Opeth The Roundhouse Tapes CD1 Lyrics

1. WHEN

Red sun rising somewhere through the dense fog.
The portrait of the jaded dawn who had seen it all before.

This day wept on my shoulders.
Still the same as yesterday.
This path seems endless, body is numb.
The soul has lost its flame.
Walking in familiar traces to find my way back home.

So there I was.
Within the sobriety of the immortals.
A semblance of supernatural winds passing through.
The garden sighs, flowers die.

The gate was closed that day, but I was bound to carry on.
She could not see me through the windows.
In dismay, strangest twist upon her lips.
Graven face, she said my name.

Once inside I heard whispers in the parlour.
The gilded faces grin, aware of my final demise.

And I cried, I knew she had lied.
Her obsession had died, it had died.

When can I take you from this place?
When is the word but a sigh?
When is death our lone beholder?
When do we walk the final steps?
When can we scream instead of whisper?

When is the new beginning,
the end of this sad MADRIGAL.

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2. GHOST OF PERDITION

Ghost of Mother
Lingering death
Ghost on Mother's bed
Black strands on the pillow
Contour of her health
Twisted face upon the head

Ghost of perdition
Stuck in her chest
A warning no one read
Tragic friendship
Called inside the fog
Pouring venom brew deceiving

Devil cracked the earthly shell
Foretold she was the one
Blew hope into the room and said:
"You have to live before you die young"

Holding her down
Channeling darkness
Hemlock for the Gods
Fading resistance
Draining the weakness
Penetrating inner light

Road into the dark unaware
Winding ever higher

Darkness by her side
Spoke and passed her by
Dedicated hunter
Waits to pull us under
Rose up to it's call
In his arms she'd fall
Mother light received
And a faithful servant's free

In time the hissing of her sanity
Faded out her voice and soiled her name
And like marked pages in a diary
Everything seemed clean that is unstained
The incoherent talk of ordinary days
Why would we really need to live?
Decide what is clear and what's within a haze
What you should take and what to give

Ghost of perdition
A saint's premonition's unclear
Keeper of holy h___ds
Keeper of holy w____s

To see a beloved son
In despair of what's to come

If one cut the source of the flow
And everything would change
Would conviction fall
In the shadow of the righteous
The phantasm of your mind
Might be calling you to go
Defying the forgotten morals
Where the victim is the prey

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3. UNDER THE WEEPING MOON

Once again I've cried
Unto the moon
That burning flame
That has guided me
Through all these years
The lake from which you flow

With eyes of fire
Once unlit but now alive
This energy, sparkling
Like a morning star

The morning star

Riding the fires of
The northern gold
I've searched the eye
I laugh under the weeping moon

I am the watcher in the skies
Nor the emeralds know my mark
Glisten to mark their presence
Set the enigma ablaze
Searching...
Finding...

Burn the winter landmarks
That said I was there
Burn the spirit of cold
That travel through my soul

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4. BLEAK
Beating
Heart still beating for the cause
Feeding
Soul still feeding from the loss
Aching
Limbs are aching from the rush
Fading
You are fading from my sight
Break of morning, coldness lingers on
Shroud me into nightmares of the sun
Moving
I am moving closer to your side
Luring
You are luring me into the night
Crying
Who is crying for you here
Dying
I am dying fast inside your tears
Plunging towards bereavement faster yet
Clearing thoughts, my mind is set
Devious movements in your eyes
Moved me from relief
Breath comes out white clouds with your lies
And filters through me
You're close to the final word
You're staring right past me in dismay
A liquid seeps from your chest
And drains me away
Mist ripples round your thin white neck
And draws me a line
Cold fingers mark this dying wreck
This moment is mine
Help me cure you
Atone for all you've done
Help me leave you
As all the days are gone
Night fall again
Taking what's left of me
Slight twist, shivering corpse
Ornated with water, fills the cracks
Clasped in my lims by tradition
This is all you need

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5. FACE OF MELINDA

By the turnstile beckons a damsel fair
The face of Melinda neath blackened hair
No joy would flicker in her eyes
Brooding sadness came to a rise

Words would falter to atone
Failure had passed the stepping stone
She had sworn her vows to another
This is when no-one will bother

And conceded pain in crumbling mirth
A harlot of God upon the earth
Found where she sacrificed her ways
That hollow love in her face

Still I plotted to have her back
The contentment that would fill the crack
My soul released a fluttering sigh
This day fell, the darkness nigh

I took her by the hand to say
All faith forever has been washed away
I returned for you in great dismay
Come with me, far away to stay

Endlessly gazing in nocturnal prime
She spoke of her vices and broke the rhyme
But baffled herself with the final line
My promise is made but my heart is thine

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6. THE NIGHT AND THE SILENT WATER

And so you left us
Jaded and gaunt, some September
Wilted with the seasons
But hidden inside the delusion
I saw you eyes, somewhere

Devoid of death
The aura poises amidst (the storm)
In solid tears I linger
A parlour glade, moonlit sorrow

Lonely resting pools
Relics of the moon-dogged lake
Whisper: "All your words are missgiven"

Am I like them?
Those who mourn and turn away
Those who would give anything
To see you again
If only for another second

Your face was, like the photograph
Painted white
We did not speak very often about it
What does it matter now?

Cloak of autumn shroud
I gaze, dim ricochet of stars
I reckon it is time for me to leave

You sleep in the light
Yet the night and the silent water
Still so dark