.) You might also think – it doesn’t really say anything. But you’re wrong.
Let’s take a look at what’s really happening in this song. Dio (the author) is talking about a world where powerful people have taken control by confusing the masses with lies and deceit. The Truth is literally being hidden by the devil.
Sing me a song, you’re a singer
Do me a wrong, you’re a bringer of evil
The devil is never a maker
The less that you give, you’re a taker
I believe that the first two lines are intentionally contradictory–a juxtaposition, if you will. A singer is a maker/creator. A creator is God-like. The second line clearly frames the opposite. The next two lines are intended to reveal that despite his promises, the devil doesn’t “make” anything, and the more you emulate this in your own life, you become a taker (consumer)—or, the opposite of a maker (creator.)
If God creates (Genesis), then the opposite of this is the devil being a destroyer (taker.) Also of note, artists (including singers and dancers) are also creators/makers. That is, until their light is snuffed out.
Moving on –
The lover of life’s not a sinner
The ending is just a beginner
The closer you get to the meaning
The sooner you’ll know that you’re dreaming
A great little stanza here. If we’re all sinners, then none of us really love life. That’s weird. Like topsy-turvy weird. Also, the ending is just a beginner is another confusing line that could be interpreted in a range of ways (for example, every ending is the beginning of something else—which is true.) But what I think Dio is doing here is starting us off slowly before descending into total confusion as the next two lines begin to directly indicate – The closer you get to the meaning the sooner you’ll know that you’re dreaming. Two really fascinating lines that take us right down into the Truth of the song. He’s literally stating that what you think is true is just your own mind (dreams) playing tricks on you. And everyone knows that dreams aren’t reality, right? At this point we wonder–what exactly is reality?
Then things speed up a little more –
Well if it seems to be real, it’s illusion
For every moment of truth, there’s confusion in life
Love can be seen as the answer, but nobody bleeds for the dancer
Do I need to explain anything here? I don’t think so. Oh, except the bleeding for the dancer part. That’s kind of confusing, but I think it has to do with the idea of God (dancer being an artist, an artist being a creator, a creator emulating God.) God bled for us, but we don’t bleed for God. God being Truth in this context, obviously.
Ok now we’re at the part of the song where the tempo picks up and Dio leads us into a spiral of darkness –
They say that life’s a carousel
Spinning fast, you’ve got to ride it well
This is The Machine I constantly go on about, and that I wrote about in my novel Minor King. Gotta follow all the rules. Gotta get the proper education. Gotta have the nice car. And the big house. And the perfect job. Gotta compete. Gotta consume. Gotta do it. Then you gotta teach your kids to spin and spin so they don’t get left behind. Because spinning on the carousel is a good life. It’s a freaking carousel, for crying out loud. Who doesn’t love that?
The world is full of kings and queens
Who blind your eyes and steal your dreams
Ok, now we know who is responsible for the great facade—Kings and Queens. AKA powerful people. Presidents. Ambassadors. C-level Executives. People who want loyal subjects that give up their silly dreams to serve them (especially artists, who have no value.) Dio uses the word “blind” here with exacting precision–because when you hide the Truth, you literally blind those who seek it.
So how do these people mobilize us? Deceit and confusion –
And they’ll tell you black is really white
The moon is just the sun at night
And when you walk in golden halls
You get to keep the gold that falls
And here we come to it—money. We happily give up on our dreams to hop on a carousel horse if there’s gold/revenue involved. The people in power know this and confuse us to the point where we don’t know what the hell is real anymore. Then they lure us with gold and we blindly follow. And when we conform (Walk in golden halls), we get to keep the gold that falls. Yeah that’s basically trickle down economics years before Reagan implemented it. Black is really white. The moon is just the sun at night. Up is down. Wrong is right. Nothing is real. It’s maddening! And why do they keep us blind to the Truth? Power. Kings like being kings. Just as some presidents would like to stay in power forever. #FakeNews
It’s heaven and hell, oh no
Fool, fool
You’ve got to bleed for the dancer
Fool, fool
Look for the answer
Fool, fool, fool
Dio’s final plea is for us to reject the darkness and see the light. The Truth. To become woke to the fact that we’re being fed lies. You have to bleed for the dancer. The dancer is the creator. The creator is Truth. Truth is God/Heaven.
