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Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

This song is about Satan, and his descent to Hell (his "dive"). The lyrics deal specifically with Revelations 12:9 where Satan was cast to the earth. The tiger is symbolic of the wild beast that comes out of the sea, as mentioned in Revelations 13:1. (thanks, Light - lanburry, England)

Dio is Ronnie James Dio, the replacement vocalist for Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. His solo career was far less successful than Ozzy's, and there is a mutual hatred between the two.

The album cover depicted Satan whipping a priest with a chain. The priest was shackled and drowning in a turbulent sea. This caused some controversy, although not as much as one might think.

This was covered, ironically, by Gospel singer Pat Boone on his In a Metal Mood album. Acknowledging the subject matter, the song ends with Pat reciting Psalm 23:4. Dio sang backup vocals this - he thought it was hilarious. (thanks, Brett - Edmonton, Canada, for all above)

In 1989, Japanese video game company Irem made a game based on this song, featuring a protagonist who resembles Ronnie James Dio. The game was never released outside of Japan. (thanks, Douglas - Waterloo, England)

Comments:

Bob, Boca Raton, those are called devil horns. Good song, btw. Dio rocks.
- Adam, Clinton Township, MI

rjd was so much better in this band than he was in black sabbath...im sorry but no one can repace ozzy.him and iommi made sabbath and they just werent as good without him...but it was 4 the better.ozzy was much better after he got kicked out.
- greg, slidell, LA

i think that the theori of - Skeletim fron New jersey (I supose that NJ means that^^)is the most valoid one, the idea of ride the tiger is to controle the wil beast, not to be controled by him. Tou must leave your belives and fears and being a stergth person of body and mind who controls his own live
- Musikero18_90, Vitoria-gasteiz (E.H), Spain

I think the Killswitch engage version is better but i do love Dios too
- Xavier, Schenectady, NY

I'm sorry Trey Kalamzoo... wow.... anyway, Dio is not reffering to spanish, but latin, and Satan is the holy diver so you contradicted yourself.
- Erik Johnson, Chatham, IL

Love this song. Dio is easily one of the most underrated heavy metal bands ever.
- austin, Bristow, VA

Satan is not on the cover. that's the holy diver. Duh. does anyone notice that God in spanish is "Dios"? So Dio is practically God to Spanish people.
- Trey, Kalamazoo, MT

Ronnie James Dio is the most important thing that ever happened to music. This is not an opinion - it is FACT. Holy Diver is the greatest album ever made. Again, not opinion - FACT. Any analysis of the lyrics on this album are unecessary - GOD himself is speaking through Ronnie all through - and you all know it.
- charva, oreland, PA

south park used this on the episode where they have a school dance, i crapped myself laughing when i saw it, i beleive the episode is in season 3
- Beef, Quahog, RI

As someone who like most of Dio's songs, I can say this... listen to the music and don't pay too much attention to the lyrics, because they are most of the time just random nonsense about rainbows and dragons...
- Lundin, Stockholm, Sweden

Something people may not know is if you turn the DIO logo upside down, it reads DEVIL you have to look closely.....SPOOOOOKY!
- Jason, Denver, CO

whoa man....i thought killswitch made this song by themselves..i guess i was wrong! never heard it by Dio, but i love the killswitch version... it amazing!!!
- bR!tt@ny, florissant, MO

this songs on grand theft auto: vice city stories and guitar hero: rock the '80s
- Zach, Green Bay, WI

this song is used in the episode of "south park" where "dio" performs it
- stewie, nashville, TN

Hey did anybody ever hear Holy DIver Remake By Kllswitch Engage. Its pretty awesome. Just a thought.
- Dan, Mexico, MO

Ride the Tiger is slang for injecting heroin because of the stripes on a syrige, and the drug is clean Shiny diamonds is another drug Eyes os a cat in the black and blue, are the marks of the injecting He compares the religious dive to the experience of heroin
- Rael, SP, Brazil

There are two characters in this song: the tiger, and the holy diver. The tiger is the Sun God ("the cat in the blue is coming after you, holy diver") and the holy diver is an ordinary person who sees the hypocrisy of religion ("the velvet lies") and finds himself lost ("in the midnight sea" or darkness). There are "shiny diamonds" or stars as if "the eyes of the cat" were in both "the black and blue" or night sky as well as day. The impulse here is to get away from religion ("something is coming for you") but still seek that guiding light ("race for the morning"). The paradox is quickly realized ("you can hide in the Sun until you see the light"): that which he is running from he is also searching for. So, the conclusion is to "ride," "jump on," mount the tiger, taking personal control of his beliefs and rejecting organized religion. Generally speaking, things are not always what they seem. (Is the demon on the cover drowning the priest, or the priest drowning the demon?) The tiger looks dirty but there is nothing wrong with him. You can feel his love, but don't let your guard down. Finding balance is a recurring theme in Dio's works. The mythology is consistent. In Last in Line "two eyes from the east, is it the angel or the beast? the answer lies between the good and the bad." In Master of the Moon, looking at the "eyes" will "blind you." In I Am "I am like the cat, who always lets you know that I Am I Am..." (Note: the Sun rises in the east, has a blinding light, and is the basis of worship in many major religions throughout history including Christianity)
- Skeletim, USA, NJ

your a poser if u like this song just cause its on guitar hero. and also this song is not about a scooby doo epsdoe retard its about what it says, satan.
- jer, round lake, IL

its on guitar heros rocks the 80s it kicks ass nuf said ( sorry about typos )
- lee, brigg, England

