Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
🎸 plaidonflannel.com
🎤 plaidonflannelshop.com
Nolan Randall playing the guitar solo of “Holy Diver” by Dio from their 1983 album Holy Diver for Warner Brothers Records.
Words and music by Ronnie James Dio
Holy diver
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh, what's becoming of me?
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes, but you know he's clean
Oh, don't you see what I mean?
Gotta get away
Holy diver
Got shiny diamonds
Like the eyes of a cat in the black and blue
Something is coming for you, look out!
Race for the morning
You can hide in the sun 'til you see the light
Oh, we will pray it's all right
Gotta get away, get away
Between the velvet lies
There's a truth that's hard as steel, yeah
The vision never dies
Life's a never-ending wheel, say
Holy diver
You're the star of the masquerade
No need to look so afraid
Jump, jump, jump on the tiger
You can feel his heart but you know he's mean
Some light can never be seen, yeah!
Holy diver
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh what's becoming of me? No! No!
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes but you know he's clean
Oh, don't you see what I mean?
Gotta get away, get away
Gotta get away, get away, yeah
Holy diver, sole survivor
You're the one who's clean
Holy diver, holy diver
There's a cat in the blue coming after you, holy diver
Oh, holy diver
Yeah, alright
Get away, get away, get away
Holy diver, holy diver
Oh, holy diver
Hmm hmm hmm
*Song Facts*
"Holy Diver" is a song by American heavy metal band Dio. It was released in August of 1983 as the lead single from the band's debut album of the same name. Although it only reached number 40 on the Mainstream Rock chart at that time, it is one of Dio's most popular tunes today.
At its surface, "Holy Diver" seems to be about Satan, and his descent to Hell (his "dive"). But according to Ronnie James Dio, there's a lot more to it. And the main character isn't actually The Devil. Dio explains: "The song is really about a Christ-figure. Who on another planet, has done exactly the same as we've apparently experienced or were supposed to have experienced on Earth: dying for the sins of man so that man can start again and be cleansed and do it properly," he told Sam Dunn for the film Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. "So, the same thing happened on this other far-distant planet, and all the people on this planet are calling him the Holy Diver because he's about to go to another world to do what he did to the first: absolve them from their sins by having himself killed. And the people are saying to him, 'Don't go,' with innuendos of tigers and stripes and hearts and being eaten. It was meant to show just how selfish humanity is. That this one form of humanity on this one world said, 'No, don't go down there and save anybody else. Stay here, we need you, you are ours.'"
The music video for "Holy Diver", directed and edited by Arthur Ellis, features Dio as a hairy barbarian adventuring through a desolate church. First he strikes a shrouded figure and his hobgoblin friend with his sword, but instead of killing them he turns them into rats. He later visits a blacksmith who is forging a sword. He throws his old sword away and deftly catches the newly forged one. Walking through a corridor, he encounters three seated hooded figures. As the camera pans across them, the third slowly raises its head to reveal eyes resembling those of a cat. The final shots show Dio exiting the church.
The song was featured in an episode of South Park where Dio (in crude cartoon form) appears performing at an elementary school dance with a monkey on drums. In an NME interview, Dio said: "When I heard South Park wanted to use 'Holy Diver‚' I was like No way! You're gonna completely destroy me, I'll be so embarrassed to see it. But they said they wouldn't because they were big fans and they didn't. They were very kind to me - not so much the drummer - but very kind to me! Plus, if you want to be an icon of some kind, you have to be in an episode of South Park."
In June of 2009, Dio told the NME: "'Holy Diver' is the metal tune that will not die. For some reason, that album and the song really hit a chord with people. Killswitch Engage did a version of it and I saw them do it at a festival recently where the reaction to their version was wonderful. But it's not something that gets resurrected every once in a while, it's just always there. I guess it's because good songs always work. What usually happens when people in bands meet me for the first time and they're fans is that they'll sing [adopts a self-mocking high pitched voice] 'Hoooly Diiiiiver' at me! It happens all the time and it's very touching."
Following the September 11 attacks, the tune was placed on the list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles distributed by Clear Channel.
In March 2023, Rolling Stone ranked "Holy Diver" as the 9th greatest metal song of all time.
