Death whispered a lullaby

"Death whispered a Lullaby" is one of the most beatiful songs from Opeth, it was released on the 2002 album "Damnation". With this very sugestive title and all the great composition, you can realize that this song was made to become a classic.
Reading the lyrics shows that this song is made for those people who have passed away from any kind of reason and are going to their final walk, the walk of death. that we can figure out by reading the first verse which says:

"Out on the road there are fireflyes circling,
deep in the woods, where the lost souls hide.
Over the hill there are men returning
trying to find some peace of mind"

The part "there are men returning" directs us to figure out that those people are walking back to their promised place, to take "the final rest".
When we go to the chorus, we listen to the part that Death itself is speaking to those who have died.

"Sleep my child"

This line is repeated four times, in a calmly and slowly way, just to make the listener tranquilizer and, eventually, to guide who "died".

The two last verses, as we can realize, are supposed to be Death singing directly to those who passed away; different from the first verse, which seems to be a generally sang to the people walking for their "final rest".
The lines "don't be afraid hold my hand" (second verse) and "speak to me now" (third verse) make us realize what was said in te beginning of this paragraph.
This song also makes you feel sad, on a particular and interesting way. If you read the lines "Into the dark there are eyelids closing" (second verse) and "Speak to me now and the world will crumble" and "All of your life, all your memories; Go to your dreams, forget it all" (third verse) - all those lines point to, as we could say, the hard part of dying, vision fading (eyelids closing), the world ruining apart (crumble) and everything that you've done, every experience that you've had, are going to be lost for you and for everyone who knew you (all of your life, all your memories; go to your dreams, forget it all).

This review is very personal, it's NOT official and just means what I interpretated by listening and reding this song. I did not talk to any of the band members to confirm this review, it is just my reading with what I did understand about this song. Hope you enjoy it!

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu