Ghost Excelsis Meaning and Review

A Gentle Yet Grand Finale

“Excelsis,” the final track on Ghost’s Skeletá, closes the album on a profoundly emotional and spiritual note, combining the band’s signature theatricality with a gentler, more meditative metal sound. From the outset, the song’s shimmering clean guitars and ambient synth layers evoke a feeling of transcendence, subtly calling back to the balladic moments of early Metallica while still feeling uniquely Ghost. The band steps away from the occult grandeur often associated with their aesthetic and delivers something more subdued but equally powerful, almost like performance metal tinged with reverence.

Sacred Roots and Symbolism

The track’s title, Excelsis, meaning “in the highest,” draws directly from the liturgical phrase Gloria in excelsis Deo, a hymn of praise that finds its origin in Luke 2:14. This sacred reference sets the tone for a song that contemplates mortality, redemption, and the human longing for peace. It is a compelling fusion of spiritual symbolism and rock melodrama, placing the listener in a liminal space between heaven and earth, life and afterlife. Ghost’s choice to invoke such a potent and widely recognized phrase gives the song weight beyond its instrumentation, rooting it in a tradition of sacred music that spans centuries.

Lyrical Farewell and Shared Humanity

Lyrically, “Excelsis” reads like a farewell, a eulogy, and a benediction all at once. Lines like “It is the end of your penitence, it is the end of your sadness and pain” suggest the song is not just about death, but about transcendence, the shedding of earthly grief in pursuit of something purer. The chorus, with its invitation to “Come with me to the rainbow’s end, come with me to the Holy Land,” feels both intimate and universal. There's a mournful beauty to the repetition of “You will, too, I will, too,” a gentle reminder of our shared fate and the hope for reunion or peace beyond.

Musical Catharsis

Musically, the band executes a masterclass in restraint, allowing the lyrics and atmosphere to breathe. The bridge introduces a sense of catharsis with the lines “As levees are breaking, a flood comes,” metaphorically sweeping away past sins and struggles. When the guitar solo arrives, it feels earned, a release of all the tension built up throughout the verses. It is a moment of sublime clarity amid the emotional fog, like light filtering through storm clouds.

A Vulnerable Goodbye

By the time the outro fades with “This is the end of the avenue, I am afraid of eternity, too,” Ghost leaves the listener with a vulnerable confession, stripping back their typical bravado to show genuine fear and doubt. It is a powerful, human moment that cements “Excelsis” as one of the band’s most spiritually resonant and compositionally mature songs to date. As a closer, it does not just end Skeletá. It elevates it, inviting reflection long after the last note has faded.

Listen to Ghost Excelsis

Ghost Excelsis Lyrics Meaning Explained 

The meaning of Excelsis by Ghost is a profound exploration of mortality, spiritual redemption, and the human experience of fear and liberation in the face of death. Drawing on the Latin word "excelsis," meaning "in the highest," the song delves into themes of transcendence, encouraging listeners to embrace the inevitable end of life with peace and understanding. Through its solemn yet uplifting lyrics, Excelsis invites contemplation on both the finality of death and the possibility of spiritual deliverance, offering solace while acknowledging the fear and uncertainty that come with facing eternity.

Verse 1

“It is the end of your penitence

It is the end of your sadness and pain

It's the return to your innocence

It is the end of a life grieved in vain”

This verse begins as a eulogy for the listener or someone who has passed. The “end of your penitence” suggests release from guilt and the spiritual burden of wrongdoing. Death, here, is painted as a liberation—not just from physical suffering, but from emotional and existential anguish. “Return to your innocence” could refer to a kind of spiritual reset, where death restores a person’s purity, washing away worldly sins. The final line critiques lives lost to prolonged grief or regret, reassuring that such suffering was not necessary, and peace is now attainable.

Pre-Chorus

“Everybody leaves one day

I know it hurts

Everybody goes away

You will, too, I will, too”

A stark reminder of mortality. These lines confront the listener with the inevitable truth of death. There's pain in acknowledging it (“I know it hurts”), but a kind of serenity in realizing it's a universal experience. No one is alone in this journey. The repetition of “You will, too, I will, too” is both comforting and haunting—emphasizing shared fate. Embracing this reality can be terrifying, but it also grants clarity and invites us to live more meaningfully.

