Isolation Years

I don't think it is a blood stain. It seems like its only ink from the pen.

This song is about a widow who left a note (maybe a suicide note, but I think its just a note she left before she died of natural causes). There is some kind of a mystery regarding her husband cause "she knew he was gone", which indicates she kinda figured out he died but didnt really "know". I guess the guy left her (going to war or whatnot) and never came back, leaving her isolated (alone) for all those years. It doesnt sound like suicide to me because she did live in isolation for quite some time.
"The wound in me is pouring out to rest on a lover's shore". She can finally rest in peace and be freed of her grief.

This is (one of) the sadest song I have ever heard. Awesome.

I think this song is about two different situations. One being that the person that is reading the letter got it from Rosemary. He is just reading what she has written down. I get this because when you listen to the song the line's "I know she was aching" and "She knew he was gone" are both in the present instead of the past like the poem reads. As the poem reads we are hearing about someone reading a womans suicide letter after she find out he has died at war she kills herself to avoid isolation. Or with the present used "I know she's aching" and "She know's he's gone" as sang in the song. You can see that it is just someone reading a letter from a friend and he can see that she is sad. Leave it to Opeth to write somthing so complex and beautiful.

It's a quite sad song, but the chorus, is melodically pretty good. When I think of the word Isolation Years , i think of like teenage years where you're just depressed , and stressed out about what people think of you, so become very anti-social and isolated from the outside world.

It seems to be describing a suicide letter left behind by a girl named Rosemary. Probably over someone she loved and who either died or walked out of her life for good.

"In isolation She talks about her love And as I read "I'll die alone" I know she was aching"

Maybe she didn't want to be alone anymore...

I agree with AnotherBrick it seems that everything is describing someone looking back on when she was writing the letter. But that seems really obvious, usally Opeth songs are more hidden.

I think there was someone he loved while he was on earth, but he slipped to the dark side. This is a letter of the secret admirer that she wrote to him. She knew he was going to the darkside and she was too late.

"There's a certain detail seen here The pen must have slipped to the side And left a stain Next to his name She knew he was gone"

If this is about suicide, then i guess this is where she cuts/stabs herself? the stain could be blood

It is beautiful...I had this all figured out, I had it penned out that "rosemary" was the name of the mother from the "ghost reveries" story, and this note must have been found by someone else, which gives insight as to why she may have took a dark path...

But then someone spoiled it and said it wasnt actually part of the concept....and then opeth confirmed that....damn

It could be about the mother from Ghost of Perdition. In my previous posts on some songs from Ghost Reveries, I argue that the woman is in fact giving birth to the son of the devil.

Isolation Years might be about that son grieving over the death of his mother, who dies because of her pact with the devil. Satan might have promised her eternal life or something, but then she died anyway, he could not save her.

No no lacerate and Ddadutta, while that is a very good theory, it is sadly incorrect. Mikael has said himself that yes ghost reveries IS a concept album, but the last song has nothing to do with the story.

To add my input I agree with those who think it is about someone reading a suicide letter