Still Life concept

[TheFourthHorseman]

yes, it would have to be a repeating thing if he did die in the first place, otherwise they couldn't execute him... i'm of the mind that they merely booted him the first time.

...but Hopkins just explained brilliantly how it's obvious that he was excecuted the first time around since he awoke from the "miasma".
It's not a cycling event like in Groundhog Day though cause that guy was living the same day over and over,our man comes back after 15 years. But all in all I think that Hopkins got it pretty much right.

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

Miasma's such a good word its now in my title.

I dunno, its the way he insinuates he'll get the hangman back, makes me think he'll be back again, melinda there or not.

 

[TheFourthHorseman]

Miasma's such a good word its now in my title.

I dunno, its the way he insinuates he'll get the hangman back, makes me think he'll be back again, melinda there or not.

But wouldn't the last two lines "And the last sight I did see is still here
Beckoning right behind me" suggest that Melinda is the last thing that he sees and she's waiting for him with arms open wide on the other side?

I'm just lost with the end though.

 

[Sign of Eth]

Mikael talks about the story line in an interview here http://www.mindspring.com/~raggije/interviews/OPETH02-2000.htm

"I wanted to have simple theme. I chose good versus evil. But to make it more interesting, what people normally look upon as good, I wanted that to be the bad part, and vice-versa. The main character has no name. I don't know why, I just didn't name him. He's a born and raised Christian. After a couple of years he questions his faith because he hasn't seen any real signs that it actually exists. This is not present day, this is way back in time, by the way. But this makes him a heretic to the rest of the community. It results in him being banished from town for questioning the supreme religion. The album starts when he's coming back after several years. The reason he's coming back is not revenge or anything, but for Melinda, his old beloved girlfriend. He's coming back to take her with him. That's the storyline, but of course many bad things start to happen...

Face of Melinda is his first meeting with her after all these years. This is the first rhyming track I've done. I don't know why, I just wanted to try it out. But she's move on with her life since he left, and she started over and has a husband. During that meeting she's more or less agreed to come with him. The last line is 'My promise is made but my heart is thine.' It's not clear but they spend the night together. It isn't written anywhere but that's what I was thinking when I wrote it. For Serenity Painted Death, when he wakes up she's gone. All this time he's been hunted by the council that runs the place. They've suspected that it's him, they didn't know at first because it's 15 years later and they didn't recognize him. They also knew about his past with Melinda so they start to suspect her, that she's committing adultery. So she's gone, she's taken by the council and she's executed before his eyes. That's the metaphor for Serenity Painted Death. Obviously he loses his mind when he sees this so it's a battle between him and the outside world, which results in him being beaten down and shackled and being thrown in the dungeons. As I said it's not a good ending, you can figure it out from there.

 

[Schraiber]

Haha! He WAS exiled. An other case for exile could be made from the line "A treason bestowed to the crowd" I think that made it clear that he was instead of executed, just exiled. If he had died, why would the crowd have felt it treasonous? They wanted death!

And for miasma, I came to interpret it as the hazy dream state he was in, recollecting his death, and his vision. A miasma can also be a foggy/swampy area. He wasn't literally in one, but mentally!

NP: LTE - Acid Rain

 

[diospada]

yea, i see

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

I think by using miasma, mikeal means that his life was rot around him. By trying to get back to melinda he rises above the rotten state he's in.

 

[Draehl]

Also, there is a sense that he has awoken to return to the village. "I awoke from the miasma." (The Moor) Miasma meaning rotten matter, he has arisen from the ground.

Miasma can also mean: "a thick vaporous atmosphere or emanation" (a hazy fog)...I always thought the line "I awoke from the miasma, passing swiftly through the moor" just meant he came out of his daydream/flashback of his experience 15 years ago. Everything between "the lapse of the moment took it's turn" and "I awoke from the miasma..." is basically telling the story through his eyes in the way of a daydream.

 

[TheFourthHorseman]

 

[dorian gray]

heh! nice bump.
in the 1800s, "miasma" was used to describe any number of unexplained illnesses, especially those that included a fever, and any "spell" of unconsciousness. so, ive always pictured the guy as recovering from some kind of "spell" or illness. that, at least for me, fits into the Romantic style Mike uses. whether he means to or not, it has all the good Romantic elements of love and death and good and evil and health and sickness.
then again, it may just be a swamp fog because hes taking a nap in a fucking moor.
it sounds good anyway.

 

[RavenousDaemon]

Elek you whore. I suggest Moonlapse locks all of the very old threads...

 

[the_drip]

BAH, the main character of still life isn't a fuckin demon, he's jsut a dude that got excommunicated for not sharing the same religious views...a blasphemer...came back fo rhte one he loved. Sign of Eth has a good idea of what's going on. Read the interviews.

oh and... it seems you guys didn't know that the word Harlot is just a fancy way of saying slut. THere's nothing beautiful about it. Harlot of God is not exactly a compliment you should be giving to any women that takes your fancy.

 

[£xil on t}{£ Fa\\]

what is your interpretation of "melinda reflected in shafts" nobody seems to know it.

 

[Nico]

^ I remember someone explaining it as "seeing her between the trees"... if that makes sense.

 

[RavenousDaemon]

Well I think it might even be in shafts of "heavenly light". Then again I would have to go with her not being a nun, but instead remarrying.

 

[x3x opeth x2x]

she used a bunch of dildos which are shaped like a shaft and inserted them into the anus because she was all blown out so she used multiple dildos and all that

 

[Tybud]

what is your interpretation of "melinda reflected in shafts" nobody seems to know it.

I think it's her reflection off the swords of her executioners.

 

[sweet majestic darkness]

WOW! this is really interesting. I have never given this music that much depth...sure I listen and love the songs, but I never sat down and tried to figure out what they meant. More intense than I cactually thought to tell you the truth. Very amasing lyrics these guys write, very creative.

 

[Sanzen]

she used a bunch of dildos which are shaped like a shaft and inserted them into the anus because she was all blown out so she used multiple dildos and all that

Hi.

Just for the record, i hate every single one of your posts.

thanks,
me

 

[dorian gray]

^imagine if you wouldve joined earlier.