Story Behind The Song

This song is a tribute to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous works, and also reflects the dark and mysterious side of human conflict. The irony brought to light is, in part, that even an intellectual conflict between the highest minds can degenerate into common hand-to-hand combat, still the common denominator in human confrontation.

Song Description

The Final Problem, reflecting the eponymous chapter in one of the later Sherlock Holmes stories, dramatizes the final battle of Holmes and his arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty, on the top of Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland.

Lyrics

It?s good to see you here, professor
I see you?ve sent my doctor back
We?re face to face at last
By the falls of Reichenbach
[But] before the final act, Let?s clarify the past...

I know you had your hand in Birlstone
Your henchman sent that vital clue
But when your path was found,
The missing link was you
The spider hunts its prey
But fragile is the web
Now that the web is broken...

Who will take his last bow?
Intrigue dissolves to a brawl
Desperation in your eyes,
[But] only one man
Only one man
Only one man will return from where we stand

Another thumb in your collection,
A sacred jewel inside a bird,
A redheaded league deception
To some might seem absurd
But we knew all along
That the strings were in your hands.
But now that the puppet?s fallen...

With nothing left unsaid
They grappled to the end
A thousand feet below the falls flashed red