'Eye Of The Hunter' was recorded at Brendan's Quivvy Church studio in County Cavan in Ireland. It's a relatively isolated setting - one which allows its owner space to pursue his interests, which range from music to astronomy and archery to arboriculture. Dead Can Dance's music often suggested a search for meaning and sense in the world, and Brendan has taken up a similar journey. But instead of looking at the external world, he has decided to explore the inner world of his own private universe. "People have multiple personalities which are always evolving," he says. "This record deals with the different facets of my own personality." "Eye Of The Hunter's deeply personal songs explore the theme of loss - both of life and love - but they are not bereft of hope. "Saturday's Child," which opens the record, poignantly describes the changing relationship between Brendan and his father after the latter suffered two debilitating strokes. "Sloth" deals with time lost to anger, addiction and inertia, preventing us from achieving our true potential. "The Captive Heart" deals with the attempt to keep love afloat over a long distance. A cover of Tim Buckley's "Must Have Been Blind" features one of the record's more extravagant arrangements, with layers of pedal steel supporting Brendan's soaring vocals. An emotional centerpiece is the haunting, autobiographical "Voyage of Bran". Brendan Perry toured Europe and North America in support of Eye Of The Hunter. But - apart from a number of local performances and workshops in Ireland - he subsequently remained out of the public eye until Dead Can Dance reformed for a series of live concerts in the spring of 2005.
His second album entitled 'Ark' was released 7 June 2010. This album was very different from 'Eye of the Hunter', notably because it will feature rhythm machines and electric guitars.
Two more Dead Can Dance albums followed; 'Anastasis' (2012) and 'Dionysius' (2018) along with a selection of live releases; 'Live Happenings I-V' (2012) and 'In Concert' (2013). 'Live Happenings' was a selection of live tracks released in 5 separate parts online. Each part consisted of 4/5 tracks. These were recordings from the 2005 DCD tour. 'In Concert' was recordings from the 2012 tour.
During the time between albums Brendan also moved from Ireland to Bretagne/Brittany, France and during February/March 2019 completed a solo tour in France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, starting in La Souterraine (FR), closely followed by a Dead Can Dance tour which started in Rennes (FR) in May 2019.
Ten years after 'Ark', on 20 November 2020 Brendan released his third solo album 'Songs of Disenchantment: Music from the Greek Underground'. Initially released in digital formats (MP3/FLAC) and via streaming (Spotify, Amazon Music etc) The physical vinyl and CD versions followed in Spring 2021. This is an album of Greek songs in the Rebetiko street music style (Greek blues?). All the songs are cover versions of 1920s-1930s Greek songs but have been translated in to English. Brendan plays all the instruments himself including traditional instruments like Bouzouki, Saz, Baglama & Tsouras along with lutes and the dulcimer, which DCD fans will be familiar with.
Next up is a Dead Can Dance's Europe tour in 2022, rescheduled from 2021 due to Covid restrictions.
Crescent
Brendan Perry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Have been dead for centuries
Starlight creates the illusion
Of life for all these years
Now I no longer trust these eyes of mine
The heart must speak to me
In tongues of forgotten voices
So that I can see
Heavens are merely illusions
When you build them high in the sky
And hell is the final solution
For those who have no faith in this life
They are blinded by lies
Here in the garden, fountain of life
Here in the garden, arcane delights
Are born from the womb
Down here the seed will rise
From dark earth to the light
To kiss the sun again
She brings me flowers
To ease the pain
She brings me light
Where only darkness reigns
And the more that I see
The more life means to me
And the way you love the wild earthen dream
She sings her song for you and me
I don't care what lies beyond this world
All I really care about is you
For Mother Nature’s gifts of life have made
Have made this world a paradise for you and I
The opening lines of Brendan Perry's Crescent talk about a common deception when we look up in the skies at night. The stars we see are not the same stars that exist in the present but rather their light that is years old. This creates an illusion in which the stars appear to be alive when they are actually long gone. This theme is extended to the perception of reality that we all have. He asserts that we can no longer trust "eyes of mine" but rather the heart must speak to us in "tongues of forgotten voices" so that we can truly see. This places emphasis on the need to see beyond the material reality that we view as our world.
Brendan asserts that building heavens high in the sky is an illusion because we do not know the truth of the world we live in. He believes that people who do not have faith in this life are blinded by the lies they tell themselves. Ultimately those people will find hell to be the final solution because they did not learn to appreciate the simplest of things that life has to offer. In the garden, we see the starting point of life, from which all other things come. Brendan speaks of the fountain of life, where the most arcane of things are born.
Crescent talks about how nature serves as a salve to our feelings of pain and darkness. He talks about a woman who brings him flowers to "ease the pain" as well as light where darkness reigns. Nature sings its song to all and leaves no one left in despair. People should not be concerned with what lies beyond this world but rather with the people they love and the beautiful world that surrounds them.
Line by Line Meaning
The stars you see in the night sky
The stars visible at night are no longer alive and have been extinct for many years
Have been dead for centuries
These stars have been dead for an extended period, almost uncountable to modern technology
Starlight creates the illusion
The radiance of these stars creates a mirage that they indeed exist
Of life for all these years
This radiance has entertained the feeling of life in this universe for many generations
Now I no longer trust these eyes of mine
I have lost faith in my human senses to deem what is real and what is an illusion
The heart must speak to me
Only my emotions can guide me towards comprehending the hidden reality of things
In tongues of forgotten voices
Lost languages of ancient times help me find new meaning to what is indiscernible
In ancient harmonies
In steady rhythms of bygone cultures, lies the key to deciphering life's mysteries
So that I can see
This comprehension is essential for me to perceive beyond the physical realm
Heavens are merely illusions
The concept of heaven is fictional and cannot be located anywhere in this universe
When you build them high in the sky
Imagining the concept of heaven placed too far away from this planet
And hell is the final solution
Living life with no belief is leading you to a bitter end in afterlife
For those who have no faith in this life
People who don't trust in this life will meet eternal damnation
They are blinded by lies
Their beliefs are inaccurate and keeping them from seeing the truth
Here in the garden, fountain of life
In this area of nature, the fluid which sheds life is ever-flowing
Here in the garden, arcane delights
In here, there are many secrets that go beyond our common beliefs
Are born from the womb
The vast circle of life and death in this garden have created meaningful experiences
Down here the seed will rise
From the darkness of the earth springs the beginning of life
From dark earth to the light
The progress of life from the start of the seed to flourishing as a plant
To kiss the sun again
To flourish and to be fruitful, soaking energy from the sun
She brings me flowers
Nature presents me with beautiful plants and all of their senses
To ease the pain
To take my focus off my troubles and to remind me that beauty still exists.
She brings me light
Nature illuminates my thoughts and calms my spirit
Where only darkness reigns
Where wrong conceptions shadow the truth, the light travels and shines
And the more that I see
By observing this world's secrets reverently, I'm beginning to get a better understanding of it
The more life means to me
By understanding life better, it is becoming more valuable to me
And the way you love the wild earthen dream
The way with which we appreciate this world's natural beauty and peculiarities is what makes us alive
She sings her song for you and me
This world is still a place of beauty where all creatures, including humankind, can harmonize with nature
I don't care what lies beyond this world
I do not feel pressed to find out what happens after death
All I really care about is you
My deepest desires to be loved, to love and connect with my partner in this life
For Mother Nature’s gifts of life have made
The gifts of this planet are captivating to me
Have made this world a paradise for you and I
These gifts from nature make our world an exceptional place to exist
Contributed by Ian N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.