Nicolas Godin studied architecture at the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Versailles, and Jean-Benoît Dunckel studied mathematics, before forming a band in 1995. Before founding Air (erroneously considered as an acronym of Amour, Imagination, Rêve, which translates to Love, Imagination, Dream), Dunckel and Godin played together in the band Orange with others such as Alex Gopher, Xavier Jamaux and Jean de Reydellet. The former two subsequently contributed to remixes of tracks recorded by Air.
Initially Godin worked alone, recording a demo with members of Funkadelic as his backing band before releasing his first entirely solo effort, "Modular Mix", which featured production by Étienne de Crécy.
Career
After making several remixes for other acts in the first half of the 1990s, Air recorded its first EP, Premiers Symptômes, in 1995. The band released its first album, Moon Safari, in 1998. Its first single, "Sexy Boy", was heavily played on alternative radio stations. The album received universal acclaim and became an international success. In 1999, Air composed the score The Virgin Suicides to Sofia Coppola's debut film of the same name; in 2012, Air wrote its second score to Georges Méliès' Le voyage dans la lune.
Other works
Air has often collaborated with Coppola. Air drummer and former Redd Kross member Brian Reitzell put together the soundtrack to 2003's Lost in Translation, including one original contribution by Air titled "Alone in Kyoto". The soundtrack for Coppola's October 2006 film Marie Antoinette featured a track by Air ("Il Secondo Giorno"). Air wrote and played the music of the album 5:55 by Anglo-French actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, which was released in August 2006. Air has recorded a DJ mix album, Late Night Tales: Air, for Azuli Records' Late Night Tales series. The release was initially scheduled for October 2005, but was delayed several times. It finally was released, complete with a new sleeve design, in September 2006. Darkel, a solo album by Dunckel, was released that same year.
City Reading (Tre Storie Western) (2003) started as an idea for a collaboration with contemporary Italian writer Alessandro Baricco, known for his unusual characterizations and lyrical, poetic style. Baricco contacted Air in summer 2002 with the idea to marry narration of texts from his book City with live original musical accompaniment. The performance premiered live in November 2002 at Rome's Teatro Valle and was deemed such a success that both parties resolved to make a full studio recording.
Influences and musical style
Air is associated with a variety of musical styles: electronica, space pop, dream pop, progressive rock, downtempo, chillout, trip hop, ambient, electronic pop and space rock. Dunckel grew up listening to both classical and electronic music, especially Kraftwerk. He later took an interest in what he called the "English dark rock" of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division, while being a fan of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. Brian Eno and Cluster were two of the electronic acts who inspired him the most. He cites among his favorite artists: Maurice Ravel for classical music, François de Roubaix for music soundtracks and Siouxsie and the Banshees for pop music. Dunckel shared with Godin a special liking for the music of Michel Legrand, Philip Glass and Grace Jones. During his childhood, Godin was fascinated by the Beatles before later discovering the soul of Sly and the Family Stone. The duo were influenced by progressive rock pioneers Pink Floyd.
Air uses many of its studio instruments (like Moog synthesizers, the Korg MS-20, Wurlitzer and Vocoder) on stage, where their ability to improvise is more clearly highlighted. The band performs the well-known tracks from the albums live as extended or altered versions. Air often collaborates (both in the studio and live) with artists like Beth Hirsch (Moon Safari), Françoise Hardy ("Jeanne"), Jean-Jacques Perrey ("Cosmic Bird"), Gordon Tracks ("Playground Love" and "Easy Going Woman" – Gordon Tracks is a pseudonym of the French singer Thomas Mars from Phoenix), Beck (10 000 Hz Legend) and Jean-Michel Jarre ("Close Your Eyes" from Jarre's Electronica 1: The Time Machine). They also invited Dave Palmer on their 2004 tour and drummer Earl Harvin, Vincent Taurelle and Steve Jones on their 2007 tour.
