Old topic I know, but I just watched CoR (1000th time probably) and just found meaning to it (for me). And this is one I have never heard before

It's about growing up/being sheltered/spoiled by parents/etc. She wears gas mask to protect her from bad things, everyone wants to keep their child away from harm after all. Everybody smiles at her in the video, as everyone smiles at little child. Girl achieves what she want (breakinng the discs with ball and getting the doll).
Protected from harm, being adored and being "spoiled", as every child is.
At the end she grows up and finds out she is alone. No people to smile at you, no one to help you. [could write few lines from the WDWDTL here, they would match perfectly] Life aint so easy you thought it was (dark alley in the video). You may not know what to do (girl hesitates).

Rust usuallty means something like "getting bad", like steel is spoiled when it gets rusty or phrase I'm a little bit rusty (not so good I once was). Being to coddled teaches you wrong that you always get everything you want so it may be shock when someone says no. Thats for rust.

Carnival is place where lots of thing happens. In video it's place where girl is spoiled, so Carnival of Rust. I also found that lyrics match this well



Hope you got what I meant

that makes a lot of sense
and carnival is something that has to do (mostly) with childhood too, and that you have somehow to leave when you grow up

the girl is human----swayed by instant trivial attractions(but never sticks to one)
doesnt hear puppet Marko's eternal cries..(the way we disregard God's message)

the two fire eaters are again deviated couples dancing under lust but disregarding Universal Love

Violin players and others(delicious) different sort of bystanders the vendors are devil providing an alternate path.......

BTW what is the meaning of CBR-Cordis written on the paper what is pushed out at last

Actually it's "COR CORDIS" and it means heart of the heart

1 & 2

Dude are you serious? It's a love song ffs... The fortune-telling puppet or whatever is "in love" with the girl cuz she's the one who keeps him alive. That is pretty much obvious... I am certain that the band didn't have religion in mind when they made this video...

Now for the rest, every fan interpretation is right and wrong at the same time. If the composers themselves don't tell us what was on their minds when they were writing the lyrics, there is absolutely no way we'll find the "real" meaning...

Friend i agree its a love song but i felt it has a deeper meaning too.Whatever be the real meaning we have to just admire the POETS they are amazing

hey what are those fire eaters i thought a lot about them

Hi there!

Though I’m not a habitual visitor of the inet forums, the beautiful video of the CoR and the thoughts it awoke made me to register here and to present another version of the video's meaning.

At first glance it seemed to be a story of an unhappy love for me. And surely this variant deserves to be counted with.
But the video and the rhymes hinted that there may be another layer of meanings implied by the author.
The first question that started my myth creation was the line “Don’t walk away when the world is burning”. Why the word “world” was used? Usually, for a broken heart, something more personal like “soul” would be more fitting.

So here’s a story which I have made up for myself few days ago:

The rusty carnival stands for our social life that we have nowadays. The girl is a youngster that enters into it, wearing gas mask, which may symbolize either solitude or limited knowledge of the world and the human kind.
The first being she meets here is a fortuneteller, a transcendent entity of the world – or if you want the world’s soul.
She gives him a coin, wondering what is expecting for her. But can’t wait for the answer, the carnival lights are too bright. And she leaves for them carrying several coins – the sprouts of abilities and talents that each of us has at the beginning of the journey.
Each one of us has to choose how to spend these coins: to throw away, to save and multiply or to donate to someone.
On her way of growing up she finally comes to the brightest pavilion with the best prize for her money, the biggest prize of her life.
Here the targets are set before her to win the beautiful doll, her happiness. And she uses her gifts – no ball hits the blank. But… only the small targets are broken for now, the biggest ones are still there to hit and… the doll is hastily given to her. The owner neither wants to reveal what is the real prize nor he needs the paid talents and just throws the coin away.
And the girl turns away and leaves without fulfilling what the fortuneteller asked her – the reviving, cleansing rain is not released. He begs her to stay, to save the burning world and its inhabitants including him, but she doesn’t hear. She has her dummy prize.
She realizes her mistake too late, when the world spirit loses his power to speak to her and only the moon shines over the still carnival of rust.