Life is a battle between two forces—light and darkness (or Heaven and Hell.) You can break everything in your life down to these two core concepts (trust me, I’m a deconstructionist.) The more light you consume, the more you create, and the more that darkness abates. You see, by its very nature darkness hates light. It doesn’t want a world of dancers/singers/creators/truth seekers. Darkness simply wants loyal subjects mired in confusion so that it can spread—and it only spreads by snuffing out light/Truth/God/Heaven.
Ronnie James Dio predicted our current national crisis 38 years ago. We’re confused. And for good reason. Darkness wants to win.
But here’s the thing—there is light inside of you. It’s in all of us. We’re born with it and it never leaves–the “real world” just covers it like a grave in the ground as we get older. But it’s there. It’s always there. So stop listening to the media and the politicians and trust your heart. Because that’s where the light is. That’s where the Truth lives. Don’t ever lose heart.
***
Lindell
Jun 1, 2019
Yes. When i think of the bleeding for the dancer i think of a number of concepts which u can hear throughout dios lyrics. Yes the dancer being god or a “god”, but the god of this world is said to be “satan” or the demiurge….the ‘one’ who spins the karmic wheel on which we stumble and run and from which we falsely believe there is no escape. In esotericism, gnosticism, buddhism etc practitioners have explored the way out for a very long time. They know that its sacrifice, body and soul, to escape and live free as love/clear light (light that cant be seen) That heaven and hell are one in the same depending on what u dream and depending on whether or not u are able to make the sacrifice. To bleed as yeshuah ( and all his other names through the ages) is said to have. The deep symbolism within the sacrifice, death and resurrection for all souls (the dancer dreaming into being matter, hell, this existence that we believe we see drawn together with bloody threads of twisted dreams and echoes of love we once knew and wanna know again) To draw the 2 illusionary polarities of god and satan (heaven/hell, jesus/satan) together at the point of the sacred bleeding heart and pass through the eye of the needle (as the gnostics believe jesus did …raising the golden chrism past the offers of satan and being annointed by ‘god’/crowned/christed on the cross- an analogy for the spine crossed at the heart- with precious oils through meditation, pure living and sacrifice…and reborn to a higher level of being) …to bleed for the dancer and see through the illusion we are dancing..trapped in karma/hell…or the seeming illusion of such that we are dreaming. It, and we, are all one in the same. The closer u get to the meaning, the sooner u know that ur dreaming…illusion/maya/satans false light. You can note in other songs dio sings about light that cant be seen etc etc and stopping the wheel…it falls to the ground, but be careful as it might start spinning again….and take u right back around…noting the balance needed for the sacrifice… One of my fave lines from Mob Rules. His lyrical content is severely under rated and rarely understood by the average punter. I personally believe dio dabbled in some deep stuff and maybe was involved in secret society. He sang about doing the demon dance and rushing to nevermore…and the folklore that the ancients(eg egyptians)had technology advanced way beyond ours..and being locked away in this world as if we are like cattle kept. There is much hidden in various lore that speaks of the same. Even the nazis ventured to find the key and unlock the gate out…or in, depending on how u view it..and seem to have found that the back door to heaven is just the front door to hell.. u have to go through hell to find heaven (sacrifice) There are things that some of us just know/remember and he hid such knowledge in slightly cryptic lyrics and purveyed them in character akin to hell’s court jester lol.
We’re all born upon the cross, we’re the throw before the toss, u can release urself but the only way is doooooowwwwnnnn. We face the demons before we meet sacrifice, find the sacred heart, pure love/ god…our true selves. We’re the last in line. Us who keep returning to the dance. We are being waited for to make our sacrifice one way or another…but we enjoy the magic adventures so much. We love the illusion of golden halls and the fantasy of this realm and some of us came to remind others that we are being waited on. But there are those kings and queens who rely on keeping us entrapped. Haha got a bit carried away. I just adore dios/sabbaths lyrics. Like a heavy metal Taliesin, or Merlin in one of many disguises, he lives in legend, as the keys left us by those long gone.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 1, 2019
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Bravo! Yes Dio was totally underrated as a poet. Oh, and Dio? It means “giver” in Spanish. And God in Spanish is Dios.
