Pantera – “Cemetery Gates”
Reverend, Reverend, Is This A Conspiracy?
Clocking in at 7:03, ‘Cemetery Gates’ is the longest song Pantera ever wrote and one that best showcases vocalist Philip Anselmo’s impressive vocal range and strength. It was featured on 1990’s iconic album Cowboys From Hell, and remains a constant favorite for Pantera fans and metal enthusiasts alike.
It’s one of their best and one of my favorites from Cowboys From Hell; ‘Cemetery Gates’ is a moment of calm in the sea of pinch harmonics, growls, and blast beats that is Cowboys From Hell, but don’t let that fool you for even a moment! This song absolutely destroys, and the trade off between Phil’s screaming high notes and Dime’s guitar are what really make the song.
Fun Fact: The guitar solo ranked 35 in Guitar World’s 100 greatest solos of all time.
While it’s more of a power ballad than the band’s typical ragers, ‘Cemetery Gates’ contains both the emotion of a power ballad and the rawness that was characteristic of Pantera’s sound. The lyrics, dealing with the death of a friend of Anselmo’s, were deeply introspective and deeply personal yet never once took away from the song’s spirit.
+ Cemetery Gates lyrics +
Reverend reverend is this some conspiracy?
Crucified for no sins
An image beneath me
What’s within our plans for life
It all seems so unreal
I’m a man cut in half in this world
Left in my misery…
The reverend he turned to me
Without a tear in his eyes
It’s nothing new for him to see
I didn’t ask him why
I will remember
The love our souls had
Sworn to make
Now I watch the falling rain
All my mind can see
Now is your
Well I guess
You took my youth
I gave it all away
Like the birth of a
New-found joy
This love would end in rage
And when she died
I couldn’t cry
The pride within my soul
You left me incomplete
All alone as the memories now unfold.
Believe the word
I will unlock my door
And pass the
Cemetery gates
Sometimes when I’m alone
I wonder aloud
If you’re watching over me
Some place far abound
I must reverse my life
I can’t live in the past
Then set my soul free
Belong to me at last
Through all those
Complex years
I thought I was alone
I didn’t care to look around
And make this world my own
And when she died
I should’ve cried and spared myself some pain…
You left me incomplete
All alone as the memories still remain
The way we were
The chance to save my soul
And my concern is now in vain
Believe the word
I will unlock my door
And pass the cemetery gates
The way we were
The chance to save my soul
And my concern is now in vain
Believe the word
I will unlock my door
And pass the cemetery gates!
Gates! Gates!
