Anyway, for those who know me I am not a "music" person. I have never been allowed to collect music and I have deeply ingrained traits in me to avoid spending frivolously on things liked CDs, DVDs, or games. I've improved much in that department, but I am still a fledgling music-seeker. I guess I've always felt that music was something I could do for myself, since I've played instruments and I hum almost constantly.
Regardless, bands like Dragonforce and Nightwish have caught my attention (which is saying a lot, since I don't have the attention span for collecting music) and I've now just found this band that I really like... Oh, and I'm also a sucker for musicals. Sweeney Todd, Evita, and even Cats are among my favorites, while I also enjoy classic Hammerstein productions. I love classical music, including Mozart, Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi, Bach, Chopin, and the contemporaries Danny Elfman, John Williams, and Philip Glass. I like them all, yet I do not own soundtracks or any music player besides the PS2 and my car's disc player.
On my facebook page I posted a link to a song
Church Not Made With Handsby The Waterboys- it's a really beautiful song. I think someone has confused the band with a "Christian Band" label but for all intents and purposes it is still meaningful- not insipid like most Christian rock bands I've briefly heard. They definitely have Scottish/Irish and Welsh members and certainly a Pagan influence. This particular piece is very jazzy, which I also like. Here are the lyrics:
"Bye Bye Shadowlands
The term is over
and all the holidays have begun"
Now she walks in fresh fields
her tracks are on the land
She is everywhere and noplace
Like a breath or like a wind
she moves among men
They would seek to hold her as a prize
But she is in the shadows,
the ocean and the sand
She is everywhere and noplace,
Her church not made with hands
Uncontained by man
She is in the head and heart
She is in the swing
She is in the seasons' stately slow procession
Across great seas she travels
up through rising lands
She is everywhere and noplace
Her church not made with hands
Uncontained by man
Isn't that a pretty sun
setting in a pretty sky ?
Will we stay and watch it darken ?
Let us stay and watch it darken
and together we will worship
the Goddess of the land,
her blessed and sacred Earth;
her Church not made with hands
Uncontained by man
This precious place
unmade by man
(Lines in quotes from "The Last Battle" by CS Lewis)
London April 1984 / all lands 1991 - 1999
On "A Pagan Place"
Posts
3 comments:
Another good band that probably falls under "fantasy power metal" is Blind Guardian. Lots of fast/heavy stuff and a few good melodic songs, but the inspirations range from the Illiad ("And Then There Was Silence") to the Silmarillion (the entire album "Nightfall in Middle-Earth") to 'Finding Neverland' ("Fly").
Also Sonata Arctica seems to be the same type, but I haven't heard much of their stuff.
Well, if we're giving out recommendations, we must remember Symphony X. I'm not even a big metal fan most of the time, but, when you combine the musical talent - and I mean actual musical talent, not some guy who knows a few chords on guitar that I can duplicate if I take the time - with songs about the Odessy and Paradise Lost, I tend to get a little bit addicted.
Ooh, someone is critical! And yes, music recommendation was the point, but specifically the song I was hoping to spread to someone else.
This is why I mentioned I like Wagner, specifically "The Ring of the Nibelung." I found out my grandfather on my dad's side had this playing in his CD player, so my memory associated with the music comes with some awe of kindred spirit between generations. I never thought of my grandfather of a man of literature or music. Also, I listened to the operas while watching a tortoise in his living room eat a banana. It was hilarious.
Post a Comment