Bruno
Jul 19, 2019
Lindell, if you ever see this again, tell me which kind of books, or even which books should I read to have an introduction on these topics?
Lindell
Jun 1, 2019
And i especially love the idea that some light can never be seen from holy diver. Darkness is only light that cant be seen
Lindell
Jun 1, 2019
Not to fear the dark as we must pass through the illusion of it as part of the sacrifice
Lindell
Jun 1, 2019
Or u can also view it as the part im Corinthians that speaks of focussing not on what can be seen but what is unseen, as what is unseen is eternal. The body/matter is illusory
Daniel Frank
Aug 22, 2019
I lean against that people mostly overinterpret Dio and his lyrics. He had a well-founded pathos for the weak and let that shine through in many of his songs, but I dont think he had any Dylanesque poetic imagery with biblical symbolisms in mind when he wrote his stuff.
Just a good dude trying to come up with some “cool lyrics”. 🙂
Jim Mitchem
Aug 22, 2019
Something I’ve noticed as a writer is that when you let go and let the muses/spirits work, you become less a writer and more a conduit. It’s not a unique concept as some of the great writers in history point to this idea. So perhaps Dio did the same. Sometimes. And what transpired was intended by a higher purpose. But also yes on the thing about trying to come up with cool lyrics.
John
Aug 30, 2019
DIO stated himself in a 1999 online chat interview: ”The dancer is the free spirit unfettered by chains and not confined by four walls. No one seems to care much for those they can’t control.” See http://ronniejamesdiosite.com/O&E/chats/june5-99/June5chat.html
Jim Mitchem
Aug 31, 2019
So innocence that doesn’t conform to the machine.
David
Dec 21, 2021
I always thought of it more as the Dancer is a free spirit (as if you’ve ever seen someone on a dance floor free of inhibitions or cares). The Dancer doesn’t partake in the waring that consumes the egotistical. “Nobody bleeds for the Dancer” and “Fool, Fool, you’ve got to bleed for the Dancer” meaning the Dancer has it right and that’s what we should be fighting for because the Dancer is not ego driven or tribal. They’re simply free and capable of living amongst all and would be happy to just have you join them in dance. As we all should be.
Dizzy Diz-Born
Aug 10, 2022
I gotta agree with you Daniel. I just can’t see ‘dancer’ as being anything other than a rhyme with ‘answer’. If it is a metaphor for God (‘I think it has to do with the idea of God (dancer being an artist, an artist being a creator, a creator emulating God.)’) then it’s terrible…The dancer being the serf that entertains the emporer in fear for her life? God? If Dio is using the rhyme dancer as a metaphor for God this is (to my heart at least) atrociously banal and un-thought out writing. I’d rather think that he’d just had some powder and was scribbling a load of second rate rhymes down knowing the words had some potency over our adolescant curious minds.
But Jim, thanks for the effort..I just googled this curious to see if anyone had anything to convince me that there was a reason Dio wrote about the dancer. After reading this I do hope that it was just juvenile rubbish rather than any attempt at Dylanesque imagery : )
fabio
Jan 6, 2020
Jim,
thank you very much for sharing your thinking. The song reminds me when I was younger and fascinated by the lyrics without being fully aware of the meaning…but I had the unconscious perception it had some deep truth to communicate about life/death, light/darkness.
I learned more about Gnosticism during College times and further advanced studies in Anthroposophy – and yes- ‘the ending is just the beginner’, as depicted by ouroboros symbol, the true spark of awareness is when one faces his own end, this should mean to be a true contemplative of your human condition, before death, obtaining full awareness long before the last great alchemical transformation.
This means also letting go of all the lies, rules, religions, restrictions added by schools, family, politicians, and so on …
Fabio
Daniel Rodriguez
Mar 29, 2020
I thought about this song for days and wondered “who was the Dancer” pretty cool article…DIO was a true thinker, poet, song writer. I hear him every day that i go to work…..never get tired of his music. Thanks for your interpretation of it.
