Opeth

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In The Mist She Was Standing

Seven milestones...
Under a watching autumn eye
Contorted trees are spreading forth
The message of the wind

With frozen hands I rode with the stars

With anger the wind blew
Giving wings to my stallion
Clouds gathered across the moon
Blazing the white light

Passing the lake I know so well
I am near, yet so far away

Arrival...
I saw her shadow (standing) in the darkness
Awaiting me like the night
Awaits the day
Standing silent smiling at my presence
A black candle holds the only light

Darkness encloses
And the candle seem to expire
In her cold, cold hand
And as a forlorn soul
It will fade away

Touching her flesh in this night
My blood froze forever
Embraced before the dawn
A kiss brought total eclipse

And she spoke
Once and forever
I am so cold
In mist enrobed the twilight
She was standing...

Ghost Of Perdition

Ghost of Mother
Lingering death
Ghost on Mother's bed
Black strands on the pillow
Contour of her health
Twisted face upon the head

Ghost of perdition
Stuck in her chest
A warning no one read
Tragic friendship
Called inside the fog
Pouring venom brew deceiving

Devil cracked the earthly shell
Foretold she was the one
Blew hope into the room and said:
"You have to live before you die young"

Holding her down
Channeling darkness
Hemlock for the Gods
Fading resistance
Draining the weakness
Penetrating inner light

Road into the dark unaware
Winding ever higher

Darkness by her side
Spoke and passed her by
Dedicated hunter
Waits to pull us under
Rose up to it's call
In his arms she'd fall
Mother light received
And a faithful servant's free

In time the hissing of her sanity
Faded out her voice and soiled her name
And like marked pages in a diary
Everything seemed clean that is unstained
The incoherent talk of ordinary days
Why would we really need to live?
Decide what is clear and what's within a haze
What you should take and what to give

Ghost of perdition
A saint's premonition's unclear
Keeper of holy hordes
Keeper of holy whores

To see a beloved son
In despair of what's to come

If one cut the source of the flow
And everything would change
Would conviction fall
In the shadow of the righteous
The phantasm of your mind
Might be calling you to go
Defying the forgotten morals
Where the victim is the prey

The Baying Of The Hounds

I hear the baying of the hounds
In the distance, I hear them devouring
Pest ridden jackals of the earth
Diabolical beasts and roaming the forests
In wait and constant protectors
Calling you to sit by his side
Your self loathing image in his flesh
A revelation upon which you linger

His words are flies
Swarming towards the true insects
Feasting on buried dreams
And spreading decay upon your skin
His eyes spew forth a darkness
That cut through and paralyze
Casts light upon your secrets
Forced to confront your enemies

His mouth is a vortex
Sucking you into it's pandemonium
Fools you with a helping hand of ashes
Reached out in false dismay
His body is a country
The cities lay dead and beyond despair
Friends turned enemies unable to come clean
In a rising fog of reeking death

Everything you believed is a lie
Everyone you loved is a death burden
So you take comfort in him
And you are receptive to stark wishes
No longer struggling to declare your stand
You would inflict no harm to others
They are unaware of you
And in a loop of futile events
You are everything, they are nothing

Drown in the deep mire
With past desires
Beneath the mire
Drown desire now with you

Lined up verses on dead skin
"The tainted lips of the stranger
Resting upon hers"

And I embrace bereavement
Everything beloved is shattered anyway
I would devote myself to anyone
I would accept any flaws

I am too weak to resist
Tension vibrating with horror
Finding the outcast in my eyes
Pushing nerves on a puppet
Endless poison in my veins
Clean intent now tainted with death

And so, cold touch now inhumane
Every waking hour
Awaiting a reverie to unfold
And now they are calling me
Louder by the minute
The baying of the hounds
Calling me back to my home

Beneath The Mire

Haunted nights for halcyon days
Can't sleep to the scraping of his voice
Nature's way struck grief in me
And I became a ghost in sickness

Willingly guided into heresy
Beneath the surface, stark emptiness
And you'd pity my conviction
Whereas I thought of myself as a leader

