The Greatest Show On Earth

Album: Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The last track on Endless Forms Most Beautiful, this clocks in at 24 minutes, the longest Nightwish song to date. When HMV.com asked keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen how long it took to put it all together, he replied: "For some reason long songs are rather easy for me to write, so it didn't really take any longer than any other song on the album. The mixing process for just that one song took about two and a half weeks, though."
  • The song title is taken from a 2009 book by evolutionary biologist and atheist writer Richard Dawkins, concerning the evidence for biological evolution. Dawkins also contributes towards the album. Holopainen explained to HMV in March 2015: "I wrote him a letter a bit more than a year ago and explained the ideas we had for this album, mainly to do with evolution. Since one of the tracks would be named directly after one of his books, it felt like a perfect match to try to get him do some reciting on the album. He sent me an email a few weeks later accepting the invitation."

    "Later in 2014 we then recorded his parts at Hats Off Studios, Oxford. This is a huge honor for us, since Dawkins is one of our biggest heroes and his writings have been huge inspiration for the album."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Keith Reid of Procol Harum

Keith Reid of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

As Procol Harum's lyricist, Keith wrote the words to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." We delve into that song and find out how you can form a band when you don't sing or play an instrument.

Boy Bands

Boy BandsFact or Fiction

From NKOTB to 1D, how well do you know your boy bands?

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Songs About Movies

Songs About MoviesSong Writing

Iron Maiden, Adele, Toto, Eminem and Earth, Wind & Fire are just some of the artists with songs directly inspired by movies - and not always good ones.