Walking in the air, and across genres

It is one of the most popular Christmas narratives: the friendship between a boy and a snowman, who fly together all the way to the North Pole and meet Father Christmas. The Snowman is an illustrated book by Raymond Briggs, published in 1978 and made into an animated film by Dianne Jackson in 1982. The latter includes Walking In The Air, a celebrated song written by Howard Blake, and sung by St Paul’s Cathedral choirboy Peter Auty:

Twenty years later, Nightwish included a cover of this song in their second album Oceanborn; it featured an impressive new arrangement, and the majestic vocals of Tarja Turunen, the Finnish soprano who was their singer at the time. But why would a symphonic metal band turn to what may easily be seen as a ‘children’s song’? According to Tuomas Holopainen, Nightwish’s keyboardist and main composer, it is the most beautiful piece of music ever written. So much for the stereotypes usually associated with metal – enjoy:

   

We’re walking in the air
We’re floating in the moonlit sky
The people far below are sleeping as we fly

I’m holding very tight
I’m riding in the midnight blue
I’m finding I can fly so high above with you

Far across the world
The villages go by like trees
The rivers and the hills
The forest and the streams

Children gaze open mouth
Taken by surprise
Nobody down below believes their eyes

We’re surfing in the air
We’re swimming in the frozen sky
We’re drifting over icy
Mountains floating by

Suddenly swooping low on an ocean deep
Arousing of a mighty monster from its sleep

We’re walking in the air
We’re floating in the midnight sky
And everyone who sees us greets us as we fly