To Rid the Disease Lyrics
these lyrics are explicit except the chorus.
"there's innocence torn from its maker" = double meaning i guess; it makes me think about birth (innocence torn from its maker)
"Stillborn the trust in you " = i wonder what it means exactly... it's about trust which has been lost (?)
"This failure has made the creator" = this 'disease' has put creativity into Mr Akerfeldt "would you tell him what to do" = would you tell to his brain what to do to rid the 'disease'.
Very good interpretation! I didn't think of that :)
Very good interpretation! I didn't think of that :)
In my opinion in connection with jonas87's investigation into the interview online this song is a lament for mankind's fallen nature from Eden and in so is a story of Adam and Eve as well as a description of concupiscence or man's fallen and disordered state of existence in the present.
Keep in mind that the CD is titled Damnation as well as I attempt to interpret the song according to this view which I think should be combined with kerfeldt's interview in that the song was written as a lament about how man is and the evil that he does.
(First verse) There's nobody here, there's nobody near I try not to care, dead eyes always stare Let these matters be, don't trust what you see Take hold of your time, step into the line
So, after Adam and Eve are expelled from Eden they no longer had perfect grace. There are no other people and Adam and Eve have lost the innocent love they once had. It bother's them though they don't want to admit it and they can see the truth of the pain of loss in each other's eyes which no longer completely shine with life but are instead full of the pain of existing as they try to make a living in the land. Yet they can't really worry about this and they have to focus on doing the best that they can. Yet once more they have lost perfect innocence and therefore perfect trust (and trusting is loving as well) in each other and in God; so they must as they know live as best as possible precisely because they stepped across the line (in trying to become like God himself).
(Chorus) There's innocence torn from its maker Stillborn the trust in you This failure has made the creator So would you tell him what to do (would you)
In doing so they tore the innocence from themselves, and since all their gifts came from God they also tore it from him. Yet also they themselves were innocence but by their actions "There's innocence torn from its maker" meaning they see the innocence in each other that is no longer connected with God on that higher level of perfection. Yet in this act they tried to become equal to the creator or another creator themselves (This failure has made the creator) (as In the mist says). "Stillborn the trust in you" most likely refers to both abortion in the world today but also the fact that once more man is no longer innocent and his trust has become tinged with selfishness, shame, caution, and a wariness that they did not have originally, therefore the trust dies before it is present and is "stillborn" in their souls. Yet also "this failure made the creator" exile them and therefore they are responsible for what they have done. They are angry but understanding that God is God and they reflect that they cannot "tell him what to do" even though some part of them wants to. The "would you" that echoes is them second guessing themselves and considering what they would have done and their new desire to be the lord of their own life.
(Second Verse) Leave your mark upon the head of someone Who'll cry for his state, we know it's too late I turn round to see what was meant to be Faint movement release to rid the disease
Adam and Eve then live their life and have two sons Cain and Abel. Cain, jealous of Abel killed him. This is often depicted as Cain crushing the head of Abel and thus leaving his mark of violence and death upon him. In this we see that man cannot truly be good or even attempt create without God but only destroy. Yet "leave your mark upon" also references once more man's new urge to be his own master and rule over others that makes him attempt to be on his own. Afterwards no one knows but Abel and God who hears "Abel's blood crying out for vengeance." Yet "Who'll cry for his state is also asking about mankind, who will or is crying for mankind itself in this separation from God. Cain is repentant for what he did but is is "too late." In this the song is lamenting over those who are unavenged, the innocent that are lost, and the loss of Eden itself as Cain, a type of all people who sin and realize it, "turn round to see what was meant to be." God then punishes Cain by sending him away to discipline him, a "faint movement to rid the disease" because Cain is convinced that he deserves worse punishment and self discipline is the only true way for a person to rid themselves of the disease that concupiscence seems to be.