You'd cling to your pleasant hope
It is twisted fascination
While I'd ruin the obstacles into despair
And I'm praising death

Lost love of the heart
In a holocaust scene memory

Decrepit body wearing transparent skin
Inside, the smoke of failure

Wept for solace and submit to faith
In his shadow I'm choking
Yet flourishing

Master

A delusion made me stronger
Yet I'm draped in pale withering flesh
I sacrificed more than I had
And left my woes beneath the mire

Atonement

Cleared the fog that was veiled around me
And blurred my sights
Suddenly, I'm no longer aching
To honor my plights

Rising moon and my skin is peeling
Past undone
Suddenly, I can't justify
What I had become

Reverie / Harlequin Forest

Into the trees
Past meadow grounds
And further away from my home
Baying behind me
I hear the hounds
Flock's chasing to find me alone

A trail of sickness
Leading to me
If I am haunted
Then you will see

Searching the darkness
And emptiness
I'm hiding away from the sun
Will never rest
Will never be at ease
All my matter's expired so I run

There falls another
Vapor hands released the blade
Insane regrets at the drop
Instruments of death before me

Lose all to save a little
At your peril it's justified
And dismiss your demons
As death becomes a jest
You are the laughing stock
Of the absinthe minded
Confessions stuck in your mouth
And long gone fevers reappear

Nocturnally helpless
And weak in the light
Depending on a prayer
Pacing deserted roads to find
A seed of hope

They are the trees
Rotten pulp inside and never well
Roots sucking, thieving from my source
Tired boughs reaching for the light

It is all false pretension
Harlequin forest
Awaiting redemption for a lifetime
As they die alone
With no one by their side
Are they forgiven?

Stark determination
Poisoning the soul
Unfettered beast inside
Claiming sovereign control

And now the woods are burning
Tearing life crops asunder
Useless blackened remains
Still pyre smoldering

Hours Of Wealth

Found a way to rid myself clean of pain
And the fever that's been haunting me
Has gone away

Looking through my window
I seem to recognize
All the people passing by
But I am alone
And far from home
And nobody knows me

Never heard me say goodbye
Never shall I speak to anyone again
All days are in darkness
And I'm biding my time
Once I am sure of my task I will rise again

The Grand Conjuration

Majesty
Faithful me
Pour yourself
Into me

Wield your power
Martyr's price
Stare me down
To the ground

The eyes of the devil
Fixed on his sinners

Slake my thirst
Eternal wealth
Heathen key
Round my neck

This poetry
Our blasphemy
Know the sounds
Of infamy

The hands of Satan
Assembling his flock
Pale horse rider
Scouring the earth

Whispered conjuration
A belief takes form
Choking hand tapping
The veins in your throat

His orders in your mouth
A decree for domination
Beneath the tides of wisdom
Spins the undertow of hate

Injected seeds of vengeance
Usurper's eyes of the powerless
Clean path to his kingdom
Beckoning in the mist

(The grand conjuration)

Tell my why
Love subsides
In the light
Of your wishes

Say my name
Ease the pain
Clear the smoke
In my head

Isolation Years

There's a sense of longing in me
As I read Rosemary's letter
Her writing's honest
Can't forget the years she's lost

In isolation
She talks about her love
And as I read
"I'll die alone"
I know she was aching

There's a certain detail seen here
The pen must have slipped to the side
And left a stain
Next to his name
She knows he's gone

And isolation
Is all that would remain
"The wound in me is pouring out
To rest on a lover's shore"

Soldier Of Fortune

[Deep Purple cover]

I have often told you stories
About the way
I lived the life of a drifter
Waiting for the day
When I'd take your hand
And sing you songs
Then maybe you would say
Come lay with me love me
And I would surely stay
But I feel I'm growing older
And the songs that I have sung
Echo in the distance
Like the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be
A soldier of fortune
Many times I've been a traveller
I looked for something new
In days of old
When nights were cold
I wandered without you
But those days I thought my eyes
Had seen you standing near
Though blindness is confusing
It shows that you're not here
Now I feel I'm growing older
And the songs that I have sung
Echo in the distance
Like the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be
A soldier of fortune
Yes, I can hear the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be
A soldier of fortune

When

Red sun rising somewhere through the dense fog.
The portrait of the jaded dawn
Who had seen it all before.
This day wept on my shoulders.