There are unexplained characters of the video like all the carnival folks, the musicians and the fire breathing couple. Well, the possible meanings are numerous for each of them but in overall they should stand for the different parts of the society in the context that I imagined here.

So that it is.
Only author can tell what he exactly has meant by his composition and we can only guess, and that’s my one.

BR

And P.S. You, the poets of the fall, someday will turn out to be the poets of a new dawn imo ))

Hey, BR, I loved your interpretation. Just like you I was so drawn to the COR vid I have watched it hundreds of times and shared it with many people. You have a deep understanding of the video and your analysis is spot-on. As with any work of art there are multiple layers of meaning and many possible valid interpretations, as you can see by the numerous posts on the topic. By now you've reviewed some of the best.

I agree with you that POTF are an important group, and I'm frustrated that they aren't as big as U2 or the Police, at least here in the USA. Marko has one of the best voices in rock, Olli is a masterful guitarist, and the best songs are as good as anything out there. But I also kind of like having them as a secret treasure. I just wish I could see them live. But traveling to Finland or even northern Europe just isn't in the cards for me right now. So I will just have to be satisfied with seeing/hearing them on my computer.

Cheers! Hope to see yo around the forum!

Reno

Hi, Reno

Thanks for your acclaim.
I've read the other topic where you and others analyze the video and enjoyed it a lot. You've did a great job there. The video is a masterpiece and has so many significant details and hints that became clearer.

As for the Poets popularity, wikipedia says they are “independent band”. So, if there is no mistake, there is no major label that they have signed contract with.
That really warms my heart. Cause, right now I am getting myself acquainted with other their music ’n poetry and can say: I’ve not met a band that touched me like that for a long-long time. And I think one of the major causes for that along with their enormous talent – their art wasn’t touched by commercial requirements a lot. The “Lift” video is about that in my opinion. These hundreds of nailed butterflies in it describe the state of other bands that went along with commercial labels.

But the other side of the dime is that Poets do not receive the advertisement and organizational support that the large labels offer. So their fans should help, by popularizing them at least.

Hope they will again visit USA soon and eventually come to Ukraine so we’ll get our chances to listen to them live. It is even possible to initiate the concert organization.
Hmm… This needs additional consideration with pros. Times are a bit dim now, but who knows.

Nice to meet you, I think I will come by from time to time.
Cheers!

Hey,

That's exactly how I got started here. I don't visit any other forums regularly. This band has just really hit a nerve for me; they're right in sync with who I am. And you're right: their independence is actually a strength. There's more of a likelihood of them visiting Ukraine (they actually may have already at some point). They only came to the US once but that was the west coast (3000 miles from me).

See you around!

Although it might be off-topic - you really think the moths in Lift stands for bands going with commercial labels? It's an interpretation that feels a little strange to me, no offence. To me the moths are ourselves fighting for true freedom, but only a few reaching it. Since I have the moth tattooed I like the way you can alter its meanings and see it in different ways; however I don't really see how commercial labels or not had anything to do with it. ^^

Other than this, welcome to the forum and nice interpretations of CoR (should perhaps be in the existing thread, but that's okay )

For getting the band popularized - visit the street teams sections and get started that way.

Have fun!

Beccali wrote:


Hi, Beccali,

I think your interpretation is dead-on. It can't only be as narrow as bands that sell out, but that could be a valid interpretation. The thing I love best about the moth symbol is how iconic, how universal it is. I've been debating with myself for a long time getting the RR moth badge as a tattoo on my calf. But my 15 year old daughter would be mortified if I did. Maybe as a gift to myself when I complete my doctorate next fall.

Good to see you up here as always!

And on a personal note, yesterday I finished my last doctoral exam. Now i only have the dissertation left to write!

Good to see you as well

Haha, maybe she'll just think it's really cool and decide to get a tattoo herself

I got the moth in my neck since soon 2 years back. I was lucky to get a good tattoo artist to do it, I've seen a few moths that aren't as well done as mine is, or maybe that's just me

Recently, I posted to FaceBook an intriguing video for "Carnival Of Souls," a song by the Finnish rock group Poets Of The Fall. This video generated a lot of discussion, and several FB friends opted to re-post it to their own walls. One friend of a friend who watched the video said: "Love the music, NOT the video. They always ruin the music!"