(Chorus with additional background voices) There's innocence torn from its maker Stillborn the trust in you (I have lost the trust I had in you) This failure has made the creator So would you tell him what to do (I have lost the trust I had in you)
Once more like the other chorus except that man has "lost all trust I had in you" turning form God and becoming more and more corrupted until God finally sent Christ to die for the sins of the world. Therefore mankind "made the creator" send the son and Peter attempted to stop Christ from going through the crucifixion as well"would you tell him what to do." And so Christ dies for the sins and yet mankind has still "lost all trust in you" turning from God and going its own way until it has reached the perversion of nature that it is today in greed, lust, war, murder, genocide...ect.
The song then is a lamentation for mankind itself, admitting that until concupiscence is over, until sin is destroyed as in Revelation then mankind cannot "rid the disease" but must live as best as possible. And this is what the final voiceless minutes of the song reflect upon.
This is an amazing song that has two or even three themes reflected throughout its entirety that all come to their full meaning in the chorus through the use of voices and background voices as well as the saddening piano chords.
@Spectre7 late (understatement, more like Golden Internet Explorer Award) reply, but while I do agree the meaning is closely related to exiles from Eden, I think meaning is far more... bitter. They blame the God for all of that happened to them. Because it was he who put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in garden of Eden and because he forbid man to eat from it. He gave mankind the free will and yet punished them for using it. They were stripped from innocence because of failed test and they see it as betrayal of trust. God...
@Spectre7 late (understatement, more like Golden Internet Explorer Award) reply, but while I do agree the meaning is closely related to exiles from Eden, I think meaning is far more... bitter. They blame the God for all of that happened to them. Because it was he who put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in garden of Eden and because he forbid man to eat from it. He gave mankind the free will and yet punished them for using it. They were stripped from innocence because of failed test and they see it as betrayal of trust. God made them corruptable.
I also think that:
(Second Verse) Leave your mark upon the head of someone Who'll cry for his state, we know it's too late
Is about baptism, and its supposed role of cleansing of the Original Sin, as now It changes nothing, the Eden and the innocence is gone.
I turn round to see what was meant to be Faint movement release to rid the disease
The disease here is a memory of what they have lost, the neverending yearning for end of their exile. God no longer listens to them, so they ask if someone else could tell him to correct the mistake he made.
Noooooooooooooooope, nope nope.
This song is about a person who is dealing with a (friend? relative? lover?) on their death-bed, and the debate about ending that person's life "to rid the disease," or trying to cling to hope and letting them live. Very dark song.
ok here is the correct meaning to the song as stated by åkerfeldt himself in an interview with sweden rock magazine. He wrote the song based on all lowlife and criminals and slimebags he´s seen in stockholm,and how angry he is that this has taken a hold in the world in general.The lyrics is pure human-contempt,he also says.
In keeping with jonas87:
It really does seem that Akerfeldt is looking at the evil done by people in this world and shouting, "Isn't the Creator responsible for what he has created?"
But I also see Akerfeldt's indictment of God more as a poetic device than an actual complaint against a deity he believes to exist: "This failure (man himself with all this shortcomings) has made the Creator rather than the Creator making Man.
An excellent musical composition.
hmm abortion you say? well you should explain that beacuase i dont see it.
im not sure what this song is about. it looks like an anti-euthanasia song:
"This failure has made the creator So would you tell him what to do (would you)"
looks like this says can you tell god what to do? you cant defy god by choosing your own death.
but i actually dont think its about that. because this album is about personal subjects of mikael. and im very sure that that would not be mikael's opinion because he is not a religious man
looks
On the LAMENTATIONS (Live @ Shepherd's Bush DVD)Mikael says this is a "dark and evil" song.So I think it is about killing someone/something in your life that you held dear.I don't know about the abortion thing ;I don't think you would refer to a fetus as a disease or not.
I think he is saying that his father was a bad parent and that he was hurt by his fathers disconnecting feelings towards him. I think he is also tryin to say let it all go and move on and make a difference and to forget the way things were. idk, I thought that's what he was sayin'.
I think maybe that theotherness is right bout the song being about a dying person but I think its about the person talking to God about it, and like when he says he has lost all trust he had in you I think he's talking to God and he's turning on God for not helping this person in their dying state
Either way, this is an amazing song, off an amazing cd from an amazing band...