Hours of Wealth: Depressing or Uplifting?

[Slunk]

How do you guys interpret Hours of Wealth? Do you see it being depressing or uplifting? I think Mikael left it ambiguous on purpose, so I'm not expecting a "right" answer, but I'm more curious on peoples opinions.


Here's is my take on the song.

I think this song is about escape. An escape that takes root because of fear and insecurity, but leads up being beneficial and developmental to the character.

found a way
to rid myself clean of pain
and the fever thats been haunting me
has gone away
The character has been really hurt by something, and finally found something to ease the "pain". Although it's impossible to tell what the exact source of the pain is, I think it's fair to say that it has something to do with society because the character finds comfort in being away from the norm.

looking through my window
i seem to recognize
all the people passing by
but im alone
and far from home
The window line I find being used as a metaphor, which would be that the character is hiding behind something and viewing the world from the safety of the hiding spot, whether it be a house or whatever else is irrelevant.


no body knows me
never heard me saying good bye
never shall i speak to anyone again
This line hints at suicide, but I don't think that is the case simply because the rest of my views do not support this. I think the good bye is instead meant to reflect when the character went into this hibernation, and his belief that no one noticed his absence. Never shall I speak to anyone again sounds like anger from the disparity of the situation.

all days are in darkness
and abiding my time
once i am sure of my task i will arise
again


I think this is the key part of the song, and ultimately what leads me to believe this song is more uplifting than depressive. "All days are in darkness and abiding my time" I think has two meanings - One is that this solidute may seem like an escape, but the comfort is just an illusion, and he feels more alone than ever. The second way is just "darkness" meaning not being in the "light" of the world, and essential just a metaphor for not being seen. The last line is the character having a glimpse of hope, and a change of direction. Instead of using the hiding spot as a permant escape, it's now acting as a shield until the character has a good enough plan to go back on the attack and face the world again.

 

[Space Butler]

I always thought that this is one of Opeth's most depressing tracks, and one of my favorites. Personally I don't see how it would be uplifting, with the sad lyrics (thats how I view them anyway) and the music I find sad as well, especially the ending.

 

[Slunk]

I always thought that this is one of Opeth's most depressing tracks, and one of my favorites. Personally I don't see how it would be uplifting, with the sad lyrics (thats how I view them anyway) and the music I find sad as well, especially the ending.

What do you make of the title "Hours of Wealth" then?

 

[lammoth]

imo music is uplifting

 

[ponie]

I tend to focus on the lyrics that most apply to myself. So in the last few years, the "I am alone... and far from home... nobody knows me (etc)" part has applied particularly well. But like I said, I focus on the parts that have personal meaning to me. But the last few lines I see as the uplifting part to help me get through the depressing part. Or something.

 

[Bound2Fate]

I would say depressing for the most part. But the first few lines and the last few lines along with the song title are uplifting. But for me, depressing songs tend to be more uplifting. Happy songs tend to make me not happy, lol.

 

[choppeth]

beautifully sad & nostalgic imo

 

[Godhead59]

Neither. I find it simply soothing.

 

[Prophet178]

It always reminded me of the book "The Stranger", with the whole, "I'm looking through the window..." part.

 

[Opeth for life!!!!]

I think the lyrics are uplifting, because the character seems to be looking for a start over, a new life (final part esp), after he had suffered from a certain pain. As for the music, I think it's soothing..it actually makes me feel kinda peaceful.

 

[Lateralus14]

Definitely not depressing though some of the lyrics are negative and the chords minor. And I kinda agree with this guy ^

 

[hexwind]

Have u ever had a problem and you wanted to go somewhere away to get rid of your mental chaos and look at things from a different perspective and once you are okay and back on track you go back to solve the problem or anything? I believe that's what the track is about.

 

[Opeth for life!!!!]

^ yeah true.

 

[Iki-ilkkuja]

I believe - as many do - that it's the main character's final attempt to stand against his "master".

 

[Nasty-Fire]

Here's is my take on the song.

I'll take back your structure of paragraphs to write my point of view considering the whole album.

I think the song Hours of Wealth is neither uplifting nor depressing. In summary, it is the end of something awful but the issue of it is perplexion. The character is lost because he's out of his comfort. He still hopes for something better in the future but cannot tell if it's going to happen.

