Interpretation

Now I want the water to wash away all my sins The wind to blow away my thoughts without meaning The fire to burn away my thickened skin

Dance of Fate by Epica is a fantastic song. The music is amazing, and that is why I've listened to the song as many times as I have. However, I was reading the lyrics to this song and I was struck by the Christian elements these particular lines have.


Knowing that Epica is not a Christian band, I've never really tried to interpret their lyrics. I listen to them for the music alone, not for what they're singing about. Yet now I realize that, even though they are not Christian, their lyrics still hold a good deal of truth.


Now I want the water to wash away all my sins...

Are we not to be washed with the water of regeneration? Do we not ask God, as the Psalmist does in Psalm 50:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me"?

The wind to blow away my thoughts without meaning...

As humans, all of us struggle with this. How often do we think about absolutely nothing of consequence? I know I do it an alarming amount... And apparently God knows, too: “The Lord knows the thoughts of man; he knows they are futile.” (Psalm 94: 11) Should we not pray for God to blow away those "thoughts without meaning"?

The fire to burn away my thickened skin...

How easily we grow apathetic! It's so easy to look at the world around us through uncaring eyes... and even easier to look at the sin within us without any remorse or concern. Sometimes it takes the fire of suffering to shake us out of our apathy, so that we can see our sin for what it is, and so that our faith, "being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7).


Just a few thoughts I had on this song...