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Reverie/Harlequin Forest Lyrics
Into the trees
Past meadow grounds
And further away from my home
Baying behind me
I hear the hounds
Flock's chasing to find me alone
A trail of sickness
Leading to me
If I am haunted
Then you will see
Searching the darkness
And emptiness
I'm hiding away from the sun
Will never rest
Will never be at ease
All my matter's expired so I run
There falls another
Vapor hands released the blade
Insane regrets at the drop
Instruments of death before me
Lose all to save a little
At your peril it's justified
And dismiss your demons
As death becomes a jest
You are the laughing stock
Of the absinthe minded
Confessions stuck in your mouth
And long gone fevers reappear
Nocturnally helpless
And weak in the light
Depending on a prayer
Pacing deserted roads to find
A seed of hope
They are the trees
Rotten pulp inside and never well
Roots sucking, thieving from my source
Tired boughs reaching for the light
It is all false pretension
Harlequin forest
Awaiting redemption for a lifetime
As they die alone
With no one by their side
Are they forgiven?
Stark determination
Poisoning the soul
Unfettered beast inside
Claiming sovereign control
And now the woods are burning
Tearing life crops asunder
Useless blackened remains
Still pyre smoldering
Past meadow grounds
And further away from my home
Baying behind me
I hear the hounds
Flock's chasing to find me alone
Leading to me
If I am haunted
Then you will see
And emptiness
I'm hiding away from the sun
Will never rest
Will never be at ease
All my matter's expired so I run
Vapor hands released the blade
Insane regrets at the drop
Instruments of death before me
At your peril it's justified
And dismiss your demons
As death becomes a jest
You are the laughing stock
Of the absinthe minded
Confessions stuck in your mouth
And long gone fevers reappear
And weak in the light
Depending on a prayer
Pacing deserted roads to find
A seed of hope
Rotten pulp inside and never well
Roots sucking, thieving from my source
Tired boughs reaching for the light
Harlequin forest
Awaiting redemption for a lifetime
As they die alone
With no one by their side
Are they forgiven?
Poisoning the soul
Unfettered beast inside
Claiming sovereign control
Tearing life crops asunder
Useless blackened remains
Still pyre smoldering
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Whenever I hear it, I think about the Forest of Suicides from Dante's Inferno.
(from Wikipedia) In this ring are the suicides, who are transformed into gnarled thorny bushes and trees. They are torn at by the Harpies. Unique among the dead, the suicides will not be bodily resurrected after the final judgment, having given their bodies away through suicide. Instead they will maintain their bushy form, with their own corpses hanging from the limbs... "They are the trees, rotten pulp inside and never well, roots sucking, thieving from my source, tired boughs reaching for the light
It is all false pretension, Harlequin forest, awaiting redemption for a lifetime as they die alone with no one by their side, are they forgiven?"
...The other residents of this ring are the profligates, who destroyed their lives by destroying the means by which life is sustained (i.e. money and property). They are perpetually chased by ferocious dogs through the thorny undergrowth. (Canto XIII) "Into the trees, past meadow grounds, and further away from my home. Baying behind me I hear the hounds, flock's chasing to find me alone."
Yes, the similarities are striking and I do think you are right.
Yes, the similarities are striking and I do think you are right.
What I wonder about is the end, why did he burn the woods and what does it mean?
What I wonder about is the end, why did he burn the woods and what does it mean?
@apolyonn Interesting take, and sounds like at the very least a definite source of inspiration. Thanks for sharing that!
@apolyonn Interesting take, and sounds like at the very least a definite source of inspiration. Thanks for sharing that!
harlequin comes word from Old French word Hellequin; a demon.. so that supports the theory that it is the protagonist being chased through the forest by demons/ satan whatever
Mike uses the word Harlequin as both the meaning that rude_ridims describes and as a joker. He sees the trees as idividuals with independent thought. The character portrayed throughout the Ghost Reveries record is suffering from dillusions for many reasons. Particularly because he is in a state of panic since he's been charged with murder.
The trees have faces to him. The devil is basically contacting the character through them to persuade him to cause an increasing amount of self-loathing as a pathway to other hatred, whether it be on himself or other entities.
This song is heavenly good.
Great song.
Is it about being an outcast? I'm never right about these things.
OK now I am convinced it is about being stuck in limbo and then finally ending up in hell.
If I am right about this then this song is brutal.
i think being a part of the whole concept or theme, that this song is about the people of his town chasing him away, he has the hounds attacking him, but he escapes, but not with out being injured
i think later on, hes urged to kill, again, or to kill himself, but im pretty sure that its someone else, maybe the person that sent him to exile
then he goes back to the town and burns it
im more than likley wrong, im just the first to offer and explination for this song
i think drapery got it close....im not sure if the hounds are the villages or satans....i think theyre satans but it looks like he is killing more here, but i think the burning is the forest
This is the narrator trying to escape from not only satan, but the wrong doings he has done himself. It also goes in to the characters beliefs of other people..
It seems no one has taken into account the name of the song. Reverie/Harlequin Forest. No one is taking it in a literal sense. You're all probably right about a guy being exiled from his home, but I think that the guy was exiled to a "haunted" forest around his home. And Reverie, to my knowledge anyway, means a good dream, or a soothing dream of some sort.