Song Meanings: Heir Apparent

[firewindraging]

Obviously the song isn't talking about George Bush but the interpretation is good

 

[ramses]

I dunno about you guys but rather than "His gaze burning on the edge of our dreams", I hear quite unmistakably: "His case burning on the edge of the desk" - perhaps this will affect your interpretations of the song?

Yeah, the lyric code says His Gaze.....and besides, the album cover has a guy at a desk...other people besides political officials have cases, and desks.

 

[firewindraging]

My bad, man.



You don't think the hippie views of war and peace are not considered "cool" these days? I beg to disagree with you, my friend. Why do you think teenagers flock to Obama and Democratic candidates? I've heard kids say things like "He's cool!". How many can I say have said that about McCain? Absolutely none. McCain doesn't have beliefs considered as new and hip to the teenagers of this generation. Liberal viewpoints are being embraced by teenagers and young adults today, because it's being shoved down their throats by things like the media and insanely biased college professor's. Yes, liberalism is considered "cool" and "trendy" these days. Actually, politics in general has gotten that way because of our retarded media. You have idiot celebrities running idiot programs like "Vote Or Die" and not even showing up for the cause. Once again, have we been attacked by Al Qaeda since 9/11?

You're right about all the youth going to Democrats and Obama but at least the bandwagon isn't riding the Republican side. Most of these people aren't looking for a candidate whose politics they support, they just want someone who looks like they could be a good president. But what you're saying about liberal viewpoints, I'm not so sure it's a trend. On certain issues, liberal viewpoints are the only ones that make sense especially when it concerns our liberties (i'm a libertarian) And the fact we have not been attacked by Al Qaeda since September 11 is proof of what?? September 11 changed NOTHING gaving the Bush Administration and Congress an excuse to basically throw away our Constitution for the "Patriot Act."

 

[Defluo]

Yep.

While there are a lot of liberal copycats out there, using the trend argument to defend and lay forth your views is pretty stupid.

And I agree, firewindraging - no further attacks on the US could be due to the can of spaghetti Grandpa Martin ate in Egypt.

 

[The Poona of Peshwa]

I would prefer that the song is about Dubya, rather than being the ten millionth death metal song about religion. Why is it cool to bash religion, but not politicians? In any case I would rather not talk politics on a metal forum though, as these discussions have all the subtlety and nuance of a round of thumb wrestling.

 

[ConX]

Yeah, the lyric code says His Gaze.....and besides, the album cover has a guy at a desk...other people besides political officials have cases, and desks.

That's what bothers me because he really isn't saying "dreams" there if you listen extremely carefully. There is no harsh "Dr" sound at the beginning of the word and there is definately an "sk" at the end. Also I don't hear "Gaze" because there is no "z" sound in the word Mikael sings either, it's a softer "s".

I don't mean to seem stubborn by contradicting what's written in the booklet as I realise it has been correct otherwise but I'd say it's worth an extremely careful listen with the vocals amplified or something

And yes I was implying that if the lyric is listened to as "case" and "desk" wouldn't that nearly eliminate the George W thing? I for one have never seem him carrying a briefcase.

 

[BefriendedUnit]

The reason you didn't hear a "z" is because Mike pronounces that letter/sound as a soft "s" almost every time, due to his accent, and due to the way you shape words in a DEATH METALS growl.

 

[ramses]

Yeah, it's not just accent. I use death vocals in my band (usually of the gutteral cookie monster type) occasionally, here and there. And with certain letter or word pronunciations, it can be difficult at times to make it come out or sound like the words in the lyrics. A lot of low death vocal sounds are produced by sucking in your breath, (I'm sure you guys know this...) and certain letters/words need to have lips pressed together, when pronounced or sang(letters p, m, etc...). And when you're singing the words rather quickly, it's gonna get sloppy at times!

 

[Shredzilla]

You're right about all the youth going to Democrats and Obama but at least the bandwagon isn't riding the Republican side. Most of these people aren't looking for a candidate whose politics they support, they just want someone who looks like they could be a good president. But what you're saying about liberal viewpoints, I'm not so sure it's a trend. On certain issues, liberal viewpoints are the only ones that make sense especially when it concerns our liberties (i'm a libertarian) And the fact we have not been attacked by Al Qaeda since September 11 is proof of what?? September 11 changed NOTHING gaving the Bush Administration and Congress an excuse to basically throw away our Constitution for the "Patriot Act."

It's extremely hypocritical to join one party and say that it's "the best" when the other party is the same thing with different values. Democrat, Republican, it's all the same friggin' thing. Power: That's the drive for these parties and has been for a long while. I consider myself a Libertarian these days, also. I'm tired of both sides. It has gotten absolutely ridiculous. None of the candidates or parties are planning to fix things. Why do I say this? Cause I see it. Both candidates are bad. Obama is bad, McCain is bad, and it all points to 4-8 more years of crap. I love my country, but I'm tired of the ridiculous things going on in politics these days. Yes, I believe things will get better, but not any time soon. Now, my comment about 9/11 was only a question. I'm not rooting for Bush or saying that he's a saint. All I was doing was asking the question, and it's up to you to decide for yourself about how you view the matter. Do you think it is mere coincidence? Maybe the way Bush has handled things? Maybe something else? In the end it's up to you. Anyways, no more political talk! You won't see me talking about this depressing crap here anymore.