Phil
May 7, 2020
Ozzie? OZZIE? And you call yourself a Black Sabbath fan? I knew NEVER TRUMPers were dumb, but damn son. It’s OZZY. Also I expect an apology whenever Trump wins again in Nov 2020.
Jim Mitchem
May 7, 2020
Ok so you come here into my blog and try to insult me. And call me a never trumper (which I guess I am since I’d never hire a game show host as president), but the best part is you are wrong. Dio elevated Sabbath to epic levels when he arrived in 1980 after Ozzie’s departure (Ozzy was way better as a solo act, btw). But I will give you one thing, your ignorance is no match for your confidence. Good day, my fellow American brother.
Daniel Costello
May 22, 2020
Hey man I just want to apologize on behalf of my fellow trump fan. Disagreeing politically is the reason we have a democracy. It’s no reason to throw out insults or anything like that. Yes I voted for trump and will again but do I hate you for not wanting trump as president? Absolutely not. This is first and formost a post about a band and song that we all love. So can we all just get along and reminisce about the past and our love of metal?
Guilherme Soares
Sep 27, 2020
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I was curious as to your opinion regarding Trump as of right now. You know, since he’s trying to become America’s first King (Or the closest modern equivalent. Something akin a Russian Oligarch).
Do you still regard him in the same light as you did in May?
Jim Mitchem
Sep 28, 2020
Of course. It’s darkness–there’s no light about him. He’s a deceiver.
Ethan
Dec 19, 2020
Great analysis Jim, thanks for this! I just stumbled upon this, in this year 2020 the time of much darkness.
It seems the light and the dark are at a fever pitch at the moment. Taking a step back and listening to the thoughts and dreams and music of those that came before is a good way to get some perspective. I love how Dio expressed himself and how you explained it to the masses out here.
👍🏿
Ethan
Jim Mitchem
Dec 19, 2020
Thanks, Ethan. It really is a remarkable time to be alive and with your eyes open. Question – how did you land on this blog? I get so much traffic for this post and have no idea where it’s coming from. Thanks.
José Franco
Feb 13, 2021
Hi Jim,
I stopped here looking for the meaning of the song “heaven and hell” and found its wonderful text. I read the comments and would add some allegories of the Tarot archetypes, both in Dio’s and Bruce Dickinson’s lyrics, example “The Tower” … A big hug from Rio de Janeiro / BR
Jim Mitchem
Feb 14, 2021
Thanks, José. Hugs back. Will check out “The Tower.”
Dizzy Diz-Born
Aug 10, 2022
The Trump supporter was right about Ozzy’s name ya know…Sure, it was mispelt as Ossie on the first album but they corrected it by the second. It remained Ozzy after except when journalists got it wrong.
Cl
Jun 5, 2020
Personally, I find these lyrics to be one of the best ever sung.
I wish you good luck getting rid of him in 2020
Nicholas Lengua
Aug 13, 2020
The song Heaven and Hell is profoundly effective in that after forty years I find myself coming back to this song. I have lost two Wonderful wives to cancer, the first time when I was thirty-five and now at 59! The pain so Intense! She’s still so beautiful, her face and her long blond hair. The only thing, Emotion, feelings, beliefs that I know were True and are True is Love. Love, true Love, conquers all fears I have ever had and continue to rise up today. Love makes you unafraid and for me to live without fear is the only way to really Live! It’s the Kings and Queens who want us to fear, they use our fears against us because they do not want us to truly be free! Now that I know for sure that Love is my Savior. I no longer am afraid, I don’t fear them and whether I live much longer in this physical world or in the spiritual World, I will live without Fear! Love is my Savior Jesus Christ the man not the religion. Sincerely, Nick
AB
Sep 4, 2020
Thank you so much for your analysis of these lyrics.
When I discovered this beautiful song I did not know English enough to even attempt to understand the meaning of its words.
Thanks to your amazing work and willing to share, not only I now see the meaning of it, I do like it even more!
