Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: opera
Song Meaning of “Der fliegende Holländer, WWV 63 / Act 1: “Hojoje! Hallojo! Ho!…Kein Zweifel! Sieben Meilen”” by Richard Wagner
This aria from Wagner’s opera The Flying Dutchman is sung by the title character, the cursed sea captain condemned to roam the seas forever without rest. Wagner’s powerful music paints a vivid portrait of the Dutchman’s plight and despair in this moment he sees his seven-mile-distant hope lying beyond his reach.
The Dutchman’s desperate song laments his fate and expresses his longing for the freedom that was once his. He musically conveys his pain and despair, as he is forced to watch his hope fade away as the vessel sails away into the horizon. His words reflect his deep sorrow, mourning his inability to escape his lifelong sentence of eternal loneliness.
He calls out three times, echoing his despair in the form of his repeated desperate cry – “Hojoje! Hallojo! Ho!” The Dutchman is reaching out, desperately trying to find some solace in his suffering, yearning for a companion or a power who can bring him hope and relief.
The theme of hope is further reinforced in the Dutchman’s chilling and heartwrenching words: “Kein Zweifel! Sieben Meilen” (No doubt! Seven miles). He shares his crumbling hope that he will one day have the opportunity to be set free from his torment, though the distance proves to be too far away and unattainable.