Åkerfeldt's lyrics...

Scytheman

Scytheman

dissident aggressor
Dec 4, 2001
253
0
16
sweden
www.urkraft.tk
I get so annyoned sometimes, studying old English literature at university as we discuss the underlying meanings, metaphores etc etc in the texts. We assume that the writers had such ambitions with their work and that they pondered for months and years about every little thing added in their books. It's so liberating hearing Åkerfeldt defuse the "depth" of his lyrics. Here follows a loose translation of his own words from an interview in Close-Up (Sweden's biggest metal magazine)...

"I feel so stupid when I have to talk about lyrics in interviews. I don't even know myself what they are about...I usually get a picture in my head and then I can write a full verse in 30 seconds. A couple of days later I've totally forgotten that image. I just want to create pleasant lines to sing and then you get a lot of neat words, symbolism and it gets cryptic like hell."

...and still his lyrics rule!!!

:cool:
 
I think he's one of the greatest lyricists of today. Being a Swede myself I get a little jealous sometimes due to his linguistic (and general) knowledge of the English language. Jealousy is a Swedish way of life :lol:

But my main point here is the fact that he comes out and says right out: I don't even know myself what my lyrics are about.

That is liberating in a world where musicians, writers etc. are put on piedestals and people are just bedazzeled wanting to know how they can create such greatness in their heads. Åkerfeldt just writes down what pops into his head. And I love him for admitting that...
 
Every word in every line in every song Mikael has written :)
AND HIS DELIVERY!!!!!!!!
Kippis Scytheman for typing up the interview!
Mikael, my lyricist of the millennium \m/

"It is getting dark again
Dusk shuffle across the fields
The evening trees moan as if they knew
At night I always dream of you"...
 
One of my favorite quotes (I just wish I could find it) has Mikael talking about the meanings of the songs on the last album, and he runs through each and then says "and Bleak... I don't even know what that one's about" and laughs.

I've heard a lot of people who do creative work say that they don't really think about what they make, it'll just appear in their head and they'll do it and that'll be that.

-Hondo
 
That's funny this is brought up. The words and the way he uses them. Oh, I'm sorry, I mean and HIS DELIVERY! ;)

Just the other day while playing some BWP, I was thinking of the words he uses and how they're said and laughed to myself. I too have read many interview comments by Mikael talking about how he comes up with these lines, and I know the meaning is momentarily most of the time. That most of the lyrics he comes up with are spire of the moment words/images running through his mind.

Some just have the gift... :cool:

NP:
"Eyes attach to your mute portrait.
We spoke only through thoughts.
Together we gazed, awaited.
Hours brought thirst and the rising sun."
 
Much as Opeth's lyrics are interesting, I find myself not particularly stuck on them. Especially not the lyrics on BWP, which is the album I listen to the most by Opeth. I get the feel of something quickly jotted down. They're still good, but in need of slight revision. I guess I'm a perfectionist when it comes to lyrics and poetry, studying "Higher Level Swedish" and there having to analyse and scrutinisea lot of poetry and short texts. When it comes to Swedish lyrics writers I'd definitely put Åkerfeldt behind other greats like Vintersorg, whose lyrics, might I add, are just as appealing to my 49 year old mother and her 90 year old former mother-in-law as they are to me. That is pure talent.
 
Yeah Åkerfeldt's lyrics amaze me......not because he uses so many strange words but mainly because his lyrics are very spontaneous and original he seems to be very comfortable with the english language and thats very admirable....
 
Originally posted by KIRILL
because his lyrics are very spontaneous and original he seems to be very comfortable with the english language and thats very admirable....
Click to expand...
I used to see things your way, but I have come to realise that it is by far easier to express yourself in English, than in Swedish, and be good at it. At least, this is the case for me, personally. I can't speak for Åkerfeldt, of course, but as I speak with friends active in international spiritual communities, we tend to agree that it is easier to express a lot of things in English (especially spiritual issues), because frankly, if you do so in Swedish, you sound like a complete and utter moron (I have since then developed the attitude that if I wouldn't believe it in Swedish, it's by no means believable in English).

Opeth's lyrics are indeed spontaneous and original, showing an extent of comfort when working with English, but writing in a foreign language is, assuming you have a certain confidence in your language skills, often easier than writing in your native tongue because you are less likely to scrutinise your writing and it is more likely to sound acceptable. I admire my friends who are able to write beautiful images in Swedish, because I couldn't do that. I may get all kinds of compliments on my English poetry, and I've gotten an offer to have two poems published, but I can't write poetry in Swedish, because I have a stronger feel for the intriquite details and the tiny folds and textures in the linguistics. A native tongue, seldom used in media, is grainy and has a distinct feel, whereas a very commercial second language gets an international uncultural and very indestinct smoothness and thus it's easier to mold, as long as the public recieving the message holds the same view of the language.

