Aqua Tofana

Released: 2024

Lyrics

I was dispossessed
Tied and undressed
The sin of the flesh
A soul in distress

The curse of angel wings
I end peasants, I end kings
Surrender to him
Remember this sting

When you wither away
A miraculous day
As your body decays
I’ll no longer be prey

Drink the poison
Be forever gone
Drink the poison
I’ll see a new dawn

A love laid to rest
I was weak and oppressed
End the obsessed
Your heart poison-blessed

The tingling in your lips
To pay for your sins
This cup, like a violin
I play the devil’s strings

As your body decays
I’ll no longer be prey

Drink the poison
Be forever gone
Drink the poison
I’ll see a new dawn

About

This song came about as a suggestion from a friend of Halvari. She suggested a song about Giulia Tofana, an infamous poisoner who allegedly lived in Rome in the 1500s. There was, apparently, an underground ring of ladies who dealt in arsenic poisons, commonly referred to as “Aqua Tofana”.

The challenge was to figure out the approach, and we ended up going for a perspective approach of a woman using this poison to escape a toxic relationship, based on what we commonly know about history and the fact women in this time period did not enjoy the same kind of rights they have nowadays.