Looking deep into 'Angel' by Judas Priest

Rock music is seldom listened to for their lyrical charisma. It’s almost always about the music: the riffs and the solos! There are very few rock songs whose words touch your soul; you feel a strange connection with them. 'Angel' by Judas Priest is one of the songs that just got into me. I listened to this masterpiece in loop for two straight freaking days without ever getting tired of it! But when I asked others, some didn't share my enthusiasm. And I thought, ‘Maybe they didn't get it’. Therefore, I decided to write down the meaning of the song as I understand it.

"Angel- out sad wings around me now

Protect me from this world of sin

So that we can rise again."

The song is the lamenting of a virtuous man who is ill fated. This song depicts an honorable man whose honor has been rewarded with backstabbing and betrayal. Losing everything, he has nothing but hope. And with this hope he is calling out his ‘Angel’, the symbol of a Guardian, to embrace him, to comfort him in his time of helplessness. ‘Angel’ can mean a range of things- from God to a lover- but here, he just means his Guardian, someone who will take care of him. He is standing alone in a world filled with defilement and pollution, and he is powerless. That’s why he is asking help from his angel to protect him.

"Oh Angel, we can find our way somehow

Escaping from the world we’re in

To a place where we began

And I know we’ll find

A better place and peace of mind

Just tell me that it’s all you want- for you and me

Angel won’t you set me free?"

Despite all the afflictions that life threw at him, he still retains his core values. He still has the belief that better days will come, though he doesn't know how. He has no clue of what to do, or where to go. But yet he won’t give up dreaming. He will keep on dreaming about the peaceful place. He will escape this deceitful world and return to a place where there is no room for corruption or fraud, analogous to the world of a new born baby (‘to a place where we began’). To a new born baby, the world is full of miracles and excitement, and he wants to go back there. But on the other hand, his life has caused enough damage that he is not sure of anything! He is asking his angel-‘Just tell me that it’s all you want- for you and me. Angel won’t you set me free?’- because, he is also full of fear of failing, of being unable to escape from his horrendous life. He wants to be sure that his angel will not forsake him again, as He did before.

"Angel, remember how we chased the sun

Then reaching for the stars at night

As our lives had just begun."

"When I close my eyes, I hear your velvet wings and cry

I’m waiting here with open arm, oh can’t you see?

Angel shine your light on me!"

These words melt my heart. They show how successful he was before. He was enjoying his life, doing something meaningful. He was working hard, day and night, and he was full of raw energy. But then his Angel abandoned him, and this broke him. His thoughts were marred by his memories. Every day he hoped his angel will return to his arms, but it didn't. It left him crying in the darkness, without any light, despite his desperate pleas. 

This song is truly heart touching. Every time I listen to this, it sends a dark chill throughout my body. This life is cruel and unfair. We all need our angels.