Studio albums
Moon Safari (1998)
10 000 Hz Legend (2001)
Talkie Walkie (2004)
Pocket Symphony (2007)
Love 2 (2009)
Le voyage dans la lune (2012)
Soundtrack albums
The Virgin Suicides (2000)
Music for Museum (2014)
Extended plays
Premiers Symptômes (1997)
Collaborative albums
City Reading (Tre Storie Western) (2003)
Mix and remix albums
Everybody Hertz (2002)
Late Night Tales (2006)
Compilation albums
Twentyears (2016)
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Air is one of the many aliases of Pete Namlook. He has been releasing ambient music under this name since the release of an eponymous album in 1993.
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Japanese noise rock, Air is an alias of Koji Kurumatani first released album Wear Off in 1996.
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Air is a late 90s Indonesian Pop band that became popular with their "Bintang" song.
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Air was a jazz trio with its roots steeped in Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and was formed originally in 1971. The jazz trio Air formed from within the Muhal Richard Abrams Sextet, which was active on the Chicago scene contemporaneously with the birth and growth of the AACM and groups such as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Henry Threadgill on reeds, hubcaphone, and percussion; Fred Hopkins on bass, and Steve McCall on drums formed the trio when Threadgill was commissioned by Columbia College to score and adapt Scott Joplin's work for a performance honoring Joplin's centenary (Joplin's birth has been established now as sometime in 1868) and a rebirth of interest in the noted ragtime composer. All three men were Air signs in the zodiac, and so adopted the name.
They performed first around Chicago, while maintaining residency with Muhal Abrams group, which also featured Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre and Wallace McMillan, both reed players. The Air "brand" remained a side project until all three reunited in New York in 1975, and began recording under that name for India Navigation, Nessa, Black Saint, and Novus. The trio broke up when Steve McCall left in the early 1980s, and when Pheroan Aklaff joined in 1982, they recorded as New Air, and recorded several albums under that name, including Air Show No. 1 in 1986, which featured Cassandra Wilson on vocals. Andrew Cyrille ultimately replaced akLaff before the band eventually was superceded by the burgeoning careers of its members: Threadgill with his groups Sextett and Very Very Circus, and Hopkins as the go-to bassist for Threadgill, David Murray, and Hamiet Bluiett. McCall's health forced his retirement from touring around 1980, and the dynamic drummer and effusive and gracious man who was a cofounder of the AACM with Muhal Abrams and Fred Anderson, died of a stroke in 1989.
This Air is listed as Air (4) on Discogs and is also been identified on last.fm as Air (Fred Hopkins, Steve McCall, Henry Threadgill) and Air with Fred Hopkins, Steve Mccall, Henry Threadgill (sic: McCall's name misspelt), and possibly also other alternative spellings of the group's name exist.
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Air was a psychedelic folk rock band featuring Googie and Tom Coppola, John Siegler and Mark Rosengarden. They released their first self titled album in 1971.
Somewhere Between Waking and Sle...
Air Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You'd see further if you'd only close your eyes
In unconsciousness I can find peace
Inside prison walls I can find release
There is a place that I have seen
Somewhere between waking and sleeping
Down at the water's edge
Is it too late for me
It's never too late, he says
Without blindness, there is no sight
You'd see further if you'd close your eyes
Unblock the failure
Without blindness, there is failure
People gather by the river
They were talking
There is a place that I have seen
Somewhere between waking and sleeping
Leaning over the side
Trailing my fingertips
Feeling the water slip
Into the quiet night
Viewed from the wrong end of a telescope
I see myself, so far below
Still and silent, rest in peace
The thread unravels
Merciful release
There is a place that I have seen
Somewhere between waking and sleeping
Now I can almost see
Figures upon the shore
He's gathering in the oars
Where are you taking me
The song "Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping" by Air is a beautiful and haunting exploration of the liminal space between consciousness and unconsciousness. The lyrics suggest that in order to truly see and gain insight, one must be willing to let go and abandon the familiar constructs of the waking world. The line "Without blindness, there is no sight" suggests that sometimes we need to close our physical eyes in order to see beyond the surface level of our surroundings. This idea of surrender and letting go of control is echoed in the next line, "In unconsciousness I can find peace".
The chorus of the song describes a place that the singer has seen somewhere between waking and sleeping, down at the water's edge where somebody waits for them. This place represents a kind of release and freedom from the constraints of everyday life. The final lines of the song, "Now I can almost see / Figures upon the shore / He's gathering in the oars / Where are you taking me", evoke a sense of mystery and uncertainty about where this journey will lead.
