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The Amen Corner Lyrics

White summer.
So far I have gone to see you again.
Hiding your face in the palm of your hands.
Finding solace in the words I do despise.
You snatch at every sound.
And even though you believe that I am shackled within death,
memories are tainted with paleness.
Crestfallen still.
Those eyes... empty like a barren well.
It was the only task I would undertake.
To reap the harvest that was mine.
The seed that had sprung into a florid meadow,
and left me helpless in your embrace.
The bond we never spoke of, once stark and enticing,
now slowly smoldering to dust.
The celestial touch, from grey to black.
A fathomless void enclosing.
Unwritten secrets beneath the cobwebs.
I can not endure. And so I rose from my sleep.
The moon turned away its face.
Overture of the long, black night begins...
something you said: "Eerie circles upon the waters".
Until now we have shared the same aura.
My ashes within your hands.
My breath in the sepulchral mound.
You know that your night is my day.
The final spark that blew life into me,
the DEMON OF THE FALL.
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9 Meanings

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Cover art for The Amen Corner lyrics by Opeth

I don't think this song is about a new man at all, rather that the ghost sees that the bond between him and the girl is breaking ("The bond we never spoke of, once stark and enticing, now slowly smoldering to dust"). Seeing as the name of the song is The Amen Corner, it is likely that religion or praying is the main reason the ghost feels that he is losing touch with the girl. This is highlighted by the fact that she turns to religion to consol herself ("Hiding your face in the palm of your hands"), where it is shown that he dislikes this as he says she is "Finding solace in the words I do despise". He feels that the only way he can regain the bond that was lost when the ghost died is to "[rise] from my sleep" and make his presence physically felt. He sees this as a last resort, as it is "The final spark that blew life into me, the Demon of the Fall". This is why he terrifies the girl in the next song on the album; not to kill or harm her, but as a desperate attempt to regain their bond with one another.

Cover art for The Amen Corner lyrics by Opeth

I'm pretty sure you and that other guy are a bit wrong. There's a new guy, sure, but she isn't with him. He's just a guy who is consoling her, and the ghost doesn't like that, obviously.

Yes, he decides in a moment of anger, to kill the girl. But, he backs down by the end of Demon Of The Fall, because he realises how much he is hurting her emotionally, and how wrong it is to force her to love him.

@6th_sadistic_sniper Yeah really, obviously it would be wrong for him to force her to love him because he's a god damn ghost. He's gone and can no longer be with her, he's gotta just fucking move on.

Cover art for The Amen Corner lyrics by Opeth

This is the song where the man decides to kill his wife and her new man. In this song he becomes the DEMON OF THE FALL.

Cover art for The Amen Corner lyrics by Opeth

I just wanna reply again because like... I seem like a pretentious jackass in all my posts referring to the MAYH album. And for all I know you could be right and I could be wrong.

The thing that makes me think that his wife isn't with a new man is that she is still grieving over his death. "Crestfallen still. Those eyes, empty, like a barren well." See what I mean? She has a guy after her - somebody giving her "solace in the words I despise" - but I don't think this person is already her new lover.

Cover art for The Amen Corner lyrics by Opeth

In Epilogue we discover that the word(s) he despises is "farewell" which helps argue the case that this second man is consoling the widow rather than shagging her.

Cover art for The Amen Corner lyrics by Opeth

well i wanted to right here what the song was about but zaroou already did that, he is 100% right

but i have to add something, he does shows in demon of the fall , but thats more or less a slow proces. the girl slowly starts to feel his presence and almost see it. ""Eerie circles upon the waters" and "snatch at every sound" so she slowly start to feel him more, actually scaring her

a lot of people think there is some new lover involved but thats not true like you already said, and I too think he doesnt try to kill her but just show his self

Cover art for The Amen Corner lyrics by Opeth

Im pretty sure this is how it goes: The woman actually did have a very strong yet unspoken bond with her husband, which is why she went into sort of a shock when he died and consoled in this guy. Now she probaboly consoled a bit too much without really realizing it (in shock/denial) but probably didnt go all the way. She snapped out of it when she first encountered the ghost, and then accepted it

maybe

Cover art for The Amen Corner lyrics by Opeth

that's a very big maybe. why do people actually think there is another guy involved? i can't find anything implying a new lover or whaterver anywhere in the story, so where do you get that idea?

"When" implies that she may have met another man.

Not Valid
Cover art for The Amen Corner lyrics by Opeth

I think it is quite evident from this song, and the other songs on this record, that the woman is not finding comfort in another man, but in the Christian faith.

"The celestial touch" "the icon smiles".

It is quite likely that the man and the woman were atheists (or worse, given he became a ghost) before he died, and he is disappointed that she mourns him less than he probably wanted, and finds comfort not in memories of him, but in the faith.