Dirge for November - Opeth

I am from the undulous land Where Romans reined their horses alongside those Who'd settled here before along the burn Where the river ran its source of life along the vale Now sequestered under concrete and the clogged arteries Of their consumptive combustion engines I am from the yearning of the Sunday afternoon hogweed Who stretches toward the Sun beneath the scything motorway Where Apollo was once placated By those whose empire was built in blood I am from the sanctuary of saints Seeking refuge from the plunderers of the foreboding sea Resting inland Counting out the centuries in ermine On rosaries of Grace until the hunger of conquerors Bade them move once more I am from a stinky half-on of a town Stubbed out by the vagaries of a capital That drains its provinces like a stabbed sack of wine As they catch the flowing crimson with their gaping maws

Confessor Of the tragedies in man Lurking in the core of us all The last dying call for the ever lost Brief encounters, bleeding pain Lepers coiled beneath the trees Dying men in bewildered soliloquy's Perversions bloom round the bend Seekers, lost in their quest Ghosts of friends frolic Under the waning moon It is the year of death Wielding his instruments Stealth sovereign reaper Touching us with ease Infecting the roots in an instant Burning crop of disease I am just a spectator An advocate documenting the loss Fluttering with conceit This doesn't concern me yet Still far from the knell Taunting their bereavement Mob round the dead Point fingers at the details Probing vomits for more Caught in unbridled suspense We have all lost it now Catching the flakes of dismay Born the travesty of man Regular pulse midst pandemonium You're plucked to the mass Parched with thirst for the wicked Sick liaisons raised this monumental mark The sun sets forever over Black Water Park

You wait by the window Morning's breath on the sill Idle hands given another try So you wait and you savour the moment Outside the canvas turned white Ruby eyes in the fog Rain washing clean all the sins A liquid gown that covers all Your loathe turns endless Opened mirage soothes your sense Locked on the pinnacle The best secret within Like a derelict child Heart burning for a stranger Ascending to the meek Flock round the liars in awe Caked in the soil beneath Fear me when we meet Turn away in admiration My firm grip round the nucleus of joy Enough of this You will leave me now You will see it now Perish at my hands Close to you Tangled up in hair Fresh stigma looks Shall I take you with me And it is cold Ruby eyes in the fog It is me And you are just like them all Stained by the names of fathers I'm greeting my downward fall Leaving the throes to others

I am awaiting the sunrise Gazing modestly through the coldest morning Once it came you lied Embracing us over autumn's proud treetops I stand motionless In the parade of falling rain Your voice I cannot hear As I am falling again Devotion eludes And in sadness I lumber In my own ashes I am standing without a soul She wept and whispered I know We walked into the night Am I to bid you farewell? Why can't you see that I try When every tear I shed Is for you?

In the corner beside my window Hangs a lonely photograph There is no reason I'd never notice a memory that could hold me back There is a wound that's always bleeding There is a road I'm always walking And I know you'll never return to this place Gone through days without talking There is a comfort in silence So used to losing all ambition And struggling to maintain what's left There is a wound that's always bleeding There is a road I'm always walking And I know you'll never return to this place Once undone, there's only smoke Burning in my eyes to blind To cover up what really happened And force the darkness onto me There is a wound that's always bleeding There is a road I'm always walking And I know you'll never return to this place

I can't see the meaning of this life I'm leading I try to forget you as you forgot me This time there is nothing left for you to take This is goodbye Summers is miles and miles away And no one would ask me to stay And I should contemplate this change To ease the pain And I should step out of the rain Turn away Close to ending it all I am drifting through the stages Of the rapture born within this loss Thoughts of death inside Tear me apart from the core of my soul Summer is miles and miles away And no one would ask me to stay And I should contemplate this change To ease the pain And I should step out of the rain Turn away At times, the dark's fading slowly But it never sustains Would someone watch over me In my time of need? Summer is miles and miles away And no one would ask me to stay And I should contemplate this change To ease the pain And I should step out of the rain Turn away And I should contemplate this change To ease the pain And I should step out of the rain Turn away

Will their children cry When their mother dies And in the autumn of their lives Will they feel the same? "I see you My sweet Satan Come back tonight Out of the courtyard" Her longing for me Comin' down like hail Why did you leave me? Come here inside And tell me how How in my final days I've found her out The light comes on The signal for us to end our lives You wait beneath the white sheets and you wait forever The night comes on Your weakness starting to erase all your lies So I left you alone We all left you alone "They'll lock all your reasons why" Lock the children away from harm They'll lock all your reason why Seeking tenderness with a dagger Skin is blocked by the years of trial You felt abandoned in the fog of flesh Sitting in place from the dead Awaiting the face of the moon to ascend You follow the siren in your head In your head