- Ice Queen
Infobox Single
Name = Ice Queen
Artist =Within Temptation
from Album = Mother Earth
Released =2001
Format =CD single ,Digital Download
Recorded = 2001
Length = 5.20
Label =DSFA Records ,GUN Records (re-releases)
Writer = Robert Westerholt, Sharon den Adel
Genre =Symphonic metal
Last single = "Our Farewell "
(2000)
This single = "Ice Queen"
(2001)
Next single = "Mother Earth"
(2003)
Misc = "Ice Queen" is the first single of Dutch rock bandWithin Temptation from their second studio album Mother Earth, a million selling album.Ice Queen is one ofWithin Temptation 's most successful songs inEurope to date.Track listing
;CD single ( original )
#"Ice Queen" (radio version)
#"Mother Earth";CD Multi single ( original )
#"Ice Queen" (radio version)
#"Mother Earth" (Leidse Kade live)
#"Caged" (Leidse Kade live)
#"Ice Queen" (Leidse Kade live)
#"Believer" (Ice Queen Demo)
#"Caged" (demo version);CD single ( 2002 release )
#"Ice Queen" (radio version)
#"Caged" (Leidse Kade live);CD single ( 2003 release )
#"Ice Queen" (single edit)
#"Mother Earth" (Leidse Kade live)
#"Ice queen" (acoustic at "MXL");CD Multi single ( 2003 release )
#"Ice Queen" (single edit)
#"World of make believe"
#"Ice queen" (acoustic at "MXL")
#"Ice Queen" (Leidse Kade live)
#"Mother Earth" (Orchestra version)
#"Mother Earth" (Leidse Kade live)Video
There are two official videos for the song Ice Queen.The first video, released only in the Netherlands even though it is generally known as the 'German Version', starts with a girl checking a website for concert videos. Then she finds two links, one saying 'Within Temptation'. She clicks on that link and their concert in Landgraaf, 2001, is shown on her screen. While watching the concert on her computer, she clicks on a couple of links and information on the band appears on her screen.
The second video was made for international release. Sharon, the singer, is dancing around on a background of a blue, starry sky. She is wearing a white dress and has white extensions in her hair. The other band members are surrounded by fire, thunderstorms and futuristic images. After a while, all band members are shown together on a red planet.
Lyrics
The "Ice Queen" of the song is a somewhat
sociopathic -sounding woman who is never mentioned by name and referred to only as "She". ("She's coming"). This woman is obviously highly dangerous given the foreboding tone of the song and the lyrics ("You better keep moving"). It also says "When she rages she takes life away" implying that the woman whom the song is about is guilty of murder. Given the fantastical quality of the video it is possible that the song is pure science-fiction and the woman is merely a villainess of the Ice Queen archetype. Some fans of the song have drawn comparisons between the Ice Queen and the White Witch Jadis from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe " and speculated that they may be the same character.The song says that the Ice Queen comes "When leaves have fallen and skies turned to grey" and "the night keeps closing in on the day", suggesting that she may be the personification of
winter . This impression is further enhanced by the song's proclamation of "The sun awakes and melts it away, the world now opens its eyes and sees the dawning of a new day."The song also makes reference to "the ruins of our world" suggesting that the Ice Queen is a metaphor for the wars and other manifestations of evil that damage the world. The song also portrays the Ice Queen as a figure of temptation so she, like Jadis, may in fact be a
satanic character.Charts
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
