Hours of Wealth

Found a way to rid myself clean of pain
And the fever that's been haunting me
Has gone away

Looking through my window
I seem to recognize
All the people passing by
But I am alone
And far from home
And nobody knows me

Never heard me say goodbye
Never shall I speak to anyone again
All days are in darkness
And I'm biding my time
Once I am sure of my task I will rise again

- Opeth (2005)

Opeth has been one of my more satisfying musical finds. I remember watching the premiere of the current iteration of Headbanger's Ball and seeing a video for a song from their album Damnation. I really liked the song, but they fell off my radar for a couple of years while I tried to get my life bearings back. A couple of years later I was in Best Buy looking for new tunes and came across Ghost Reveries, which had some really good reviews. I put it in the CD player and was blown away.

Opeth has made their mark by crafting long and complicated songs with non-traditional structures. The basic sound is death and doom metal with other sounds thrown in the mix. The music ranges from heavy and brutal to dark and brooding. Every album sounds different, which is something that most bands stive for but few actually ever achieve. This song is taken from Ghost Reveries, which to this point has been their most commercially successful album.

Musically I find this song very haunting. The song is slow, with the underlying clean guitar joined by some wood instruments, violins, and piano. The timing of this music never changes, but the violins build a crescendo of sound, bringing a painful intensity to the emotional. Then all goes quiet as Mikael Akerfeldt begins singing the lyrics. The change to the sound brings forth the feeling of calm and peace. When the lyrics are finished, we are treated to a smooth electric guitar solo in the slow classical guitar tradition, which gives us the feeling that smooth sailing is ahead.

Lyrically this song brings forth mixed emotions in me. The singer has come to the decision on how to end what is troubling him, but at what cost will this be? In the lyrics there seems to be unfathomable sadness and loneliness present, but his voice is almost emotionless, as to demonstrate the resolve of his decision. But what is his decision? Is it leaving the place where he is currently? Is it suicide? Or is it a complete reorientation of his life? Each of these paths (along with a few others) could be followed from his words, but there are no clues as to the path he has chosen. I won't offer any conjecture at to what I think his path is as I don't really know. It is this cryptic message where the song holds its mystery for me.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this one while I continue to shop for Christmas.

And speaking of which... if our faithful and not-so-faithful readers don't hear from us before the end of the week, I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas.