Dio: The Last in Line Meaning

Song Released: 1984

The Last in Line Lyrics

We're a ship without a storm
Cold without the warm
Light inside the darkness lit at peace
We're a laugh without a tear
Hope without the fear
We are coming home
We're off to the witch
We may never never never come home
But the magic that...

1. bmcgin

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   Dec 4th 2021 !⃝

   We're a ship without a storm
   Cold without the warm
   Light inside the darkness lit at peace
   We're a laugh without a tear
   Hope without the fear
   --
   This describes common grace. Everyone on earth has sinned and duly deserves death at this instance along with separation from God. Common grace is given to all until judgment day.
   --
   We are coming home
   We're off to the witch
   We may never never never come home
   --
   Our current state, some are going home ie heaven, some will not.
   --
   We're all born upon the cross
   --
   A nice way of saying Christians are born again through the death and resurrection of Christ.
   
   --
   We're the throw before the toss
   --
   I think he's saying we're thrown onto earth to figure things out before being tossed into eternity.
   
   --
   You can release yourself
   But the only way is down
   --
   This most likely is a reference to suicide and deciding your own fate. Personally, I disagree that suicide is an immediate trip to hell. People go to hell only if their sin was not paid for on the cross. ie. someone goes to hell for sins, the person or Christ (consider, "Why have you forsaken me?" ...to pay the penalty of sin--which is separation for God).
   
   --
   We don't come alone
   We are fire, we are stone
   We're the hand that writes
   Then quickly moves away
   --
   Fire and stone could reference angles and God. The hand which writes into the Lamb's book of life. Once written it remains.
   
   --
   We'll know for the first time
   If we're evil or divine
   We're the last in line, yeah
   We're the last in line
   --
   Humans are the last to be judged. Many biblical scholars would disagree with "We'll know for the first time" and argue that scripture says people can know if they have salvation before the day of judgment.
   --
   
   That's one interruption. The other verses could all be taken to have biblical references.
2. anonymous

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   Jul 18th 2021 !⃝

   There are so many astute interpretations of this song. I can see how inadvertently RJD wrote a song that parallels many of these comments. I would like to add that it could vaguely reference the final battle at the end of Christ's 1000 year reign on earth. GenX is likely the last in line, and those who endure (post millennial dictrine) will be saved. So let's fight this Witch(whore of babylon) and endure to the end. Regardless if it was written this way on accident.
3. anonymous

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   Jun 3rd 2021 !⃝

   This is the last generation before Judgement day. The prophecy in Holy scripture declares the signs in Jesus words Matthew chapter 24 Daniel chapter 8 she easily understood to all who desire to know wisdom to go to the well freely draw as this Holy Bible and be prepared to stand in awe of it's power. It's all about Heaven and hell light and dark and The watchers role. Understanding we are tested as humanity is being ready to be exposed to the greater cosmos as we enter have entered the age of understanding. Only the Devine will be chosen
4. anonymous

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   May 21st 2021 !⃝

   I liked many of the given interpretations, particularly the very first one (by Anonymous) and the last one so far (by Donald Ray). I think Dio made a compilation of the Biblical message and a mystical-philosophical approach to that subject. It indeed portrays the Human's growth, picturing all those stages from earliest youth to the old age. At the same time, Dio seems to picture God differently than the Bible does, namely as a good-evil dual force. We're the last in line probably refers to "the first will be last and the last will be first". The hand that writes and then quickly moves away alludes to Daniel's report about the message "mene, tekel, Upharsin". I have a hunch that Dio sends out the mystical message that Humans are higher than the dual God, because his song has a positive vibration in spite of its apparently negative text. To him, it seems that we are "lost, last, or never coming home" etc, is just the beginning of something much better than the existing reality. We're the throw before the toss probably means we're the pain before the birth, the pain that "God" has to feel before he makes a BETTER creation than this miserable one.
5. anonymous

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   Nov 20th 2020 !⃝

   My take on the song is that it couples spiritual growth with finding your own path rather than taking conventional wisdom.
   
   Ship with out a storm = we've got nothing to fear (calm vessels)
   Cold without the warm = We don't seek comfort
   Light inside the darkness that it needs, yeah. = We are wise, and corrupted forces need to hate us in order to exist
   
   A laugh with out a tear = No regrets
   Hope with out fear = Shining our light with pride
   We are coming home = We'll bestow our bounty on you
   
   We're off to the witch = We seek a magical spiritual life
   We may never come home = We might like it there
   The magic is worth a lifetime = It's worth it
   
   The rest of the song, in my mind is about duality. Where the truth is in-between good and evil, pleasure and pain, fire and stone.
   
   The last in line's chorus, in my mind means we've got too much cool stuff to do to follow the pack, or our industrial world. We are entrepreneurs! And if anyone judges us they should also be born on the cross (understand personal sacrifice for the betterment of humanity). You can release yourself from the burden of spiritual truth, but if you do, you'll diminish yourself.
   
