This song's always bugged me, as the lyrics really have always seemed to be just a bunch of random words...but I THINK I might have finally cracked it! Thus, heres my interpretation......'n stuff....
Basically, i think the song is about the modern denial of God, and further than that, the desire to actually BE God.
TO RID THE DISEASE
"There's nobody here, there's nobody near
I try not to care, dead eyes always stare"
Ok, the first line is referring to spiritual figures, meaning an absence of a 'hands-on' God. This doesn't mean that there IS no God, just that the subject feels abandoned BY any God. The second line has the effect of revealing that the narrator definitely does care, and with no God sees 'dead eyes' all around, probably meaning that without the spiritual side, people are downcast and not really fully alive - this is more the feeling of life being empty and dead rather than anything physical.
"Let these matters be, don't trust what you see
Take hold of your time, step into the line"
Here the song brightens in mood and tempo, an upbeat contrast to the initial moments of the song. As a form of advice, the lyrics tell that sure, things might seem like the previous lines have descirbed...but its all a matter of perception. The solution is to 'take control of your time (life/fate)', and 'step into the line', which i would think refers to Christians being called followers, indicating the need to see the spiritual side of life.
"There's innocence torn from its maker
Stillborn the trust in you
This failure has made the creator
So would you tell him what to do (would you)"
This first line is about the subject himself, conjuring images of a new born torn away from God, the Father/Maker, and left on its own - from this the next line reinforces this birthing imagery, and implies that any trust/faith was dead as soon as this poor soul began to wander the Earth. There is, it should be said, no reference to any fault on the part of the 'maker', yet the subject never even gave the 'maker' a chance (stillborn). The third line here is perhaps the most arguable, but i would say that this means that the 'failure', the subject that has lived without God, now has his own chance to raise a child, and is 'made the Creator' himself. The last line is therefore the question of whether this subject can do better than God...does he have the answers? Hes lived his whole life blaming God for not being there and helping him along, and now he has his own chance to BE God (so to speak) - will he then tell the child how to live his life? Will he exert control, as he was so upset at God NOT doing?
"Leave your mark upon the head of someone
Who'll cry for his state, we know it's too late"
Argh, i cant remember it exactly, but someone on this board has it as their sig - its a quote from Lear along the lines of "and when we are born we cry that we are come forth to this great stage of fools". This is basically what i believe the reference to be (probably not with this in mind though); that this line is an attempt to confirm that the song is about a child, who upon birth is crying because of his 'state', his detachment from God ("we know its too late" meaning that the child, even upon birth, knows there is no going back to the bosom of God. You cannot ever be unborn). The first part of this again shows the theme of fatherhood, and the chance to direct the next generation as best one can
"I turn round to see what was meant to be
Faint movement release to rid the disease"
'Turn round to see' best fits the idea of this person stopping just aimlessly charging forth in his life, and actually looking back over where hes come from, and either seeing that where hes been is simply what was meant to be (that whole learning through experience deal - if God had told him what to do, there would be no lesson. He had to do things himself for anything to mean anything, and that is exactly what has happened) or seeing that his entire life hes been walking the wrong path - by finally stopping, looking back and examining his life he can realise this. 'Faint movement release', in good Opeth style, is cryptic, but i would say encompasses the idea that releasing one's anger/mis-trust at God only takes the smallest of actions. A 'faint movement' might just be all thats needed to release the bitterness and rid this disease (a disease on the subject's life, mind and soul). This surely is a Christian ideal, which ties in nicely with my interpretation of the song.
"There's innocence torn from its maker
Stillborn the trust in you
(I have lost all trust I had in you)
This failure has made the creator
So would you tell him what to do
(I have lost all trust I had in you)"
The chorus was already examined above, but Id just like to note how the most emotive lines here are in the brackets, the act of having no trust (faith) in God. That is, to me at least, what the whole song revolves around. Id love to know if this song is in anyway related to the birth of Mikael's daughter, as these are definitely not themes which Opeth usually play around with. It seems to me like a longing not to repeat one's own mistakes and to make things better for one's children. Maybe Mikael wants Melinda to know a God that he never did himself....