Still the same as yesterday.
This path seems endless, body is numb.
The soul has lost its flame.
Walking in familiar traces to find my way back home.

So there I was.
Within the sobriety of the immortals.
A semblance of supernatural winds passing through,
The garden sighs, flowers die.

The gate was closed that day,
But I was bound to carry on.
She could not see me through the windows.
In dismay, strangest twist upon her lips.

Graven face, she said my name.
Once inside I heard whispers in the parlour.
The gilded faces grin, aware of my final demise.
And I cried, I knew she had lied.

Her obsession had died, it had died.
When can I take you from this place?
When is the word but a sigh?
When is death our lone beholder?

When do we walk the final steps?
When can we scream instead of whisper?
When is the new beginning, the end of this sad Madrigal.

Ghost Of Perdition

Ghost of Mother
Lingering death
Ghost on Mother's Bed
Black strands on the pillow
Contour of her health
Twisted face upon the head

Ghost of perdition
Stuck in her chest
A warning no one read
Tragic friendship
Called inside the fog
Pouring venom brew deceiving

Devil cracked the earthly shell
Foretold she was the one
Blew hope into the room and said:
"You have to live before you die young"

Holding her down
Channeling darkness
Hemlock for the gods
Fading resistance
Draining the weakness
Penetrating inner light

Road into the dark unaware
Winding ever higher

Darkness by her side
Spoke and passed her by
Dedicated hunter
Waits to pull us under
Rose up to it's call
In his arms she'd fall
Mother light received
And a faithful servant's free

In time the hissing of her sanity
Faded out her voice and soiled her name
And like marked pages in a diary
Everything seemed clean and is unstained
The incoherent talk of ordinary days
Why would we really need to live?
Decide what is clear and what's within a haze
What you should take and what to give

Ghost of Perdition
A saint's premonitions unclear
Keeper of holy hordes
Keeper of holy whores

To see a beloved son
In despair of what's to come

If one cut the source of the flow
And everything would change
Would conviction fall
In the shadows of the righteous
The phantasm of your mind
Might be calling you to go
Defying the forgotten morals
Where the victim is the prey

Under The Weeping Moon

Once again I've cried
Unto the moon
That burning flame
That has guided me

Through all these years
The lake from which you flow
With eyes of fire
Once unlit but now alive

This energy, sparkling
Like a morning star
The morning star
Riding the fires of

The northern gold
I've searched the eye
I laugh under the weeping moon
I am the watcher in the skies

Nor the emeralds know my mark
Glisten to mark their presence
Set the enigma ablaze
Searching...Finding...

Burn the winter landmarks
That said I was there
Burn the spirit of cold
That travel through my soul

Bleak

Beating
Heart still beating for the cause
Feeding
Soul still feeding from the loss
Aching
Limbs are aching from the rush
Fading
You are fading from my sight
Break of morning, coldness lingers on
Shroud me into nightmares of the sun
Moving
I am moving closer to your side
Luring
You are luring me into the night
Crying
Who is crying for you here
Dying
I am dying fast inside your tears
Plunging towards bereavement faster yet
Clearing thoughts, my mind is set
Devious movements in your eyes
Moved me from relief
Breath comes out white clouds with your lies
And filters through me
You're close to the final word
You're staring right past me in dismay
A liquid seeps from your chest
And drains me away
Mist ripples round your thin white neck
And draws me a line
Cold fingers mark this dying wreck
This moment is mine

Help me cure you
Atone for all you've done
Help me leave you
As all the days are gone
Night fall again
Taking what's left of me
Slight twist, shivering corpse
Ornated with water, fills the cracks
Clasped in my limbs by tradition
This is all you need

Face Of Melinda

By the turnstile beckons a damsel fair
The face of Melinda neath blackened hair
No joy would flicker in her eyes
Brooding sadness came to a rise

