One for Sorrow

I have read this lyric many times.I'm not very good at interpreting poems and lyrics but I wanna share my thought so that others may come and we can have a discussion over this. This song is about a love story. The general story is about a broken relationship between 2 persons that were deeply in love.It doesn't state the reason for the break up,it could be a failed relationship or death of one of these two. The title : One For Sorrow: As you already know "one for sorrow" is is a traditional children's nursery rhyme about magpies. According to an old superstition, the number of magpies one sees determines if one will have bad luck or not. There are different versions of this rhyme and one is written in this album's booklet:one for sorrow/two for luck/three for a wedding/four for death/five for silver/six for gold/seven for a secret not to be told/eight of heaven/nine for hell/ten for devil's own sell when they say in chorus : "always one for sorrow"it could mean that there are different versions of this rhyme that some lines change in them but the only part that has never changed all this time is the first line,the first number.stating that number one is always dedicated to sorrow whereas love , has never taken the first place. another interpretation is that sorrow always prevails against love saying that every relationship is destined to fail.

2 verses of this song try to describe someone who has lost the love of his life and is dealing with it's consequences.

''I am the last,the one who hold on the past,clinging on something we used to have''saying that after this break up the person dwells in the past and always thinking about the relationship.

''I am the last,the one who chose this path,to walk among the world of shadows'' this part can have 2 meanings : 1) I could mean that I ,willingly ,decided to start this relationship and now that I'm hurt ,I am dealing with the consequences. 2)it could also mean that I made a mistake during my relationship and that mistake led to a break up

Chorus: "Always one for sorrow/Never one for love/Two souls destined to failure/Right from the start/Always one for sorrow/Never one for love/Two souls set for departure/Before the nightfall" I think that the correct form of this part is like this: Two souls are set for departure ,their destination is failure and they move before the nightfall.Stating that every single relationship is doomed and they will fail dearly in the end.This is the tale told from someone whose heart is broken and saying all these so that others become aware.

''And here I stand,devoid of faith ,bereft of hope,unable to break the walls around me'' When a good relationship ends ,it is hard to have any hope towards the future or about starting other relationship.

''And here I stand,shell of a man from the past,condemned to world of resentment'' Again stating that this person dwells in the past.

''It took two to summon the thunder'' It says when a couple are together(before the break up)they can make great things happen such as summoning the thunder.

"one to bring down the rain" Bringing down the rain is a metaphor for crying a lot,saying that the remaining person is crying his/her eyes out.

"two to torn all asunder" it says that when the couples are together,they can fight against all the odds and problems together and also make great changes.

"one to suffer the pain" in a relationship ,the couple overcome the problems on their way together but after the break up each of them must face the all the pain and suffering separately on their own.If this song is about losing your loved one because of death,it could also mean that the deceased are gone and won't suffer anymore whereas their partner is here alive and must face all the suffering alone.

"two to crush dreams and wonders" I think this means that sometimes in a relationships you must let go of some of your dreams for the sake of your relationship and your partner,or since you're engaged in a relationship some of your talents become obsolete because you spend most of your time with your partner.

"one to lose everything" saying that after the break up , not only you've lost your partner, you've let go of a lot of your dreams and opportunities that came to your doorstep for the sake of of this relationship and now you've practically got nothing.

"all once beautiful and sacred,nothing but in vain" saying that when everything's fine every single thing seems beautiful but after you reach sorrow and grief,they all begin to change.all of them begin to lose the meaning they once had and seem empty ,hollow,vain.

For me this song is about person who suffer from depression. He is alone and he lost all hope.

"I am the last The one who holds on the past Clinging on something we use to have" He is thinking all the time about chances he lost and about life that could be better.

" I am the last The one who chose this path To walk among the world of shadows " Because of his illness he think that he is alone and it's his fault.

In chorus he tells us that he is sentenced to be sad, depressed and alone. Although he dream about that one person he would never be with she.

"And here I stand Devoid of faith, bereft of hope Unable to break the walls around me

And here I stand Shell of a man from the past Condemned to world of resentment" Here we have description of a person who is depressed very long time. He lost all the hope, he is powerless. He is no longer the person he was before.

" It look two to summon the thunder One to bring down the rain Two to torn all asunder One to suffer the pain

Two to crush dreams and wonders One to lose everything All once beautiful and sacred Nothing but in vain " And these lines tell that he don't believe in his cure. It doesn't matter what will happen he will suffer to death.

Okay so i dont think this is the intended meaning, but this is the one i prefer because i can really relate to it.

To me, the song is about a past trauma, from which you are unable to move on (PTSD + depression pretty much).

" I am the last The one who holds on the past Clinging on something we use to have

I am the last The one who chose this path To walk among the world of shadows"

This verse speaks for himself. You're stuck in the past. Everyone else forgot about it, but you cant, and it haunts you.

"Always one for sorrow Never one for love Two souls destined to failure Right from the start"

In the case of someone being abused, bullied or harassed, the victim is alone in his suffering, helpless. The two souls are the victim and the abuser. The victim gets his life ruined, both by the abuser and by himself, because he cant move on. The abuser also failed his life, by showing so much cruelty.

"And here I stand Devoid of faith, bereft of hope Unable to break the walls around me

And here I stand Shell of a man from the past Condemned to world of resentment"

Once again, a really good depiction of depression.

"It look two to summon the thunder One to bring down the rain Two to torn all asunder One to suffer the pain

Two to crush dreams and wonders One to lose everything All once beautiful and sacred Nothing but in vain"

Okay, so thats really the part that made me tick. Basically, there's 2 people involved in the conflict, but only one suffers and keeps the trauma.

The abuser crushes the dreams of the other, and the victim crushes his own, by getting stuck in his trauma and his past.

Love you, Insomnium. Your writing skills are really impressive, i was actually shocked when i learned you guys dont write from experience, cause you depict the topic of trauma depression and grief REALLY well