Overall, "Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping" is a beautiful meditation on the power of surrender and letting go, as well as the importance of exploring the deeper aspects of our being beyond the surface level of everyday life.
Line by Line Meaning
Without blindness, there is no sight
Lack of problems hinders growth
You'd see further if you'd only close your eyes
Sometimes, blindness helps you see farther
In unconsciousness I can find peace
Peace can be found through sleep
Inside prison walls I can find release
Imprisonment can be liberating
There is a place that I have seen
There's a hidden place that I know
Somewhere between waking and sleeping
This place exists between consciousness and unconsciousness
Down at the water's edge
The place is by the water
Somebody waits for me
Someone is waiting for me there
Is it too late for me
I question if I can still go there
It's never too late, he says
Someone insists that it's never too late
Unblock the failure
Removing obstacles exposes failure
People gather by the river
There are people gathered near the water
Leaning over the side
I lean over the water
Trailing my fingertips
I touch the water
Feeling the water slip
I feel the water sliding through my fingers
Into the quiet night
This action is taking place in a calm, silent night
Viewed from the wrong end of a telescope
I see myself as small and distant
I see myself, so far below
I see myself as inferior
Still and silent, rest in peace
Being at peace requires stillness and silence
The thread unravels
The connection is breaking apart
Merciful release
The release is a blessing
Now I can almost see
I'm starting to see what's ahead
Figures upon the shore
I see people on the shore
He's gathering in the oars
Someone is gathering the oars of a boat
Where are you taking me
I wonder where they're taking me
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, SHAPIRO BERNSTEIN & CO. INC.
Written by: JARVIS BRANSON COCKER, JEAN BENOIT DUNCKEL, NICOLAS JEAN MICHEL GODIN, NEIL HANNON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@IMCYT
My girlfriend of a few years died exactly a month ago. This hits hard, because out of both of us, she is the wiser and more experienced one. She always taught me how special the universe and our circumstances are, and how lucky we are. It was beautiful and I always listened to her.
Everything went well until around June 2023, her best friend stole her life savings and ran away. It hits her like Hell and on one of her manic episodes, she hits her head too hard and suffers from a major TBI that renders her in a severe chronic headache and tons of problems, it was too much for her since she also had an underlying genetic heart problem. She held out until near midnight on 12th Feb, two days before valentine.
Even so, while she was dying slowly. She tried her best to push herself to do everything with me, so I don't have any regrets. So I could be happy without her once she's gone.
Rest in peace Mei.
27th July 2004 - 12th February 2024
You've done your best. I'll do my best to make you proud too.
@mijail619
You taught me the courage of stars before you left
How light carries on endlessly, even after death
With shortness of breath
You explained the infinite
And how rare and beautiful it is to even exist
I couldn't help but ask for you to say it all again
I tried to write it down, but I could never find a pen
I'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
That the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes
I couldn't help but ask for you to say it all again
I tried to write it down, but I could never find a pen
I'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
That the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes
With shortness of breath
I'll try to explain the infinite
And how rare and beautiful it is to even exist
With shortness of breath
I'll try to explain the infinite
And how rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist
@joannahovey1870
**TW: mention of suicide and self-harm**
My boyfriend of 5 years died by suicide last week, he was only 20 years old. He loved this song so much he got "how rare and beautiful it is to even exist" tattooed over his self-harm scars. This song, as well as all of Sleeping at Last's songs, kept him going for a long time. The first two lines hold a new meaning for me now: "You taught me the courage of stars before you left/How light carries on endlessly even after death." These lyrics give me hope that his light will continue to shine in my life even after he has died.
He was the most beautiful person to ever walk this Earth. He was kind to everyone no matter how well he knew them. He had a pure soul and a heart of gold. The world didn't deserve him.
**Edit** Wow, I am overwhelmed at the huge amount of love and support I have received from strangers on the internet!! I have been periodically liking uplifting comments and replying to a few, but mostly I have wanted to keep my privacy about the situation (aside from what I already shared). I was not expecting to get so many likes and comments! I wrote this comment on impulse when the wound was fresh and I was in immense pain, and I expected it to get lost in the sea of other comments. So thank you for your support and kindness!! You all have restored my faith in humanity.
