Hessian Peel

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DisappearingSun412

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May 13, 2009
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So this may exist from a past thread, but it's been such a long time since I've posted (considering that UM deactivated my previous account) that I missed it.

How do YOU pronounce the title (just because my retarded friends argue about it? and what exactly IS a "hessian peel"? What was his meaning behind the title I've looked into that on my own but I want to get some collective opinions.

It's "hesh-uhn" in my book btw.
 
The Lotus Eater refers in part to The Odyssey when they stumble on the island of the lotus eaters. they were soldiers who abandoned their quests after eating the flowrs on the island. They were cursed and cause apathy. The men no longer cared about anything and had no passion, they were sleeping forever in apathy.


Hex Omega is latin the for the "last curse"
 
Found an answer to my own question:

Mike said in an interview the peel refers to peeling away skin. Hessian refers to very tough cloth. So I'm going to assume the title means he is shedding away some of the scars he has. Perhaps intending that this song is the most personal on the record. Deep shit.
 
To pick up DisappearingSun412's answer, hessian is a sort of very rough cloth, like burlap. Having watched "The DaVinci Code" a couple of days ago, with the albino-monk who wears a "Cilice", a metal-belt with inward spikes, around his thigh in order to make himself "feel the sin all humans bear". Cilices like that are worn by devout christians for "mortification of the flesh", or more generally, in order to remind oneself daily that humans are sinful and therefore need to suffer.

What's this got to do with Hessian Peel?, Well, Cilices can also be so-called "hair-shirts", which are shirts made of goat's hair, which are worn as an undergarment and which are VERY uncomfortable, and serve the same purpose as I just described above. And apparently, if you can't get goat's hair, burlap, or hessian is the material to use, because it's so rough and uncomfortable.

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that "Hessian Peel" kind of stands for someone who "rids himself from the constant feeling of guilt", in a figurative way...

Or, maybe, it's about what the hessian-shirt peels away from your own body if you wear it.
 
Isn´t "hessian" a phrase that is also used among record collectors to describe old vinyls that are full of scratches and stuff? I think Mike once said something like that in an interview.
 
I thought it was like "the Rudolph Hess way to peel an onion".. or well I didn't. but it would be awesome if it was.
 
I think it has to do with those old picture albums, made of a thick type of cloth called Hessian. Peel could make reference to a wasted vintage cloth cover of a family album.
 
de_aztec said:
Well apparantly that isnt correct

hess-ian?

maybe its his accent
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought so, too. I was always pronouncing it like heshshian (sorry if it looks stupid, double 'sh' sound) until I heard him. Since he used that word I think he searched for the meaning, pronounciation etc of the word too, so I am not sure:loco:
 
It wouldn't be the first Opeth song title to make little to no sense, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
face of melinda is obviously about a hockey-coach yelling to one of his players.. "Face off,
Melinda!" could also be about an UFC fight.. I'm sure it has got something to do with sports at least.

don't get me started on Beijing of the hounds..
 
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