thoughts on White Cluster

metal_wrath

metal_wrath

I dip my forefinger...
Mar 20, 2006
6,695
22
38
...in the watery blood
I have to say the song "White Cluster" used to be my least favorite Opeth song or close to it. However recently I have realized the brilliantness of this song!

This has now become one of my favorite songs, I would even rank it as one of the most amazing songs I have heard! This song has taken me some time to get used to though.

Some thoughts:

The song remains very upbeat while the sorrowful story unfolds as the narrator meets his fate. This gives a very bitter feeling and makes the song even more eerie. The rhyming lyrics of this song are very well done as well as the arrangement of the song. The guitar playing in this song is very impressive as well as the elaborate solo-interlude section. Some awesome riffs as well as melodies played in this song. Also I think the ending notes are the perfect end to close the album.

Just my two cents

cheers :rock:
 
great song from a fantastic album. not the best song on the album though.
 
I think this song is perfect for ending the concept of the Still Life album. Im not quite sure what the lyrics mean entirly though, a couple things kind of stand out. Normally people where black to hangings, but the lyrics say "They wear white for me, Seemingly jaded and lost." This could mean that the white cluster is actually not the croud but a group of angels he sees before his last moments on earth. But why would angels show up if the whole concept is a person turning their back on religion and thus being cast out and persecuted. Theres another theory going around that the narrarator is a black man and they where white as a sign of hatred like the kkk. This is from songmeanings.net describing a possible meaning for "The Moor"

"Othello is a well respected military commander in the play, but is usurped and back stabbed because he is a black man with power. I know that "Moor" means swamp, but in the play, people refer to Othello as a Moor as a derogatory term about his skin colour."

This verse could mean that he was born black and was discriminated against. His skin color is his death mask and he blames god for creating him that way:

"I was foul and tainted, devoid of faith
Wearing my death-mask at birth
The hands of God, decrepit and thin
Cold caress and then nothing

In my opinion the angels show up to try and prove to him the error of his ways. He says, "This is forgiveness, so I know Once I repent I seal the lid" and he also says he will come for Melinda and find her. Shes a nun, in order to be where shes at hed have to repent and admit hes wrong. However he also says "I find trust in hate". Its a contradiction. Just like alot of Opeth lyrics their nearly impossible to make sense of, haha. What do you guys think?









What do you guys think?
 
My thoughts are INCREDIBLE fucking song, my fav on the album, I don't want a headache so i wont go on about what i think the song means
 
Rocker0803 said:
I think this song is perfect for ending the concept of the Still Life album. Im not quite sure what the lyrics mean entirly though, a couple things kind of stand out. Normally people where black to hangings, but the lyrics say "They wear white for me, Seemingly jaded and lost." This could mean that the white cluster is actually not the croud but a group of angels he sees before his last moments on earth. But why would angels show up if the whole concept is a person turning their back on religion and thus being cast out and persecuted. Theres another theory going around that the narrarator is a black man and they where white as a sign of hatred like the kkk. This is from songmeanings.net describing a possible meaning for "The Moor"

"Othello is a well respected military commander in the play, but is usurped and back stabbed because he is a black man with power. I know that "Moor" means swamp, but in the play, people refer to Othello as a Moor as a derogatory term about his skin colour."

This verse could mean that he was born black and was discriminated against. His skin color is his death mask and he blames god for creating him that way:

"I was foul and tainted, devoid of faith
Wearing my death-mask at birth
The hands of God, decrepit and thin
Cold caress and then nothing

In my opinion the angels show up to try and prove to him the error of his ways. He says, "This is forgiveness, so I know Once I repent I seal the lid" and he also says he will come for Melinda and find her. Shes a nun, in order to be where shes at hed have to repent and admit hes wrong. However he also says "I find trust in hate". Its a contradiction. Just like alot of Opeth lyrics their nearly impossible to make sense of, haha. What do you guys think?









What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Interesting, but I'm afraid that you're ascribing meaning that isn't there. It doesn't hold up under scrutiny, no matter how well it works in parts. You have to consider the whole album. Othello is one of my favorite works by old Billy Shakes, but I don't think Still Life is about a moor in the Othello-sense. In the song, "The Moor" we have:

I awoke from the miasma
Passing swiftly through the moor
This is here, waters stir
And in the distance all that was lost
If you´ll bear with me
You´ll fear of me
You´d never leave me to
A fate with you

And a "moor" isn't really a swamp. Here's a pic:

Peninescenery2_575.jpg


For some reason, Still Life is invites the kind of interpretation that I used to see in the High School English Lit classes I taught. Often creative, frequently ill-supported.
 
soundave said:
Interesting, but I'm afraid that you're ascribing meaning that isn't there. It doesn't hold up under scrutiny, no matter how well it works in parts. You have to consider the whole album. Othello is one of my favorite works by old Billy Shakes, but I don't think Still Life is about a moor in the Othello-sense. In the song, "The Moor" we have:

I awoke from the miasma
Passing swiftly through the moor
This is here, waters stir
And in the distance all that was lost
If you´ll bear with me
You´ll fear of me
You´d never leave me to
A fate with you

And a "moor" isn't really a swamp. Here's a pic:

Peninescenery2_575.jpg


For some reason, Still Life is invites the kind of interpretation that I used to see in the High School English Lit classes I taught. Often creative, frequently ill-supported.
Click to expand...

Its a theory that I dont agree with personally but I thought it was interesting enough to share. I thought that the double meaning of moor mixed with the people wearing white at the end of the story was a neat coincidence. As with most Opeth lyrics they give you enough to formulate an idea of what their about but not enough to really understand every line. I do agree though that their referring to moor in the geographical sense.
 
soundave said:
Interesting, but I'm afraid that you're ascribing meaning that isn't there. It doesn't hold up under scrutiny, no matter how well it works in parts. You have to consider the whole album. Othello is one of my favorite works by old Billy Shakes, but I don't think Still Life is about a moor in the Othello-sense. In the song, "The Moor" we have:

I awoke from the miasma
Passing swiftly through the moor
This is here, waters stir
And in the distance all that was lost
If you´ll bear with me
You´ll fear of me
You´d never leave me to
A fate with you

And a "moor" isn't really a swamp. Here's a pic:

Peninescenery2_575.jpg


For some reason, Still Life is invites the kind of interpretation that I used to see in the High School English Lit classes I taught. Often creative, frequently ill-supported.
Click to expand...

Nice reply Dave, just got around to seeing this thread, suffering PC issue's atm. :(

Still Life = a flawed masterpiece, intro = :waah:

Released on my 44th Birthday. :kickass:

Cheers Mike. :Saint:

:)
 
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