**Update** It has now been almost six months since he passed away and I have been successfully dealing with PTSD from the trauma I experienced. I am in a much better place now then I was when I wrote this comment, and I thank you all for keeping me going during such a difficult time in my life. I’m glad my words mean something and can move others.
**Update #2** It’s been one year since he passed. I’m now able to look back on our memories and be happy, but I miss him every single day. His memory will live on with me and those whose lives he impacted. I really appreciate everyone’s kind words and I hope his story inspire others.
If you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out for help! You can do this, and you are never alone. You are loved and wanted and needed. The world needs you.
Here are some resources:
Trevor Lifeline: 1-866-488-7386
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
The Trevor Project is an amazing resource for LGBTQ+ youth. You can use their services even if you aren’t in crisis! Their lifeline has helped me get through some really tough stuff.
Please check on your friends and family members!! This pandemic has been tough for all of us but those with mental illness need a little extra care. We need to acknowledge secondary deaths caused by Covid and do what we can to help prevent them.
@mathildeantoine662
I just want to write this there. I do not know if someone is in the same situation as me, but I will say it anyway. My life is not that bad. I have not lost a loved one, I live comfortably, I have a stable situation. At home, I guess everything is going pretty well, despite the problems that everyone has. Only, I never felt like I was as alone as I am today. I do things, I watch things, I occupy myself, I work a little, and I live quietly, but nothing seems to fill the void that I feel. I feel like I'm doing everything, but nothing is useful, I'm just empty. And I feel so weak to feel that, because I have what you could call "the good life". I cry sometimes, but I don't know why, because nothing should make me cry. It is said that the most important thing is to do your best, to always try as much as possible. But I do not go to the end, I stop in the middle, and I can not do more. I have no passion, no talent, I live to live and that's it. I never confided in this way, I have no one close enough. Do I really have friends? No. I listen to them chat, and that's it. They talk, and I listen, but I never answer. And it's horrible, because people live in situations so much worse than me, but I just feel sad. All the time. and alone. finally here, I spoke and I said what I felt. (By the way, sorry for my english not always good, I don't speak fluently.) With that, have a nice day. If you don't feel well, cry, it doesn't make you weak. Kiss on your cheek, sweety.
"Kind of an update, I guess?
It's been 7 months since I first wrote this comment, and as you can see, i'm still not over this song haha.
I don't think that the people who first read my comment will find this again, but after all this time, I feel like writing again.
In general, I'm still the same, and I still feel the same. My life hasn't change, neither my feelings about it. But I think it's gonna be long until I can finally say that, yes, I've found myself, and I feel happy. But i'm not here to talk about me again. I just want to thanks every people who commented until this day. Even if not all of them were adapted to me, it really made me happy. I felt like I was not alone, and I even cried while reading some of them because I just want all those people to be happy. Even if you're all strangers to me and won't pass through that comment again, thank you. Thank you so much, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that one day you will finally feel happy, as you deserve.
(Sorry again, in seven months, I didn't get to be fluent x))
"you know what? why not. Today we are the 18th of february 2024 and it's been three years since i've first wrote this comment. I think I haven't heard this song in a year now. I was just looking for some music to listen to while working and found this song that made me feel so much. I saw this comment that I did when I was at one of the lowest point of my life, and thought that I could update it, even if i'm the only one to read it, a bit like a diary. So...Years have passed since my previous update and... a LOT of things changed, the most important thing probably being: I finally met my people. After years of spending hours and hours alone, with no friends and this idea that people could never love me, I met some of the most incredible person that showed me what love really was. What it was like to be loved for who you are. I'm still completely lost in life, last year as one, if not the roughest year i've ever been through, but I'm still here. I'm still here and I intend to fight with everything I have to be happy, to live a happy life. I know it's gonna be hard, and i'm probably gonna fail, but I think i'm ready to start taking care of myself. Please, take care of yourself. We'll make it, I promise.