Basically, i think the song is about the modern denial of God, and further than that, the desire to actually BE God.
TO RID THE DISEASE
"There's nobody here, there's nobody near
I try not to care, dead eyes always stare"
Ok, the first line is referring to spiritual figures, meaning an absence of a 'hands-on' God. This doesn't mean that there IS no God, just that the subject feels abandoned BY any God. The second line has the effect of revealing that the narrator definitely does care, and with no God sees 'dead eyes' all around, probably meaning that without the spiritual side, people are downcast and not really fully alive - this is more the feeling of life being empty and dead rather than anything physical.
"Let these matters be, don't trust what you see
Take hold of your time, step into the line"
Here the song brightens in mood and tempo, an upbeat contrast to the initial moments of the song. As a form of advice, the lyrics tell that sure, things might seem like the previous lines have descirbed...but its all a matter of perception. The solution is to 'take control of your time (life/fate)', and 'step into the line', which i would think refers to Christians being called followers, indicating the need to see the spiritual side of life.
"There's innocence torn from its maker
Stillborn the trust in you
This failure has made the creator
So would you tell him what to do (would you)"
This first line is about the subject himself, conjuring images of a new born torn away from God, the Father/Maker, and left on its own - from this the next line reinforces this birthing imagery, and implies that any trust/faith was dead as soon as this poor soul began to wander the Earth. There is, it should be said, no reference to any fault on the part of the 'maker', yet the subject never even gave the 'maker' a chance (stillborn). The third line here is perhaps the most arguable, but i would say that this means that the 'failure', the subject that has lived without God, now has his own chance to raise a child, and is 'made the Creator' himself. The last line is therefore the question of whether this subject can do better than God...does he have the answers? Hes lived his whole life blaming God for not being there and helping him along, and now he has his own chance to BE God (so to speak) - will he then tell the child how to live his life? Will he exert control, as he was so upset at God NOT doing?
"Leave your mark upon the head of someone
Who'll cry for his state, we know it's too late"
Argh, i cant remember it exactly, but someone on this board has it as their sig - its a quote from Lear along the lines of "and when we are born we cry that we are come forth to this great stage of fools". This is basically what i believe the reference to be (probably not with this in mind though); that this line is an attempt to confirm that the song is about a child, who upon birth is crying because of his 'state', his detachment from God ("we know its too late" meaning that the child, even upon birth, knows there is no going back to the bosom of God. You cannot ever be unborn). The first part of this again shows the theme of fatherhood, and the chance to direct the next generation as best one can
"I turn round to see what was meant to be
Faint movement release to rid the disease"
'Turn round to see' best fits the idea of this person stopping just aimlessly charging forth in his life, and actually looking back over where hes come from, and either seeing that where hes been is simply what was meant to be (that whole learning through experience deal - if God had told him what to do, there would be no lesson. He had to do things himself for anything to mean anything, and that is exactly what has happened) or seeing that his entire life hes been walking the wrong path - by finally stopping, looking back and examining his life he can realise this. 'Faint movement release', in good Opeth style, is cryptic, but i would say encompasses the idea that releasing one's anger/mis-trust at God only takes the smallest of actions. A 'faint movement' might just be all thats needed to release the bitterness and rid this disease (a disease on the subject's life, mind and soul). This surely is a Christian ideal, which ties in nicely with my interpretation of the song.
"There's innocence torn from its maker
Stillborn the trust in you
(I have lost all trust I had in you)
This failure has made the creator
So would you tell him what to do
(I have lost all trust I had in you)"
The chorus was already examined above, but Id just like to note how the most emotive lines here are in the brackets, the act of having no trust (faith) in God. That is, to me at least, what the whole song revolves around. Id love to know if this song is in anyway related to the birth of Mikael's daughter, as these are definitely not themes which Opeth usually play around with. It seems to me like a longing not to repeat one's own mistakes and to make things better for one's children. Maybe Mikael wants Melinda to know a God that he never did himself....