So, yes, the lyrics are, indeed, nice, but they aren't a gift from some utterly divine demi-god, and the use of English isn't a quality I would use to argue in favor, because frankly, it's kind of convenient. That's not to say that Opeth should start doing Swedish songs, but I don't think they should be praised for doing English ones either.
 
I'd rather say that the *imagery* in his lyrics is magnificent and evocative (MAYH, for instance); the phrasing always looks good on paper, but *sometimes* sounds a bit clumsy:

"Mourners lament but it's me who's the martyr" - four accented "M" letters condensed in one line make it sound a tad ugly. Try to sing this line, you'll know what I mean.

D Mullholand
 
Well, Åkerfeldt is God so I´m going to admire and praise his english lyrics anyway!

Damn those Åkerfeldt lyrics are great!

:)


















ANYWHO
 
I notice that alot of Opeth's lyrics can also be used as poems. Sometimes, instead of having, say Epilogue, in my head with music and stuff. I hear this odd voice reciting the lyrics as poetry. It's cool. The voice is hard to explain, I think I got it from the voice at the beginning of The Great Melinko by ICP. My friend had it on and I thought that voice was cool. I hate ICP, but I'm glad that's the voice reciting the stuff instead of mine. :)
 
Akerfeldt's lyrics are great.... But i prefer Jeff Martin's lyrics. The Tea Party are awesome, deepest lyrics ever written.
 
Greetings.

D Mulholland : The sentence you state as an exemple, incidentally, is far from being as clumsy as you pretend it to be ; the process of repeating the same letter in a verse was (and still is) a very respected one by poets. I'd give you the name of this particularuse of the language, but I only know the word in french...

Tenebrose : I totally agree with what you are stating regarding Mikael's writings skills. As much as I respect his talent, I've seen MUCH better lyricists (Leonard Cohen and Fish, to name just a few) who really deserve the title "poet".

To my sense, a real poet has the power of evocation through his verse AND a very intricate use of the language, often using the five senses to draw images in the head of the reader instead of using very loose concepts ("eternity", "destiny" and the like).

Of course one doesn't HAVE to follow this rule ; in fact, one of my favorite verse by Fish (that he wrote for the song "Hotel Hobbies" when he was still singing for the excellent band Marillion) only rely on vision instead of all sense :

"It was a wedding ring
Destined to be found in a cheap hotel
Lost in a kitchen sink
Or thrown in a wishing well."

What a verse my friends :)

Or this very simple verse, by said author for the song Cinderella Search :

"Was it love in your eye I saw
Or the reflection of mine ?"

I've had difficulty finding someone who really couldn't relate to this.

...Of course, who wants to talk about emotions and poetry to a bunch of crazy death metallers ?!? ;)
 
Well, I think Akerfeldt's lyrics sound so interesting and beautiful partly because he uses words in abnormal ways...he uses a lot of words that aren't used in normal conversation even in english-speaking countries, suggesting to me that he probably has his hands on a good thesaurus.

Not knowing how obscure english words are used normally would make you use those words strangely...imagine that you are looking for a way to say "sorrowful cry" and you come across the word "lamentation"...

A Madrigal? I had to look it up to find out what it was, and a friend of mine ( with a doctorate in music history!!) didn't know what it was when I asked him! Most likely, he looked up "sad song" and found it...

My point...the lyrics sound more interesting to our ears because of his use (and misuse) of obscure words.


I do love them, though...

"It was me, peering through the looking-glass"

Mmmm...good stuff...

Morgan
 
Pancake hat? hehehehee

I read what Tenebrose said and I understand that you enjoy studying language and because of it you aren't as easily impressed as I am by Opeth's lyrics. And rightfully so. I don't think I would be if I did the same.

Then I see Blue Moon said something I wanted to say first. In a way. Yesterday, I was trying to think of why I think the lyrics are so colorful. Then I thought maybe it's because people from Sweden are taught two/three different languages growing up in school and therefore, learn more ways to express a feeling.

Then Blue Moon's thoughts came in about just the fact that they're words I don't use. I looked up dirge, lamentation, marauder... the list goes on. Once reading the meaning, I understood it, but never used that word so it sounded more refined.

So, 'utterly divine demi-god' because of lyrics? :rolleyes: OK, perhaps not. But for his voice? Now, you can't deny that. That's incredible! :D

The moonlight caresses a lonely hill.
With the calmness of a whisper.
 
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