@finley1604
I have always loved this song. I had this weird familiarity when I first heard it, even though I thought I had never lost anyone before. This is my story:
As long as I can remember, I've always wanted a sibling. My parents told me I was their only child but this inner longing stayed anyway. As a child, I have always been a mixture of boy and girl (in my behaviour, interests, taste of music, ..). I never questioned it because it felt so natural to me. But other people never knew what to think of me because I was so different from everyone else.
I struggled with loneliness, jealousy, being bullied, abandonment and I tended to cling to people once I felt I could trust them. Feelings like "I can't do this on my own" or the fear of the unknown got kind of intense there for a while. People told me to just "toughen up" and that made me feel overlooked and I pushed many people away. Because of that I had several depressive episodes and panic attacks in my teen years, no one seemed to truly want to understand me. It all got much better when I reconnected with my best friend from kindergarden and came to share many of the best memories of my life.
Thanks to her and deciding to go after my dream career, I slowly learned to trust myself and go out of my shell and truly felt like I was on the right path. I was, but nothing prepared me for what my soul was trying to tell me all along.
Two years ago in 2021, I was going through a rough patch again because of the pandemic and of all the hate going on in the world. After doing some healing and confiding in my friends, I started analysing my dreams and learned a lot about my subconscious. And months later in early 2022 I had this dream:
I was in our kitchen, talking to my parents when my phone lit up. It showed a direct message thread with someone I knew from school, telling me she was sorry that I lost my twin... I was shocked and couldn't speak. A lump formed in my throat as I read the messages of many other people I knew, all giving me their condolences. Eventually I broke down in my mother's arms and sometime during that I woke up, with tear stained cheeks while hearing a deep and soothing male voice in my head, telling me "I am so sorry, [my given name]"
I never had a dream like this before. It felt almost like a message. So I did some research and there they were, the words "vanishing twin". When I read the signs and symptoms, I broke down again. Now everything started to make sense:
- Why I was so obsessed with twins my whole childhood (the drawings ...)
- Why being watched by a ghost was my biggest fear as a child
- Why I had this deep grief and fear of letting things go
- Why I am a high sensitive person
- Why I always identified with characters who had a (missing or dead) brother
There were also "antecedents" before I had this prophetic dream. From receiving songs ("My Immortal", "Nuvole Bianche", "Spanish Sahara", "Run" by Snow Patrol, "Coming Home" by Falling in Reverse) to movies, series and videogames ("Beyond Two Souls", "LiS True Colors", "Vielmachglas", "Finding You", "Heavenly Delusion") ... they almost seem like guiding lights now, pointing me to the truth until I was ready to receive this dream.
At the beginning I started to question it ("Is this real?", "Am I going crazy?"). I called out to the universe "Is my experience real?" and the same day there was this song on the radio going "Yeah, you were right, you knew it all along" <3
The more I denied these signs at first, the more pain I experienced, even physical. There was this day in 2022 when I listened to Saturn and other songs, and this longing for my twin got so deep that my whole body started to hurt, almost as if someone amputated something from me. It literally felt like fire.
Over the past two years, I started my healing journey and I am doing much better now. Recently, I confided in my mom about this topic. I thought she would dismiss my feelings but she remembered having a bleeding before her first ultrasound, when she was pregnant with me, thinking that she lost me. What she lost was my other half. Fraternal twins also run in my family, go figure ...
I know now in my soul from what the universe is telling me that I had a fraternal twin brother. I call him Finn now 🤍
Thank you for creating a guiding light for so many people with this song, Ryan ✨️
Sending love to everyone who also connects with this topic. You are loved and not alone <3
Hugs,
Finley
@alisha-du3pr
"how rare and beautiful it is to even exist" i'll come back to this sentence whenever i feel like giving up bc this truly made me think differently
@lizandraramirez7801
I literally just said this sitting in my car. I wanna get it tattooed to remember forever
@zulfiqaradam3850
True
@iwontbesilenced2321
i literally thought that until i read lovecraft and all his pals.
@kalparis4056
It's sad that people can't find it in themselves to see each other as a valuable rare treasure.
@avery5602
I agree, it is a beautiful quote that hits deep
@davidefermo1466
“How rare and beautiful it is to even exist”
You’ve saved lives.
@wolfdontcare3980
He did 😭
@hiddenbiss
this.
@supertrooper3438
he has indeed, mine being one of them..