"Blackwater Park" as written by Mikael Åkerfeldt, composed by Mikael Åkerfeldt and Peter Lindgren....
Confessor
Of the tragedies in man
Lurking in the core of us all
The last dying call for the everlost
Brief encounters, bleeding pain
Lepers coiled â??neath the trees
Dying men in bewildered soliloquys
Perversions bloom round the bend
Seekers, lost in their quest
Ghost of friends frolic under the waning moon
It is the year of death
Wielding his instruments
Stealth sovereign reaper
Touching us with ease
Infecting the roots in an instant
Burning crop of disease
I am just a spectator
An advocate documenting the loss
Fluttering with conceit
This doesn't concern me yet
Still far from the knell
Taunting their bereavement
Mob round the dead
Point fingers at the details
Probing vomits for more
Caught in unbridled suspense
We have all lost it now
Catching the flakes of dismay
Born the travesty of man
Regular pulse midst pandemonium
You're plucked to the mass
Parched with thirst for the wicked
Sick liaisons raised this monumental mark
The sun sets forever over Blackwater park
Of the tragedies in man
Lurking in the core of us all
The last dying call for the everlost
Brief encounters, bleeding pain
Lepers coiled â??neath the trees
Dying men in bewildered soliloquys
Perversions bloom round the bend
Seekers, lost in their quest
Ghost of friends frolic under the waning moon
It is the year of death
Wielding his instruments
Stealth sovereign reaper
Touching us with ease
Infecting the roots in an instant
Burning crop of disease
I am just a spectator
An advocate documenting the loss
Fluttering with conceit
This doesn't concern me yet
Still far from the knell
Taunting their bereavement
Mob round the dead
Point fingers at the details
Probing vomits for more
Caught in unbridled suspense
We have all lost it now
Catching the flakes of dismay
Born the travesty of man
Regular pulse midst pandemonium
You're plucked to the mass
Parched with thirst for the wicked
Sick liaisons raised this monumental mark
The sun sets forever over Blackwater park
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This is the magnum opus of the album; while musically some of the other songs are better (The Funeral Portrait, Dirge For November, Bleak) thematically, Blackwater Park outshines the rest. It is an analogy - on the surface, it talks of a village (Blackwater Park) where sin and disease have taken hold, and where people are dying off, until at last the narrator too is infected and dies. However, the song is an analogy for the evils in the world - Mikael is watching corruption and violence destroy the world slowly because of all the wrongs we've commited. The intro sums that up: "Confessor of the tragedies in man, lurking in the core of us all. The last dying call for the everlost; brief encounters, bleeding pain."
The narrator recalls visions of horror... "Lepers coiled neath the trees; dying men in bewildered soliloquys. Perversions bloom round the bend; seekers, lost in their quest. Ghosts of friends frolic under the waning moon ." The whole town around the man is dying out. People wander aimlessly through the world, unsure of their purposes in life.
In terms of the story, the narrator is an uninfected person, "an advocate documenting the loss". He sees the sickness but is not a part of it yet: "It is the year of death, wielding his instruments. Stealth sovereign reaper, touching us with ease. Infecting the roots in an instant, burning crop of disease." In a literal sense, he is avoiding the immoral acts of the modern world and trying to live a good life. "Fluttering with conceit; this doesn't concern me yet. Still far from the knell, taunting their bereavement " So far, he is proud of the fact that he has avoided the "disease" of such failings, and he can laugh at those who have given up, but he knows that one day he will end up like all the others.
Mikael points out mankind's morbid fascination with violence and terror ("Point fingers at the details, probe vomits for more. Caught in unbridled suspense."), and how we as a society have "lost it now", at every moment "catching the flakes of dismay" - taking in every gory detail of life via the media. He points out the sick attitudes of today's youth in his metaphor about plague survivors who more and more often want to investigate the "disease" rather than exterminate it: "Born the travesty of man, regular pulse midst pandemonium. You're plucked to the mass, parched with thirst for the wicked."
Finally, Mikael remarks "Sick liaisons raised this monumental mark; the sun sets forever over Blackwater Park." As the sickening morbidity of the survivors takes over the town, ruining it forever and confirming its eventual destruction, the metaphor is for the doomed nature of our society. If we keep finding entertainment and interest in the dark side of humanity, the sun will set on us all, too.
I think it's hilariously ironic (to some, perhaps) how a "death metal" band can speak out against human interests in "the dark side of humanity" while at the same time - through the eyes of many - they themselves are undoubtedly categorized as being a part of "the dark side of humanity."
My favorite part, I think, of this whole song is at the end, when you hear the last death metal vocals (The sun sets forever over Blackwater Park!!!) and then the guitar and bass play that ending-thing for several bars before it goes acoustic. It's not even that complicated of a part but in my mind it's still some awesome ass prog rock. Although the acoustic guitar at the end definitely finishes the idea of the song well and creates a very cool effect, I can kind of imagine the song just ending when the electric guitar part ends, with a slight fall or something and then the guy smashing his guitar and everything just going up in flames.......
...And Opeth is death metal... definetely. The growling, the guitar and drum technics... this is death metal. Death metal doesn't necessarily means «random heaviness at 290 bpm with omnipresent growling all the time». There are various brand of death metal one of which is called progressive death metal and that's exactly what Opeth do. And they're far from being the only band doing that kind of music and really far from being the most original or «the best» (if there is any), they are a very overrated band. That being said, it's a fantastic band that has a sound of their own and I can't help but love their music.
"sick liasions raised this monumental mark.
the sun sets forever over blackwater park."
*tribute to Daniel lol