This song is actually about Episode #2 of the late 60's - early 70's cartoon series "Scooby-Doo, Where are you!". In the episode, the residential pothead, "shag" and his loyal mutt, "scoob" are startled by the appearance of a ghost-like figure coming out of the "midnight sea". A local underground band, Dio, was called upon to write this epic ballad for the chase scene in the cartoon. The song was so popular with the fans of Scooby-Doo that the writer's, Hannah-Barbarra, after recieving thousands and thousands of requests, contacted Warner Bros. Records. Warner gave Dio an opportunity to compose a record. Though none of the other songs were as comercially popular as "Holy Diver" they managed to go Platinum within their first year. The song is a playable Track in the popular Playstation 2 game, Guitar Hero Encore Rock's the 80's.
- Billy, Pittsburgh, PA

O macgyver! its been 12 seasons ince uve been on tv! oh what is becoming of thee?....lol
- ben, Poopsicle, TN

isn't this song about satan coming to earth?
- Christian, Toms River, NJ

Chris from surgoinsville If he is the worst musician of all time then why are you even loking up a songfact for him really anyway AWESOME i saw dio with sabbath at the forum KICK BUT
- Jacob Huffman, Rancho Cucamonga, CA

i hate you bob and your full of sh*t chris
- jqy, houston, UT

Dio's voice is one of the greatest in many respect.
- Oliver, Hamburg, Germany

Loved Ronnie James Dio singing in Rainbow.
- Joni, New York, NY

dio just rocks
- KOKI, NOGALES, AZ

I wonder why noone else here though this song might be about drug addiction ... "you can see his stripes but you know he's clean", i.e. he still has the marks of using drugs, especially heroin, but no longer injects.
- Douglas, Waterloo

Uh... who makes these songfacts? Because I;m more than sure that this song is about some guy saving people from hell. Maybe it's just me. Also, chris and bob are completely wrong, because Dio is one of my favorite rock bands of all time, and i certainly care about what they say. anyway, i think Holy diver is a great song, but i really like The Last in Line and One Night in the City better.
- cory, seaford, DE

This song is about Dante's Inferno. I recently wrote a song with my band about purgatory and used this book as a reference. The cryptic chatter in this song reminds me of how Dante got lost in the Dark Woods and had to confront the 3 beasts. One of them was a Leopard which in my opinion is "The Tiger". I think the "Mid-night Sea" is the Well on the last level of hell, where the Devil is waiting and then Dante see the light and returns. Just a thought.
- MaidMetal Queen, Shirley, NY

chris from surgoinsville you suck dio rocks
- Ace, heavy metal, IN

Sigh, there is no mutual hatred between Dio and Ozzy. When Dio was working with Sabbath, Dio and Tony Iommi had disagreements but it was nothing to do with Ozzy. In fact in his Stand Up and Shout anthology Dio says that he wrote "King Of Rock and Roll" for Ozzy. Don't you feel silly?
- nathan, perth, Australia

"ride the tiger" is a book by the fascist philosopher Julius Evola. I'm not insinuating that Dio is a fascist, but his lyrics contain many references to fascism, Nietzsche, etc. probably a coincidence.
- dave, san jose, CA

why did people allow pat boone to do that?
- Kurtis Borne, Omaha, NE

Pat Burrell of the Philadelphia Phillies uses Holy Diver as his theme song when he comes up to bat. Many baseball experts (me) have deemed it the greatest baseball player theme song ever.
- Chris, Philadelphia, PA

Straight up kick some but rock n roll! Mike C From Pottstown Pa

if you hate dio bob and chris thn write on the coments?
- dale, rumford, ME

I do, Bob. So do many others.
- Ronnie James Dio, Tarzana, CA

I think Dio is the worst musician of all time
- Chris, Surgoinsville, TN

I think holy diver isn't that good compared to straight throught the heart but that is my opinion and i really enjoy listening to rainbow and dio
- monkey man, atlanta, MD

whats all the stuff about "ride the tiger"??
- emmeline, plymouth, England

An album that should be in everyones collection. The cover itself is worth having, but with songs like "Rainbow in the Dark" which you can't top and "Holy Diver" it's music you can't deny.
- Dee, Indianapolis, IN

This song asks one question: How can we be sure that the priest is the good guy? He might as well be the bad one.
- Garcia, VB, Canada

No one cared because Dio is awesome and who would stand up to a legend who vocals are sheer power that no one else could even dream about having.
- Trent, Carlinville, IL

As i heard from a friend of mine; the "Holy diver" is a man that was executed by a middle-age type execution. In 17'th Century(in the time of the men with the black,high-top hats), when people think that a man is a witch, they punnish him as: they tie a heavy stone to his leg with a rope, and trow him in to the sea. They wait there and, if the man can save himself and be back to the surface, they were sure that he was a witch, and then kill him there. But if he can't save from there and be back to the surface, the people know that he wasn't a witch! But in both situation the man dies;) So my friend told me that ,DIO tells about a man that wanted to be executed by that way... Dunno if it's true:)
- Bora, ISTANBUL, Turkey

Dio started that thing with his fingers that a lot of metal bands do..you know, that thing...that sign.
- Bob, Boca Raton, FL

actually, in dio's anthology he himself said that holy diver was a christlike figure of another dimension. he planned on diving into hell to save his people, but the selfish jackassesdidnt want him to leave them
- siri, milwaukee, WI

The demon who is whipping the priest is not Satan-- it is Dio's mascot, a monster by the name of Murray (see also the covers of Dio's albums "Last In Line" and "Dream Evil")
- Rocky, Hillsdale, NJ

The only reason the album cover didn't cause too much controversy was because it was made by Dio. Honestly, ask yourself a very simple question: "Who really cares about Dio or what he does?"
- Bob, Levittown, PA