Rafaell Carneiro
Oct 8, 2020
Well, I agree with most of your deconstructiong about this fabulous song. You did a great job. In my opinion, the dancer has a diferent meaning from the singer. Yes, the singer is a creator, a God-Like, but the dancer isn´t. “You´ve got to bleed for the dancer”. The dancer is the person who is in a worse situation than you are. He / she falls much more than you do. Maybe they´re poor, unhealthy, depressed, etc. If you want to evolve into a better being you should help people around you, that´s the answer. It seems that all the song criticizes our selfishness because we´re always thinking about ourselves: money, fame, success, beauty, etc, all of this is an ilusion created to keep us away from our true dreams. “The closer you get to the meaning, the sooner you know that you´re dreaming”. The leaders we follow, most of them, want us to keep in this illusory spiral. The powerful men use propaganda to steal our dreams. They don´t want us to think freely. They want to control our thoughts. So, all the song is criticizing the material world. Dio has a different view, if you look at his interviews, he do not believe in heaven or hell, he says that god or devil are inside of us. He believed much more in humanity and our emotions and how it can lead us to a better world. I´m pretty sure he was into an occultist society by the way lyrics were written and he was much more into the philosophy behind of it than the creed itself. Sorry for the long comment. I do really liked your point of view. See ya!
Bk
Nov 28, 2020
I agree with you on the meaning of the song but not the reality of our current situation. Trump is a result of a pc culture blinding our eyes. Pc doesn’t encourage creativity it stifles it. Only rewarding a narrative controlled by elitist. Trump was a protest to this. Love or hate him, modern pc culture is darkness. Trump was just the spark to light the fuse in the war against free will. The answer to lies is truth not censorship. Censorship is the spawn of corruption, it goes on and on and on. 😎
Jim Mitchem
Nov 29, 2020
What if he’s the lie? And you’re believing it because it aligns with your biases? What if the light is still hidden deep inside your heart under layers of deceit where darkness lies to you and you believe it? That’s what Dio was talking about. But as long as we believe that can’t possibly be true, then darkness will continue to have its way with us.
Look, this post wasn’t about Trump. I just happened to pay attention to him since the 80s and couldn’t believe we hired a game show host to lead our nation. Also, NO ONE PERSON is the king of your heart. Just you. Too often in our culture we look to external things to solve our ills for us. When the only TRUE elixir is within us. The light. The Truth. The dancer.
Crack is Whack!
Dec 30, 2020
Was looking forward to enjoying a take on this old classic album when Ozzy droll ways were exited.
Instead, I get this babble about President Trump who has over performed and delivered as promised for the American people.
It doesn’t matter what faults President Trump had earlier in his life. I knew him back in NYC when he fixed the skating rink in mere months after NYC couldn’t do it for years and threw money down a hole.
It’s not about his TV life or his beautiful women or any of that.
President Trump stood up and did more to keep his promises to the AMERICAN PEOPLE than any US president in generations.
Dio would love how President Trump exposed the light on a corrupt political culture and Deep State that is literally so out of control it spied on journalists, patriots and Americans under Obama like a East German Stasi organization but only worse.
Obama’s Deep State literally turned its powers against Americans while selling out the country at every opportunity to weaken America following his Hate America Third World philosophy.
If you don’t see the light after years of illumination on the massive corruption in the courts, government and the Chinese Communist Party infiltrating and turning this country against itself with its fifth column fellow travelers from China Mitch to Swawell, Pelsoi and the entire rot in the Wall St. globalist corporate Demoncrats and GOPe, no one can help you.
You’re just that dumb.
Jim Mitchem
Jan 1, 2021
lol
Buddy Weber
Jan 29, 2021
Great analysis of the lyrics. Some points could be debatable, but, hey, some writers would say the lyrics mean what the listen thinks they mean.
I was a junior in high school when this album came out. My Senior quote in the year book was: “The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams…” My original submission included “It’s Heaven and Hell” but since I went to a Catholic school it was not included. The nun who was the yearbook moderator approached me when the yearbook came out and explained that the message was clear (don’t let the powers to be negatively influence you), the “heaven and hell” was a bit over the top.
Again great breakdown and analysis. Thanks for the memories!
Jim Mitchem
Jan 30, 2021
Thanks, Buddy. And wow, nice line to be remembered by.