   Just my point of view.
6. anonymous

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   Feb 2nd 2020 !⃝

   Dio probably announced the omen of the future is a event called the tribulation is where the souls accepts who is your eternal owner so will decide to go forever, choose then with the devil in the lake of fire now or prepares to perish.and Ronny it moves you leaving you in a frightening suspense: will it be you who can escape this torment here as the last in line?
7. anonymous

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   Dec 27th 2019 !⃝

   As he sings "you'll know for the first time,if you're evil or divine,you're the last in line. Pertaining to Judgement Day as to what position in line you want to be. If you feel you have something to fear you'll want to be the last in line to be judged.
8. anonymous

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   Nov 16th 2019 !⃝

   It was said that Dio never pretended to be one of his youthful audience. However it was clear that he spoke/sang directly to us. “Us” being GenX. I always felt like Dio was one of the very few musical prophets that GenX had. There were 80 million Boomers before us and 80 million millennials behind us. GenX totaled just 37 million. We are clearly far more independent (even loners) than then gens that sandwich us. We always struggled for identity. So much so that most of us would rather stay anonymous. Instead of being a “bridge” between two larger generations, we were quickly cast as the Last In Line. Many intellectuals have cast us as the sad and ungrateful ending to the Boomer’s great legacy. Not Ronnie. We’re the last in line, see how we shine!
9. anonymous

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   Sep 29th 2019 !⃝

   The meaning I see in it is who we are, our essence, is a potential, We can begin actions but how they play out is another matter, such as the throw before the toss. We also see ourselves in an inner world that isn't necessarily how the outer world sees us, the smile without the mirror. We are seen by both the potential and the consequences and results of our actions.
   
   We begin in a perceived state of innocence, and untroubled by our path, so we are the ship without the storm, born upon the cross. To partake of the world means taking action and losing innocence--the only way to go is down.
   
   We journey to the witch--I agree, Wizard of Oz, but allegorically the journey of life to find who we are, the magic of discovery, the search for the truth.
   
   The final conclusion probably is the tribulation, the last in line for salvation. None of us are completely good or bad, but the ultimate summation of whether we're divine or evil we simply don't know, it's a judgement on a life we've interpreted by our intents but not seen objectively.
10. anonymous

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    Feb 7th 2019 !⃝

    Whether Dio intended it or not, the song has paralells with the Biblical account of tribulation. Salvation is granted even to those who ask forgiveness after the Church is raptured. Those persons saved, sometimes referred to as tribulation saints, may be the “last in line” for salvation. Just a theory but it brings an interesting dimension to the lyrics.
11. anonymous

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    Jan 7th 2019 !⃝

    We're off to the witch
    We may never, never, never, come home
    But the magic that we'll feel
    Is worth the lifetime
    
    - Straight from of "The Wizard of Oz". Dorothy was off to see the Wizard to get her home. But Dio instead sings of being off to see the witch. Choosing that path is not safe, it may never get you home, but maybe something extraordinary happens instead.
12. anonymous

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    Feb 10th 2018 !⃝

    When the world ends in 1000 years I am last in the line to see the holy phoenix.
13. anonymous

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    Nov 3rd 2017 !⃝

    "We're the hand that writes
    Then quickly moves away" is a reference to the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
    
    The most famous (translated) lines of the Rubaiyat speak of the moving finger:
    
    "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
    Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
    Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
    Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it."
    
    Essentially: take responsibility for the things that you do, because once you've done them, you can't go back in time and undo them.
14. Donald Ray

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    Jun 26th 2016 !⃝

    I came to this web page looking for the meaning of this song, so please forgive me if I do not do a good job of explaining what "The Last In Line" means???
    
    
    "The Last In Line"
    We're the ship without a storm
    The cold without the warm
    Light inside the darkness
    That it needs, yeah
    (I see this as the purity of a young child before the worldly influences have had a chance to darken its soul)
    
    We're a laugh without tear
    The hope without the fear
    We are coming, home
    (This is the joy and innocence if the young)
    
    We're off to the witch
    We may never, never, never, come home
    But the magic that we'll feel
    Is worth the lifetime
    (The thrill of moving out on your own and having your first place to live that is not owned by your family, wether it is a “Dorm Room”, a “Frat House”, or “your first Apartment”. For some, the break is permanent and complete. Hence the, “We may never, never, never, come home” line.)
    
    We're all born upon the cross
    We're the throw before the toss
    You can release yourself
    But the only way is down
    (“We're all born upon the cross” Christ died for our sins. “You can release yourself
    But the only way is down” Christians believe that to leaving Christianity is a one-way ticket to HELL.)
    
    We don't come alone
    We are fire, we are stone
    We're the hand that writes
    Then quickly moves away
    (I have to admit this one stumps me.)
    
    We'll know for the first time
    If we're evil or divine
    We're the last in line, yeah
    We're the last in line
    (Come “Judgement Day” it does not matter if you are Evil or Divine, because for some reason you are the last one to be “judged”)
    
    Two eyes from the east
    It's the angel or the beast
    And the answer lies
    Between the good and bad
    (Who is coming for you, “the angel or the beast”, that all depends on how you lived your life)
    
    We search for the truth
    We could die upon the tooth
    But the thrill of just the chase
    Is worth the pain
    (The search for of our life.)
    
    We'll know for the first time
    If we're evil or divine
    We're the last in line, yeah
    We're the last in line, oh
    
    Yeah, we're off to the witch
    We may never, never, never come home
    But the magic that we'll feel
    Is worth a lifetime
    
    We're all born upon the cross
    You know we're the throw before the toss
    You can release yourself
    But the only way to go is down
    
    We'll know for the first time
    If we're evil or divine
    We're the last in line, oh
    We're the last in line
    See how we shine
    
    We're the last in
    We're the last in
    We're the last in
    We're the last in
    We're the last in
    We're the first in line, oh
    
    We're a ship without a storm
    We're the cold inside the warm
    We're the laugh without tear
    We're the smile without the mirror
    
    We're the last in line
    We're the last in line
    We're the last in line
    See how we shine
    We're the last in line
    
    
    If this does not make any sense to, I am very sorry. Writing is not one my strong points. I think in pictures and translating pictures into words is a skill that I have not mastered as of yet.

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