What a sad and beautiful song! And the story behind it is also interesting: it's about the sinking of the passenger ferry Estonia in 1994 in the Baltic Sea, the worst European shipwreck since WWII. 852 people died and 138 were rescued alive, including Paul Barney, one of the two British passengers on the ship and the only survivor. Marillion's singer Steve Hogarth met him on an aeroplane and got the inspiration for the lyrics .
MS Estonia gave rise to a great disaster and, also, to a great song.
The music was also strongly influenced by the disaster and the morn, spritual mood of the song - especially of the dreamy instrumental part - is a heartbreaking depiction of death experience and after-death expectations. "Estonia" starts with Barney's story, but is more about the loss of loved ones than the actual sinking of the Estonia ferry. As a matter of fact, Hogarth's firts lines are still linked to the disaster's physical circumstances, then the focus moves to the unwordly side of such a painful occurrence. Moving and inspiring, IMHO.
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