Dio - Holy Diver Lyrics

Dio Lyrics

"Holy Diver"

Holy Diver
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh what's becoming of me?
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes but you know he's clean
Oh don't you see what I mean?

Gotta get away
Holy Diver

Got shiny diamonds
Like the eyes of a cat in the black and blue
Something is coming for you, look out!
Race for the morning
You can hide in the sun 'till you see the light
Oh we will pray it's all right

Gotta get away, get away

Between the velvet lies
There's a truth that's hard as steel, yeah
The vision never dies
Life's a never-ending wheel, say

Holy Diver
You're the star of the masquerade
No need to look so afraid
Jump, jump, jump on the tiger
You can feel his heart but you know he's mean
Some light can never be seen, yeah!

Holy Diver
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh what's becoming of me? No! No!
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes but you know he's clean
Oh don't you see what I mean?

Gotta get away, get away
Gotta get away, get away, yeah

Holy Diver, sole survivor
You're the one who's clean
Holy Diver, Holy Diver
There's a cat in the blue coming after you, Holy Diver

Oh Holy Diver
Yeah, alright
Get away, get away, get away
Holy Diver, Holy Diver
Oh Holy Diver
Hmm hmm hmm

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Thanks to Dan Stevens for correcting these lyrics.

Writer(s): Ronnie James Dio

Dio explained this song in an interview with Sam Dunn in the film "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" by saying, "The song 'Holy Diver' is really about a Christ-figure, who on another place, not Earth, has done exactly the same as we've apparently experienced or were supposed to have experienced on Earth: dying for the sins of man so that man can start again and be cleansed and do it properly."

It was noted on ronniejamesdio.com about this, "It's simply a song about things that are not always what they appear to be. You need to look at more than what the package is, you need to look inside."

The music video for this track pictures Dio as a barbarian wielding a sword.

Pat Boone covered "Holy Diver" for his album "In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy" (1997), and Dio sang the backup vocals on that version.

Ronnie James Dio said about this song's legacy (an interview with NME in 2009), "What usually happens when people in bands meet me for the first time and they're fans is that they'll sing 'Hoooly Diiiiiver' at me! It happens all the time and it's very touching."

album: "Holy Diver" (1983)

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"Holy Diver" lyrics

Dio Lyrics