This individual is a Christian and is doing the Lord's work in a public service agency, "... help(ing) people in the community manage their mental health symptoms and develop better living skills." I very much admire that.

As to the video, to each his (or in this case, her) own. To a great extent, such things are a matter of taste. But to say that it "ruin(s) the music" is to miss the entire point. Think of "Carnival Of Rust" as something of a stealthily Christian, allegorical "mental health" song and video. (Because that is exactly what it is.)

The acronym for the title is COR, which is Latin for "heart" and is the root for all sorts of words in English, as well as the Romance languages, for things having to do with the "heart." In the sense used here, "heart" is the place where love resides, and the seat of emotions.

This idea is reinforced near the end of the video/song, when time literally "runs out" for the greeter/fortune teller guy in the booth, despite his longing and pleading, and the machine expels a ticket ("fortune") that says "Cor Cordis," which means "heart of hearts."

Where have we heard that phrase before?

"Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood," by William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

In the following excerpt, from line 180 to the end of the poem, "heart of hearts" appears on line 194:

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind; 185
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death, 190
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

And O ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves,
Forebode not any severing of our loves!
Yet in my HEART OF HEARTS I feel your might;
I only have relinquish'd one delight 195
To live beneath your more habitual sway.
I love the brooks which down their channels fret,
Even more than when I tripp'd lightly as they;
The innocent brightness of a new-born Day
Is lovely yet; 200
The clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live, 205
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

Wordsworth may have been influenced by the following line from William Shakespeare:

"Give me that man / That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him / In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart," says Hamlet (Act 3, scene 2).

And Shakespeare himself probably was echoing the Preacher's means of forming a superlative, as in "vanity of vanities; all is vanity."-- Ecclesiastes 1: 2 (KJV). "Song of Songs," or Canticum Canticorum in Latin, would be another example (there's that lating root for heart--cor--again).

So, if you really want to understand the video, consider the lyrics for "Carnival Of Rust," read the Wordsworth poem or at least the excerpt above (which speaks of "the faith that looks through death, and refers to the Christ child allegorically as "Day"), and reflect upon all of this as you watch it again, and perhaps it will all seem to make more sense.

I hope.

Some very deep thoughts, Ronforeman! And welcome! It's too bad your friend doesn't understand the visual feast that is the video, along with the audio. He doesn't know what he's missing. And though I'm a Christian myself, I feel that the message is generally spiritual, not Christian specifically, per se. But it certainly is very refreshing to have some very admirable poetry with which to ponder the song and video, too. Thank you so much for sharing!

It's amazing what you can find when you know where to look. I hadn't read Wordsworth's Intimations for years. I'm not sure it's an intended allusion, but it is certainly a valid allusion nonetheless. I believe that the most basic interpretation is that the character is reaching out to his beloved one final time, a fragile message that she no longer wants to hear and never receives. She has moved on, leaving the toxicity of the carnival of rust behind. He, however, remains trapped in it. Rather than "splendour in the grass" though, we have rather scary individuals trapped in a decaying world. Rich, brilliant imagery.

I'm not Christian (post-Christian) so I don't interpret the video strictly through a Christian lens.

I have yet to see other work but this video has hit me hard....
After hearing / watching this video and reading the lyrics for hours... I’ve reached my own meaning of the song ...it starts off with this woman entering the world of a man that has lost hope and a man that’s life is stale; a carnival is a happy place you know? But it’s rusted because he has no one to share it with... Now to speak of her ... she is a person that walking into his world shielded she’s protected, she’s afraid of him (the mask ) she is interested and she probably loved him too but she is afraid of what he is and hence she is keeping her mask on ... The coin is when their relationship started ... like a first kiss or something so then now he asks her
“D' you breathe the name of your saviour in your hour of need,
And taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed?
Of implication, insinuation and ill will, 'til you cannot lie still,
In all this turmoil, before red cape and foil come closing in for a kill”
Basically I think that he was preparing her for what is about to come , and asked her if she will take some of the blame of what will come ...Of feelings and insecurities that will come up, Like Greed (him being controlling or she) Of implication and ill will until she can't take it anymore ,so can she speak of her savoir (which could be him ) and take some of the blame before they are over? of course the tarot card "the star " is very important which signifies his new hope and hers to a new beginning ... then she spots the break of freedom
I think the doll represent the childish freedom, At this point she has two coins and he hits her with the nine swords tarot card "pain and suffering"
“Come feed the rain
'cause I'm thirsty for your love dancing underneath the skies of lust
Yeah, feed the rain
'cause without your love my life isn’t nothing but this carnival of rust”
now she’s still there and he tells her of how his life is , even thou they are having bad times their life is still good , i think the roller coaster is the roller coaster of emotions they are going through
“It's all a game, avoiding failure, when true colours will bleed
All in the name of misbehaviour and the things we don't need”