J M
Feb 5, 2021
Spot them by the wake of broken hearts they leave behind as these ships of wonder cut through all before them. Ahead lies humanity as it is, has been and will be until these metaphoric “ships of wonder” are recognized as the enlightened ones. Those whose words flow like a mothers love and resinate like none before. We must bleed for the dancer before we have any hope of finding the answer…..
Аз
Mar 3, 2021
‘Of course. It’s darkness–there’s no light about him. He’s a deceiver.’
Jim, they all are.
Its not Trump, its not Biden (who put a ‘russian’ oligarch as a president of Ukraine)
The ‘Russian’ oligarchs are the same people running American and holding dual citizenship…
Of Heaven and Hell my man.
Michael Buecher
Mar 24, 2021
That was a beautiful summation of that song. Thanks
Raymond Ozuna
May 1, 2021
Don’t know how stumbled across this page but I’m so thankful I did. This is amazing
Marci
Jun 3, 2021
nice job deconstructing Dio’s Heaven & HELL.. I truly enjoyed every word. I truly SAVOR brain droppings such as yours! lol!! Exemplary!
David Lindsey
Jun 19, 2021
Not much of a metal fan but I’ve always loved heaven and Hell. Excellent songwriting at every level, not too much guitar wanking. I was just listening to it and thinking about the lyrics, did a search, and here I am. What you said couldn’t resonate more with me.
I’m in a jam at work. I’m in a very long-track career and got sidetracked for a decade because of a series of health problems, including a kidney transplant. Nothing bad I did, just lousy luck in genetics.
But after the transplant I did some really great work that drew attention. It got me back on the track for which I originally set out. Maybe I fancied myself a dancer. I was able to do great work that I loved and get paid for it. I was able to raise up other people while doing it.
But I ran into Kings and Queens, if you know what I mean. Rampant misconduct, fraud, malfeasance. Pathological liars and whitewashing. A toxic culture. As a former athlete, losing I can handle just fine. Can handle assholes too, since there’s always somebody trying to get into your head. But I can’t handle being made complicit in fraud and cheating. I’m no straight arrow, but I am an honest man. And so now, even though I am successful here and have carried my weight and earned money, I feel the need to go. Politics aside (and I agree with you on what you said), a person needs to be able to look in the mirror every day and be able to honestly say , “You’re a good one.” The rest doesn’t matter.
But the bitterness against the takers in this is eating me up. I do what I do because of the beauty in it. I could walk a righteous road doing quality work and spreading goodness. I don’t mean that in the religious sense, just the ability to succeed on my terms without selling my soul. So I’m going to walk away and hang up my life’s work. I’ll find a decent job punching a clock. I’ll make much less but be able to look in the mirror every morning without cringing. To quote the Hound, “A man’s got to have a code.”
I’ve had anxiety for the first time in my life. That’s right, I had none for progressive kidney failure or a transplant, but now I do. I’ve had to find a therapist to try to make sense of these scumbags who haven’t the foggiest notion of what community is. They have no sense of honor or integrity. A few decent folks have their gonads kept in a jar in a safe, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule. My therapist says I need to be away from it to let go of it. And let go I certainly cannot now: the thoughts are intrusive, and always jump into my mind if it is not occupied. I cannot even do my work as well. So it’s time to let go of my life’s dream.
So I was searching through music and literature to find meaning again. “Heaven and Hell” resonated, and your post resonated further. Thank you! I will read your book. And I’ll put just put my thoughts out there for some karmic something or another.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 20, 2021
You might like Minor King. In it, the protagonist faces the same kinds of dilemmas you speak of–namely the pulling back of the curtain to see the man behind pulling the strings. I am happy to hear this post resonated with you. I don’t know what compelled me to write it years ago, but it’s been the most popular post on my blog (of more than 1000 posts) since then. There is SO MUCH truth to Dio’s lyrics. It’s insane how it aligns with the world we live in. Maybe it was always like this, but back in 1980 I didn’t really notice. Anyway, thanks for the comment, David. Hang in there. Just continue keeping your eyes open and seek the truth at every turn. Because it’s out there–when you can cut through the lies to see it.