Chorus

“Come with me to the rainbow's end

Come with me to the Holy Land

Come with me

You will, too, I will, too

Excel, excel”

This section reads like an invitation to pass on peacefully. “Rainbow’s end” symbolizes the mythical place where dreams are fulfilled and suffering ceases, while “Holy Land” implies spiritual sanctuary or afterlife—heaven, perhaps. The invitation is not forceful, but compassionate, a hand extended in solidarity. “Excel” (derived from excelsis) becomes a mantra, encouraging transcendence, urging the soul to rise beyond pain and fear, to ascend both spiritually and emotionally.

Verse 2

“There is still time for deliverance

There is still time to make peace with your friend

And to return to where there's a chance

There is still time to love once again”

This verse shifts the tone from post-mortem reflection to a plea for reconciliation and action while alive. It's a message of hope for the living: as long as you breathe, you have the power to heal, forgive, and change. “Deliverance” implies spiritual or emotional salvation. “Return to where there’s a chance” suggests reconnecting with someone or something you thought was lost. It's a powerful affirmation that redemption is always possible until the very end.

Bridge

“As levees are breaking

A flood comes

Washes away all the rubble

Past indiscretions and stalemates

We are all sailing to the gates”

The breaking levees and rising flood symbolize emotional release and the unstoppable tide of time and mortality. The “rubble” represents past sins, regrets, and unresolved conflicts. This cleansing flood is both destructive and redemptive, erasing what weighs us down. “Sailing to the gates” likely references the gates of heaven or the threshold of the afterlife, positioning the listener as part of a collective movement toward spiritual closure or rebirth. It captures the feeling of inevitability and transformation.

Pre-Chorus – Repeated

“Everybody leaves one day

I know it hurts

Everybody goes away

You will, too, I will, too”

Repeated for emotional resonance. This reinforces the song’s central truth: mortality unites all of us. The pain of departure is undeniable, but Ghost urges us to make peace with this truth—not to fear it, but to find power and perspective within it.

Chorus – Repeated

“Come with me to the rainbow's end

Come with me to the Holy Land

Come with me

You will, too, I will, too

Excel, excel, excel, excel”

The repetition of “excel” takes on a chant-like quality, as if guiding the soul upward. It feels less like a goodbye and more like a sacred transition. This passage builds an emotional crescendo—a ceremonial escort into the unknown, both mournful and majestic.

Outro

“This is the end of the avenue

I am afraid of eternity, too”

Perhaps the most vulnerable line in the song. After offering so much comfort and spiritual guidance, the narrator admits their own fear of the unknown. “The end of the avenue” represents the final step in life’s journey. Acknowledging fear of eternity—of nothingness, of the unknown—grounds the song in deep humanity. It reassures the listener that even the wisest or most spiritually aware still wrestle with dread and doubt. It’s a poetic and honest closure, refusing to romanticize death while still finding grace in its inevitability.

Ghost Excelsis Lyrics

[Verse 1]

It is the end of your penitence

It is the end of your sadness and pain

It's the return to your innocence

It is the end of a life grieved in vain

[Pre-Chorus]

Everybody leaves one day

I know it hurts

Everybody goes away

You will, too, I will, too

[Chorus]

Come with me to the rainbow's end

Come with me to the Holy Land

Come with me

You will, too, I will, too

Excel, excel

[Verse 2]

There is still time for deliverance

There is still time to make peace with your friend

And to return to where there's a chance

There is still time to love once again

[Pre-Chorus]

Everybody leaves one day

I know it hurts

Everybody goes away

You will, too, I will, too

[Chorus]

Come with me to the rainbow's end

Come with me to the Holy Land

Come with me

You will, too, I will, too

Excel, excel

[Bridge]

As levees are breaking

A flood comes

Washes away all the rubble

Past indiscretions and stalemates

We are all sailing to the gates

[Guitar solo]

[Pre-Chorus]

Everybody leaves one day

I know it hurts

Everybody goes away

You will, too, I will, too

[Chorus]

Come with me to the rainbow's end

Come with me to the Holy Land

Come with me

You will, too, I will, too

Excel, excel, excel, excel

[Outro]

This is the end of the avenue

I am afraid of eternity, too