Nemo (4:33)

Nemo was the first single by the Finnish symphonic power metal quintet Nightwish, from the album Once. The London Philharmonic Orchestra participated on the single. Once topped the album charts in Finland, Germany, Norway, Greece, Slovenia and Hungary. Widely successful, the single was certified gold in Finland on the day of its release. In the UK it could only chart at #87 after a chart entry of #101 the week before, but spent over 20 weeks on the top 200 plus a few re-entries. However it has been in the top 10 of the UK rock Charts as recently as May 2008, highlighting the acclaim the band has recently had in England.

Nemo is Latin for “nobody”. It is the name of the mysterious captain in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and corresponds to the famous answer given by the Greek hero Odysseus to the Cyclops Polyphemus. In the Odyssey, when Polyphemus asks for his name, Odysseus tells him “Oυδίς” a name translated as “No-man” or “Nobody” which has been used allusively by later authors, such as Jules Verne. The line in the chorus “‘Nemo’ my name forever more” further suggests this meaning to be the intended one. Other thematic elements from the Odyssey appear in other Nightwish songs such as “The Siren”.

A music video was created for the song, directed by Antti Jokinen.