The first song by Fever Ray I remember hearing was "If I had a heart" ~ a song that's certainly worth sitting back and listening to. I've listened to it many times and still get drawn in by it ...
For today, though, I've picked out "Mercy Street" originally by Peter Gabriel. I wouldn't have thought that it is possible to love both the original and the cover but this one has me convinced -
I'm generally not fond of heavy metal or alternate rock which is why my alarm radio is tuned to a station essentially playing nothing but (It is not easy to pry me from my bed in the morning so music and a DJ against my grain is a tremendous help :P). Generally, I'm also not fond of cover versions of a song especially when the original carries a big heap of meaning to me (just a personal preference of course) - don't mess with something that's perfect (in my view, that is). So this one is totally astonishing and unexpected ...
Disturbed, a heavy metal band from Chicago, has done a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" which I discovered -how else- because it played on the alarm radio one morning. It had me wide awake and singing along in my mind about four bars in ... And while I still dearly love the original I think that David Draiman's voice and interpretation fits perfectly ~
The Sound of Silence
By Johnny Keating
Hello darkness my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
When it's all about the rhythm and the chant, and less so about the lyrics, the Cathar Rhythm of Era (acronym for “Enminential Rythmn of the Ancestors”) is just the thing ~
Don't you come back now
Don't you turn your eyes
And if you dare to look
I'll be waiting
It's the rhythm: demanding, pushing, driving, irresistible ... Inevitably, a foot or a finger, or the head counts out the beat with other parts of the body soon to follow. It is easy to imagine breaking a new path carried forward by a rhythm akin to that of "Against the Wind" by Moya Brennan ~
A wall strong in numbers
Burns the midnight candle
The song 'Kristallnaach' (Kristallnacht) by BAP was released in 1982 and the title refers to the events that took place in the night of 9./10. September 1938. The song is written in the dialect of Cologne and the band's official website graciously offers not only the lyrics but also a 'High German' translation both of which are reproduced below. Additionally, I tried my hand (and mind) at cobbling together an English translation - it's not necessarily literal but to the best of my understanding should bring the point across. Of course, any corrections, comments and revisions are very welcome and greatly appreciated ~
... no Cavalry to save the day,
No Zorro is there to take care
That one just pees a "Z" in the snow
And -babbling nonchalantly- topples over
"So what?"- Kristallnacht!
Hope you opt to listen and to have a look at the lyrics -
1)
Et kütt vüür, dat ich mein, dat jet klirrt,
dat sich irjendjet en mich verirrt,
e Jeräusch, nit ens laut,
manchmol klirrt et vertraut,
selden su, dat mer et direk durchschaut.