Now he tells her that for her everything is a game and she’s trying to avoid failure...
I think the coins are her choices... Like every time she puts a coin in a hat or in a slot it’s a decision made, So first she took a choice to be with him, Then she had two more choices, The two men are financial issues ... like losing a job or not finding a job no money something but she chose to stay with him still so she puts the coin in the hat, They may have gotten into this problem from stupid things like buying things they don’t need or even fighting about things they don’t need in their life things that don’t really mean anything. At this point she gives up and throws her candy (which is part of her joy ) in the hat, Now she’s going to the freedom booth with her last choice...
“I lust for after no disaster can touch, touch us anymore
And more than ever, I hope to never fall, where enough is not the same it was before”
He tells her that he lusts to when things change and nothing can touch them any more when they are strong enough and then he hopes that they don’t fail because if he does nothing will be quiet enough for him ...she is his most perfect thing ..Nothing will amount after her....So she moves between these people I can’t interpret every one of them i think they represent different things of human nature and of course the tarot cards would fit nicely in the interputation,I think the man and the girl on the big table represent two other personalities that are considered not good
Now she puts her last coin in !!! And she carries a ball and she has to break plates .. these plates are the issues they had basically its the stuff that left them together its what bounded them with each other and every time she broke one, the bad personalities or the evil people got stronger and more came into play I think her carrying the ball and throwing it was with every fight they had over something !!!Now she breaks the first plate and the rest follows and he begs her to feed his love because he feels her going away...She wins her freedom ... she is happy she is excited and she is finally free! And then as she moves on he notices that and then starts screaming
Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the world is burning
Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the heart is yearning
Asking her to stay ! not to be weak and leave it while they are in pain! And not to leave when they still love each other the heart yearning ... Asking her to stay and try !
The man putting the coin in the hat signifies her choice was made! And it’s over there is nothing he can do now!!!Now he screams more and more! but she moves on till at one point she notices that the freedom she got wasn’t what she hoped for ... it didn’t take long before she felt the emptiness ...her freedom didn’t feel this good anymore ...and its then that she keeps moving and he goes back to his death leaving one last note of his heart cor cordis ... heart of hearts ... leaving only his pure love which reminds her of him and she looks back ...for there is only this now ..Maybe one last hope for them maybe a new beginning.. or simply a goodbye note...

I think that he is all of the carnival ... i dont think that they meant there is asomeone else or she was being with others or loving others ... he was every one in the carnival hes the heart of it ... when he goes into silence every thing else goes silent with him

Beautiful and thorough reading, Firstlaw! Stick with the Poets, they will reward your heart and soul!

In my opinion I think all of the answers have some sort of truth ringing in them. For me, and this was in regards to the poster about the rain, he talks about her dancing for him underneath the skies of lust. To me, the lust is what he experiences for her (either mentally or body, it doesn't matter) and the rain is HIS tears, not hers, for not being able to have, or at least to keep, her. So in a circle effect, because he doesn't win her, or have her, his tears over not having her turns things to rust (bitterness or sadness) in his life.

I love this video, and I think that even if the artist themselves explained what they meant by this video, we might not fully believe them, because there are so many possibilities. Sometimes I listen to this song and I feel alive, and sometimes I listen to it and my heart breaks.

I don't think too many videos have generated this level of analysis. The Poets and Stobe are brilliant. Still my favorite band of all time!