#HeavyMetal #RonnieJamesDio #VivianCampbell
🎸 plaidonflannel.com
🎤 plaidonflannelshop.com
Nolan Randall playing the guitar solo of “Holy Diver” by Dio from their 1983 album Holy Diver for Warner Brothers Records.
Words and music by Ronnie James Dio
Holy diver
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh, what's becoming of me?
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes, but you know he's clean
Oh, don't you see what I mean?
Gotta get away
Holy diver
Got shiny diamonds
Like the eyes of a cat in the black and blue
Something is coming for you, look out!
Race for the morning
You can hide in the sun 'til you see the light
Oh, we will pray it's all right
Gotta get away, get away
Between the velvet lies
There's a truth that's hard as steel, yeah
The vision never dies
Life's a never-ending wheel, say
Holy diver
You're the star of the masquerade
No need to look so afraid
Jump, jump, jump on the tiger
You can feel his heart but you know he's mean
Some light can never be seen, yeah!
Holy diver
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh what's becoming of me? No! No!
Ride the tiger
You can see his stripes but you know he's clean
Oh, don't you see what I mean?
Gotta get away, get away
Gotta get away, get away, yeah
Holy diver, sole survivor
You're the one who's clean
Holy diver, holy diver
There's a cat in the blue coming after you, holy diver
Oh, holy diver
Yeah, alright
Get away, get away, get away
Holy diver, holy diver
Oh, holy diver
Hmm hmm hmm
*Song Facts*
"Holy Diver" is a song by American heavy metal band Dio. It was released in August of 1983 as the lead single from the band's debut album of the same name. Although it only reached number 40 on the Mainstream Rock chart at that time, it is one of Dio's most popular tunes today.
At its surface, "Holy Diver" seems to be about Satan, and his descent to Hell (his "dive"). But according to Ronnie James Dio, there's a lot more to it. And the main character isn't actually The Devil. Dio explains: "The song is really about a Christ-figure. Who on another planet, has done exactly the same as we've apparently experienced or were supposed to have experienced on Earth: dying for the sins of man so that man can start again and be cleansed and do it properly," he told Sam Dunn for the film Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. "So, the same thing happened on this other far-distant planet, and all the people on this planet are calling him the Holy Diver because he's about to go to another world to do what he did to the first: absolve them from their sins by having himself killed. And the people are saying to him, 'Don't go,' with innuendos of tigers and stripes and hearts and being eaten. It was meant to show just how selfish humanity is. That this one form of humanity on this one world said, 'No, don't go down there and save anybody else. Stay here, we need you, you are ours.'"
The music video for "Holy Diver", directed and edited by Arthur Ellis, features Dio as a hairy barbarian adventuring through a desolate church. First he strikes a shrouded figure and his hobgoblin friend with his sword, but instead of killing them he turns them into rats. He later visits a blacksmith who is forging a sword. He throws his old sword away and deftly catches the newly forged one. Walking through a corridor, he encounters three seated hooded figures. As the camera pans across them, the third slowly raises its head to reveal eyes resembling those of a cat. The final shots show Dio exiting the church.
The song was featured in an episode of South Park where Dio (in crude cartoon form) appears performing at an elementary school dance with a monkey on drums. In an NME interview, Dio said: "When I heard South Park wanted to use 'Holy Diver‚' I was like No way! You're gonna completely destroy me, I'll be so embarrassed to see it. But they said they wouldn't because they were big fans and they didn't. They were very kind to me - not so much the drummer - but very kind to me! Plus, if you want to be an icon of some kind, you have to be in an episode of South Park."
In June of 2009, Dio told the NME: "'Holy Diver' is the metal tune that will not die. For some reason, that album and the song really hit a chord with people. Killswitch Engage did a version of it and I saw them do it at a festival recently where the reaction to their version was wonderful. But it's not something that gets resurrected every once in a while, it's just always there. I guess it's because good songs always work. What usually happens when people in bands meet me for the first time and they're fans is that they'll sing [adopts a self-mocking high pitched voice] 'Hoooly Diiiiiver' at me! It happens all the time and it's very touching."
Following the September 11 attacks, the tune was placed on the list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles distributed by Clear Channel.
In March 2023, Rolling Stone ranked "Holy Diver" as the 9th greatest metal song of all time.
#HeavyMetal #RonnieJamesDio #VivianCampbell