Here's is my take on the song.

found a way
to rid myself clean of pain
and the fever thats been haunting me
has gone away
The character has been haunted by a "fever", and this fever, if we refer to interviews and other songs, is possession by some kind of evil form. On the other hand, we have no idea what's the way he found to rid himself of it, but the goal of the song was just to present the aspect of being free from it, not how it happened.

looking through my window
i seem to recognize
all the people passing by
but im alone
and far from home
The window is probably a metaphor as mentionned before. It is to create the effect of distance between the world and him. During his possession, he's been disconnected from everything, and only focused on himself. Now that he's back to his initial state, he realises that he is far from what he really was before all of this happened (far from home).

nobody knows me
never heard me saying goodbye
never shall i speak to anyone again
This part is a bit unclear to me. It seems like a continuation (or the beginning) of the idea that the character wants to stay in darkness because he is ashamed of what he did (murder and possession).

all days are in darkness
and i'm biding my time
once i am sure of my task i will arise
again
As I said, the character is back to his "normal" state but he's not able to find a sense to his existence anymore. His days are in darkness. He had somekind of task when possessed but now that he's cleaned, he can only hope to find some goal in his life.


Contextually, that's pretty much it. You can for sure identify some metaphors that, directly, have nothing to do with the whole album.

 

[Space Butler]

^ Thanks for putting this song into context, I always forget that this song is part of the story of Ghost Reveries, about the guy killing his mother and being haunted by her ghost.

What do you make of the title "Hours of Wealth" then?

I don't know... but for me, just the way it sounds and the lyrics, to me are depressing.

 

[Nasty-Fire]

Slunk's comment made me notice something. "Hours of Wealth" sounds indeed positive, but there's something with the word "Hours" that limits the duration of the Wealth. Somehow, and as the lyrics and the song makes us feel, the song, though it is the end of something awful, is not completly happy.

 

[Blind Guardian]

How do you guys interpret Hours of Wealth? Do you see it being depressing or uplifting? I think Mikael left it ambiguous on purpose, so I'm not expecting a "right" answer, but I'm more curious on peoples opinions.


Here's is my take on the song.

I think this song is about escape. An escape that takes root because of fear and insecurity, but leads up being beneficial and developmental to the character.

found a way
to rid myself clean of pain
and the fever thats been haunting me
has gone away
The character has been really hurt by something, and finally found something to ease the "pain". Although it's impossible to tell what the exact source of the pain is, I think it's fair to say that it has something to do with society because the character finds comfort in being away from the norm.

looking through my window
i seem to recognize
all the people passing by
but im alone
and far from home
The window line I find being used as a metaphor, which would be that the character is hiding behind something and viewing the world from the safety of the hiding spot, whether it be a house or whatever else is irrelevant.


no body knows me
never heard me saying good bye
never shall i speak to anyone again
This line hints at suicide, but I don't think that is the case simply because the rest of my views do not support this. I think the good bye is instead meant to reflect when the character went into this hibernation, and his belief that no one noticed his absence. Never shall I speak to anyone again sounds like anger from the disparity of the situation.

all days are in darkness
and abiding my time
once i am sure of my task i will arise
again


I think this is the key part of the song, and ultimately what leads me to believe this song is more uplifting than depressive. "All days are in darkness and abiding my time" I think has two meanings - One is that this solidute may seem like an escape, but the comfort is just an illusion, and he feels more alone than ever. The second way is just "darkness" meaning not being in the "light" of the world, and essential just a metaphor for not being seen. The last line is the character having a glimpse of hope, and a change of direction. Instead of using the hiding spot as a permant escape, it's now acting as a shield until the character has a good enough plan to go back on the attack and face the world again.

An interesting and creative thread in the Opeth forum for once, nice!

About the "once I am sure of my task I will rise again", I think it's ambigous. It could either mean what you're saying, or it could be describing the state of mind many people who hide from the world are in. If we assume that the song is about the fear of change; people usually think "not today, but tomorrow I'll change". So it could be a sarcastic line as well, especially if you put it in context with the rest of the lyrics.

 

[Antyman]

it's about the same thing Bloodbath - Eaten is about..

because it is.

I find it sad.

 

[Nasty-Fire]

The long I live the more I'm dying to feel the pain. Pretty much alike.