Words would falter to atone
Failure had passed the stepping stone
She had sworn her vows to another
This is when no-one will bother

And conceded pain in crumbling mirth
A harlot of God upon the earth
Found where she sacrificed her ways
That hollow love in her face

Still I plotted to have her back
The contentment that would fill the crack
My soul released a fluttering sigh
This day fell, the darkness nigh

I took her by the hand to say
All faith forever has been washed away
I returned for you in great dismay
Come with me, far away to stay

Endlessly gazing in nocturnal prime
She spoke of her vices and broke the rhyme
But baffled herself with the final line
My promise is made but my heart is thine

The Night And The Silent Water

And so you left us
Jaded and gaunt, some September
Wilted with the seasons
But hidden inside the delusion

I saw your eyes, somewhere
Devoid of death
The aura poises amidst (the storm)
In solid tears I linger

A parlour glade, moonlit sorrow
Lonely resting pools
Relics of the moon dogged lake
Whisper: "All your words are misgiven"

Am I like them?
Those who mourn and turn away
Those who would give anything
To see you again

If only for another second
Your face was, like the photograph
Painted white
We did not speak very often about it

What does it matter now?
Cloak of autumn shroud
I gaze, dim ricochet of stars
I reckon it is time for me to leave

You sleep in the light
Yet the night and the silent water
Still so dark...

Windowpane

Blank face in the windowpane
Made clear in seconds of light
Disappears and returns again
Counting hours, searching the night
Might be waiting for someone
Might be there for us to see
Might be in need of talking
Might be staring directly at me
Inside plays a lullaby
Slurred voice over children cries
On the inside

Haunting loneliness in the eye
Skin covering secret scars
His hand is waving a goodbye
There's no response or action returned

There is deep prejudice in me
Outshines all reasons inside
Given dreams all ridden with pain
And projected unto the last

Blackwater Park

Confessor
Of the tragedies in man
Lurking in the core of us all
The last dying call for the everlost
Brief encounters, bleeding pain
Lepers coiled neath the trees
Dying men in bewildered soliloquys
Perversions bloom round the bend
Seekers, lost in their quest
Ghosts of friends frolic
under the waning moon
It is the year of death
Wielding his instruments
Stealth sovereign reaper
Touching us with ease
Infecting the roots in an instant
Burning crop of disease
I am just a spectator
An advocate documenting the loss
Fluttering with conceit
This doesn't concern me yet
Still far from the knell
Taunting their bereavement
Mod round the dead
Point fingers at the details
Probing vomits for more
Caight in unbridled suspense
We have all lost it now
Catching the flakes of dismay
Born the travesty of man
Regular pulse midst pandemonium
You're plucked to the mass
Parched with thirst for the wicked
Sick liaisons raised this monumental mark
The sun sets forever over Blackwater park

Demon Of The Fall

Silent dance with death.
Everything is lost.
Torn by the arrival of Autumn.
The blink of an eye, you know it's me.
You keep the dagger close at hand.
And you saw nothing.
False love turned to pure hate.
The wind cried a lamentation before merging with the grey.
Demon of the fall.
Gasping for another breath.
She rose, screaming at closed doors.
Seductive faint mist forging through the cracks in the wall.
I shan't resist.
In tears for all of eternity.
She turned around and faced me for the first time.
Run away, run away.
Just one second, and I was left with nothing.
Her fragrance still pulsating through damp air.
That day came to an end.
And she had lost in me, her Credence.

Coil

[Mikael Akerfeldt:]
She told me
Why she told me lies
Always take care of this
I told her how I've always stayed
Always waiting for nothing

[x2]
When I get out of here
When I leave you behind
I'll find that the years passed us by

And I can see you
Running through the fields of sorrow
Yes I can, see you
Running through the fields of sorrow

[x2]
When you get out of here
When you leave me behind
You'll find that the years passed us by

And I can see you
Running through the fields of sorrow
Yes I can, see you
Running through the fields of sorrow

Heir Apparent

Cold days
Old ways
Told lies
No more

So many years to clean the slate
Endless despair within its wake
His touch soiling what used to be clean
His gaze burning on the edge of our dreams