Maybe it's just because I am hopelessly obsessed with potf and I see them everywhere.. but today I saw this video, it's an alternate version for an amazing song by Queensrÿche called "Another Rainy Night". And there are many elements that made me think of COR video: the moon, the girl going to this strange place, and then dropping a few coins to the player. And the man who's voraciously eating at a table, strange people here and there, tarots... is it just me who see potf-related thing anywhere?

Good call, Lisa. Queensryche is (was--they were an 80s band) clearly reaching for Poets territory. I wonder if Stobe was familiar with it?

Okay here is what I think. The girl came to his life when he was dead alike and made him awake. He loved her. But the girl didn't and left him for other shiny things to achieve something or like that. The man tattooing and the other around him was watching the show represent the people in the world who love to watch other in trouble. Now when she was leaving the man was requesting her to stay. But she left and felt guilty after sometime. But the biggest thing is that the girl wasn't able to listen to the man representing the puppet cause he was inside the glass (It shows that people not always express their feelings directly). And before the NOTE come out of the machine she had left already.

And the mask was used so that it represent any girl in the world. Not a specific one.

A message for the girls: Somebody in the world surly loves you. Whoever you are, there is somebody for you. For each and every girl. Some times some girl can't even imagine how much a boy loves her... whom she don't even know, but the boy know her well.

That was a nice description,Thanks for sharing it!

in my opinion this song is about the thrills and possible outcome of an adulterous relationship. the girl is going to the carnival where everything is welcoming but not built to last

"If the flavour should remind you of greed
Of implication, insinuation and ill will
Till you cannot lie still
In all this turmoil
Before red cape and foil
Come closing in for a kill "

he expresses the unfortunate end always looming
also stating hes dancing underneath the skies of lust.

"It's all a game
Avoiding failure
When true colours will bleed
All in the name of misbehaviour
And the things we don't need"

its expressed that failure means true colors bleeding but its just a game of greed
in the next lines after that he states when you fail no other disaster can touch you, but with all your heart you still dont want to.

the girl ends up having to walk away from the carnival with a baby and he flakes away trapped in his situation. a moment of fun burned out

I've also been influenced by the video..it's very deep as the song itself....I think that the song and the clip should be considered together when searching for the meaning....I've read most of the comments so I'll offer what I think....
It is a story not just about love but a TYPICAL situation in this matter...
It's late at night and a girl feels lonely....she enters a man's soul....he is also lonely...she hasn't much to share....just a few coins...she wears a mask which is a breathing device as well...as she puts the coins inside...as if the soul of the man has waken up...it bacomes colourful...with all the characters inside:anger sorrow strength etc..as Mark begins the lyrics....it's a typical question...a question that he knows the answer of....he has experienced this many times..."Do you breath the name of your savior.."....of course she doesn't...bacause of the breathing mask...but he is still eager for her love...because he has been created for love....love that ruins himself...but the pity is that she's there not for love but for "entertainment"....that's the thing a carnival is used for...as Mark sings the camera is fixed on the face of the girl....no feeling can be detected from her but the reflection of his own soul...more over the mask seems like a full of curiousity bird...the girls takes the train whick goes in a speciphic shape....that is endless as well as the lollipop...she takes that trip to understand that it's endless so she decides to break for freedom....she takes the prize...for just a little coin...and the people there are happy that there is a "customer".....she goes out....she has been protected and nothing can make her feel anything....Mark begs her to stay more but he knows what happens in this situation....she has taken what she wanted...she has taken smt precious and she's not interested anymore....in this "game"....she doen't even pay attention that he's suffering....
the ironic element in this way of "translation" of the story is that the girl didn't take her recepit for the "service"....and the man became the same grey and abandoned place it was before....
I think this is very common situation in life...many girls enter a man's life....some of them only for entertainment....to find that his feelings are endless...rather than the life which seems so short..so they take what they want...and leave....a scenario...that every man knows well....sometimes it seems that you have offered everything to her and she just used this for "little coins"....that's the feeling I feel when i listen to the song and watch the video for 100th time

Beautiful I never drew a connection between "breathing" and the gas mask, but it seems so obvious.