 

[Nasty-Fire]

(To threadmaker) You skipped too many things, so I don't think it can be about Bush (and like you said, I don't think Opeth would do that, but who knows..?). The mentionned elements could fit, however. There's a lot of association to make with these kind of lyrics.

 

[BefriendedUnit]

What did I skip? Everything else is an abstraction on a crazy evil tyrant. The whole thing is. And a lot of it connects, lyrically, to the Bush administration.

 

[demon of the moor]

Really listen to your selves, as if it would be Political.......

 

[BefriendedUnit]

If it were too explicit, it wouldn't be as timeless as it is. But don't discount it based on "listen to yourselves".

 

[Annihilat0r]

"Invisible king - dying" might be referring to God, Odin, Allah or whatever more and more people are abandoning to believe in

 

[BefriendedUnit]

That's a cool idea. The song could be about religion as well. My point overall is that it's definitely more charged toward a certain stigma than other songs Mike's written. I'm coming on a bit strong saying that not only is it possibly political, but refers to a current events issue, but people tend to disregard the notion that he's capable of penning more than just forresty and brooding and abstract stuff.

 

[BefriendedUnit]

Actually, no, I think it's definitely about GWB.

 

[HemeHaci]

@Illidan: Great effort and I think a very good interpretation since Spiraling Judgement and the Levee fits in greatly, and I too think that it is bullshit to bash lyrics which are political. Also since Mikael is on the Earth he may be very well affected by politics! Youth now really seems above the Earth, gees I wonder where they live.. However I got another interpretation as well. The religion which the lyrics are centered was Christianity I think, not just because Mikael lives in a Christian country but also lyrics also fit in well. And I have some knowledge about Christianity enough to decipher the lyrics (I hope so). (I was chatting with Annihilator with this idea and he posted before me I see )

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

Maybe these lines are referring to banishment of Satan from Heavens. We having endless despair within its wake could stem from a BIG evil, and when he wasn't rebelling against the Lord his touch was clean. But I guess you see the picture. (Sidenote: Archangel Michael (Mikael) banished Satan from heavens, see the painting by Raphael)

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

Now this part is where I stuck, it proves too challenging for me to construe any meaning to these lines. But lies cast from his throne fits the overall idea.

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

And if you follow the idea, you will see that how he manipulates our thoughts to make us believe the *sins* we make are just/fair. This insect trust/Believer line, to me, describes our dim vision of sight, narrow perspective to follow our truths. Our body to vehicle to him just the same is kinda self explaining and obvious I guess.

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

This is where Mikael describes the Lord, who gave us many boons and blessings yet we turn our back to them with ignorance which make us swine. The next line is our praise for the charismatic evil instead of the more compassionate good, this vision is visible throughout the whole media. Everybody labeling the good as cliche and boring.. You get the drill..
"Invisible king
Dying"
This remark is in fact the key to my perception about the song, I believe it describes how we banish the Lord from our lives, since an almighty existence can not die. The final line may be beckoning dire consequences but I am not that sure.

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
Spiraling judgement provoked in the rains

Over the time we brought much havoc with making use of religion, abusing and manipulating its teachings according to our self interest. This in turn degenerated what was once beautiful/innocent. Now that religion does not work the way it supposed to be many people criticize it and hence the line "A burden so great weighs heavy on old and withered beliefs".
The next line is obscure but my humble interpretation is the following; a swift solution which is described in the Lord's teachings (the Bible) has been changed and the ones who were later altered by men (different Bible versions) may be referred to as the mock notes of a masterpiece, which is the Bible. Though I am not very sure about this line. Death in his eyes waiting line is the continuation from the previous part I think. This spiraling judgement provoked in the rains is in a way a style of punishment of God. Like when he punished the tribe of Noah as well as Sodom and Gomorrah (For the sins of their inhabitants Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim were destroyed by "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven" wikipedia, this rain of fire from the heavens is the judgement provoked in the rains)

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

Now another line I am stuck with, maybe our drowning in our own levee of deception with the Lord's final judgement.

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

The heir apparent is the Satan as far as I can tell, because we now do not like the Lord's judgement and hence want to get rid of it, without his vigilance over us only Satan remains which makes him heir to the Lord once he is out of the way.

Any feedback is welcome! (and sorry for typos)

 

[mister_playboy]

If the song was about Bush, I think it would be titled "Error Apparent".

 

[sgswimmer]

i think this song is about the antichrist
i dont really have anything to back it up with

just a feeling

 

[Nasty-Fire]

I have the feeling this song is NOT about Bush, even if Illidan's explanation was coherent most of the time. Believing that Watershed is a concept album, I would be thinking that Heir Apparent really is about Satan (and I guess it could explain why Illidan thought it was about GWB, heh). I mean, following the atmosphere and ambiance of the whole album, I don't really think it could be about politic. It seems more to be about an evil force taking control of a man, keeping the idea from Ghost Reveries. Watershed is mostly about a unstable man who kills her ill wife (we're getting used to it now). Would like to have both Illidan and HemeHaci's opinion on this.