Cold days
Cold days

And again he rides in
It's September and he covets the gullible
Skeletal wish
Hunter
A thousand lies cast from the throne of secrecy

Hear him spewing forth a meaning to miserables lies
See the twisted hand of doubt seal the affair
The insect trust
Believer
our body a vehicle to him just the same

Pearls before swine they are nothing but blind
Submit to nothing and swallow my spit of scorn
Invisible king
Dying
Procession of woe struck down by sorrow

A burden so great weighs heavy on old and withered beliefs
The swift solution crumbles beneath the mock notes of a masterpiece
Death in his eyes
Waiting
Spiralling judgement provoked in the rains

Futile test drowned in the levee of deception
His futile test drowned in the levee of deception

In the year of his sovereign
Rid us of your judgement
Heir apparent

The Lotus Eater

The liquid is in your throat
For hopeless delight

After all you fell in love with death,
Life has aborted.
All you've had and all you became,
The night is calling, you pray forth.

The barren waste is your land
Your crops, they were sown to die

The skin is a mirror
The eyes hollow with ignorance
Health runs from your lips
Sucked in and safe in a world of sleep

All those years caring for a liar
A benefit road that is winding higher
You're a moth too close to the fire

You are stuck in a route of confusion
Changing and waiting and seeking the truth of it all

Fleeing your sorrows
Pushing your spirit away

Sick of the weakness of the psyche
A whisper from the heart of evil luring them all into despair
Resenting the goods of a savior

And cries out
For the restless will also die

A selection culled from the damned, drawing a lifeline of one
A friend died in your room and sought the birth of a follower

O brother, you are a killer and you target yourself
I wish you'd never come back for us to see the beckoning end

And the pride of a mother brought flaws in a mother's son
And the love from a father was used by a father's son

Overheard us talking in a smoke of lost hope
The language of a parting so clear and so true
Overheard us talking

Burden

I, once upon a time
Carried a burden inside
I sung a last goodbye
A broken rhyme I had underlined
There's an ocean of sorrow in you

A sorrow in me

I saw movement in their eyes
They said I no longer knew the way
I had given up the ghost
A passive mind submit to fear
And the wait for redemption at hand

Waiting to fail

Failing again

If death should take me now
Count my mistakes and let me through
Whisper in my ear
You've taken more than we've received
And the ocean of sorrow is you

Porcelain Heart

[Mikael Akerfeldt]

I lost all I had (that April day),
I turned to my friends (nothing to say),
I wrote down a name (and read it twice),
I wallowed in shame.

I said that I loved (eternal schemes),
I cling to my past (like childish dreams)
I promised to stay (and held my breath)
I went far away.

Icy roads beneath my feet,
Lead me through wastelands of deceit,
Rest your head now, don't you cry,
Don't ever ask the reason why

Kept inside our idle race
Ghost of an idol's false embrace
Rest your head now, don't you cry
Don't ever ask the reasons why.

Hessian Peel

Will their children cry
When their mother dies
And in the autumn of their lives
Will they feel the same?

[reversed lyrics 2:03-2:22:]
"I see you
My sweet Satan
Come back tonight
Out of the courtyard"

Her longing for me
Comin' down like hail
Why did you leave me?

Come here inside
And tell me how
How in my final days
I've found her out

The light comes on
The signal for us to end our lives
You wait beneath the white sheets and you wait forever

The night comes on
Your weakness starting to erase all your lies
So I left you alone
We all left you alone

[reversed lyrics 7:21-7:24:]
"They'll lock all your reasons why"

Lock the children away from harm
They'll lock all your reason why
Seeking tenderness with a dagger
Skin is blocked by the years of trial

You felt abandoned in the fog of flesh
Sitting in place from the dead
Awaiting the face of the moon to ascend
You follow the siren in your head

In your head

Hex Omega

Two years
In your heart
One moment of doubt

Two lives
Torn apart
One second from now

Held him
In your arms
Your fever subside
Always safe from harm
Kept demons inside

Still you always start runnin'
Touch the light
From the moon
Some way mother cried
Left us space here