Patrick Petrime
Jul 17, 2021
And Yet One Who Claims To Be Educated Still Finds A Way To Bring His Bullshit Liberal Politics into Something that Has To Do With Unity Not Separation.. Fuckin’ Idiot…
Jim Mitchem
Jul 20, 2021
So, I am not a liberal. I am just a human being who lives with his eyes open. I’m sorry you are so offended by my thoughts about a man who I believe is the epitome of the dangers that Dio speaks of, but then maybe you are too dogmatically aligned with your politics to even see that. Everything in this post is relative. Btw why the name calling? What does that even accomplish? Does it make you feel ‘above’ me somehow by putting me down? Peace be to you, brother. I hope you shake this veil of deceit. We need you.
Bernhard
Sep 7, 2021
That was really a cool read! And worth way more than what you would expect by spending your time for lunch. I was thinking about the line “the devil is never a maker” (I am still a metalhead after more than 30 years) and decided to look it up in the internet. So thank you for the insight. I am not sure if Dio was aware of what he wrote or how it could be interpreted to that extent but still your analysis makes perfect sense. Chapeau!
JC
Aug 26, 2022
Well thanks to me hearing it on wsou recently, this song has gotten stuck in my head. The song is great, Dio was as powerful with his voice as ever. The words though, everybody has their own understanding of the lyrics, usually based on definitions from somewhere else. The dancer line I do not pretend to understand, except maybe art is not seen as important enough in life, which it is. That’s my basic interpretation. Now, searching for the meaning, we search for meaning when we are not happy, Dio himself said the song is about choosing which side to take yourself to, creating heaven or hell within yourself. So, after a few days of yeah listening to this song a lot and thinking about the lyrics, the song makes some good sense, which I didn’t really think about until now. And I’m still listening to it and still enjoying it. For every moment of truth, there’s confusion in life. Very true. Those lines stand out to me a lot. It’s just the way it is.
JC
Aug 26, 2022
Let’s also not forget who RJD was. Many have mentioned his feminist side or views what have you. Rape culture everywhere. He’s talking about dreams plain and simple, and he talks about himself too. He’s talking about himself. RJD was a very good singer. Don’t take no for an answer indeed. I don’t know why I’m thinking about this song so much after hearing it on the radio. Dio!
Vinny
Sep 17, 2022
I’m thinking that when he says
(The Ending is just the beginning)
what he means is the ending of your life is the beginning of your eternity,
Does that make sense to you?
Hector G.
Aug 17, 2023
The dancer is the French philosopher Alain Badiou’s figuration for the site of the sexual relation, what the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan called sexuation, which the latter tried to delineate with his formulas of sexuation. These men both thought that this site was where thought reached its ultimate endpoint, a point beyond which one can think no further.
Not saying the Dio read these French thinkers. But it’s interesting that this is Dio’s most famous song, and this most famous lyric (“love can be seen as the answer, but nobody bleeds for the dancer”) the most talked about of all of Dio’s mystical lyrics.
Saw on another site that Dio’s “Love can be seen as the answer, but nobody bleeds for the dancer” is quoted at the opening of a book on Lacan and sexuation. Lends credence that Dio hit on something deep with this song.
Jim Mitchem
Aug 17, 2023
Wow. Super interesting. I’m sure it’s a valid angle to this. Thanks for sharing.
Unconvinced
Oct 31, 2024
My issue is not so much your interpretation, but rather it is the notion of viewing Black Sabbath as exalted prophets, so wise they predicted the Trump presidency, and thus we should entrust ourselves to the superior light they provide.
No thank you.
Jim Mitchem
Oct 31, 2024
This isn’t about how Black Sabbath are prophets – but rather how Ronnie James Dio was able to discern the truth from the sea of deception in the world. Deception that politicians still use to lure us into conformity. The fact that Trump and others like him have reached this apex of deception to control us is the point. And no, it’s not definitely not a new concept. It’s been going on for as long as men have sought power. Dio was just able to articulate it in a way that resonates.
Unconvinced
Oct 31, 2024
Indeed, Dio was an amazing singer. However, I personally very much prefer his vocal prowess on what I consider a better song… Mask Of The Great Deceiver.
https://youtu.be/0CiS5IWMvlA?si=S-goZruGVPwfm29s
My novel – Minor King
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