Japan, which also included Mick Karn, Rob Dean, Richard Barbieri and Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen, started out as a confusing hybrid rock/sleaze outfit in the mould of David Bowie and The New York Dolls. Their music quickly evolved as, at least to begin with, they drew heavily on the influence of Roxy Music's art rock stylings. Their visual image developed in parallel and the band were (unwillingly) tagged as forerunners of the New Romantic movement.
Japan recorded five studio albums between March 1978 and November 1981. Their biggest hit single, the minimalist Ghosts, which reached the Top 5 in the UK charts in 1982, was a clear pointer to Sylvian's future direction. After a successful tour, the band split in late 1982, and Sylvian embarked upon a solo career.
Around the time of Sylvian's first solo album he collaborated with 坂本龍一 (Ryuichi Sakamoto) on the soundtrack music for the Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), which produced a Top 20 hit single, Forbidden Colours.
Sylvian's debut solo album, the jazz and ambient-influenced Brilliant Trees (1984), met with critical acclaim and yielded the single Red Guitar, another Top 20 hit. Guest artists included Jon Hassell and Holger Czukay. His follow-up was an instrumental EP Alchemy which cemented his drift away from commercial pop
The EP was in turn followed by the double album Gone to Earth (1986), which flouted convention (and perhaps commercial wisdom) by featuring one record of songs (predominantly atmospheric ballads) and one consisting almost entirely of ambient instrumental tracks. Guest artists included guitarists Robert Fripp and Bill Nelson.
His third album, Secrets of the Beehive (1987), was more acoustic and oriented towards somber, emotive ballads laced with string arrangements by 坂本龍一 (Ryuichi Sakamoto). It yielded one of Sylvian's most well-received songs, Orpheus, and was supported by his first solo tour, 1988's "In Praise of Shamans". Sylvian's touring band included ex-Japan bandmates Jansen and Barbieri along with trumpeter Mark Isham, bassist Ian Maidman and guitarists David Torn and Robbie Aceto.
Never one to conform to commercial expectations, Sylvian then collaborated on several ambient music projects with artists including Holger Czukay and Russell Mills.
In 1991, a highly-anticipated Japan reunion (excluding Rob Dean) ended in acrimony. Sylvian insisted on calling the project and the album Rain Tree Crow, to the dismay of both his label Virgin Records (who were hoping for a hit "comeback" album) and his former bandmates. Guitarists Bill Nelson, Phil Palmer and Michael Brook augmented the quartet for the recording of the album.
In late 1991, Robert Fripp approached Sylvian and asked him to be part of a new King Crimson. Sylvian declined and instead suggested they work on a future collaboration resulting in the release of The First Day.
A period of relative musical inactivity followed, during which time Sylvian moved to the United States. Eventually in 1999, Sylvian released Dead Bees on a Cake. It showed the most eclectic influence of all his recordings, ranging from soul music to jazz fusion to Eastern spiritual chants, and most of the songs' lyrics reflecting Sylvian's inner peace with his marriage (to the wonderful poet/singer Ingrid Chavez), family and beliefs. Guest artists included longtime friend 坂本龍一 (Ryuichi Sakamoto), as well as Talvin Singh, Marc Ribot, Kenny Wheeler and Bill Frisell.
Sylvian parted ways with Virgin and launched his own independent label, Samadhi Sound. Sylvian experimented alone with treated sounds made from his guitar and computer. The results were recorded during February of 2003. A few months later, he released the album Blemish. The disc was stark in its sound and content. The lyrical subject matter dealt primarily with the impending dissolution of Sylvian's marriage. In 2005 The Good Son vs The Only Daughter was released, which was comprised of remixes of tracks from Blemish.
With the conclusion of "A Fire In The Forest Tour" in 2004, work resumed on a joint project between Sylvian and Jansen. Yet the course of the album took on a completely new tone after Sylvian decided to add keyboardist/vibraphonist/programmer Burnt Friedman to the proceedings and make him an equal partner in the collaboration. The band name of Nine Horses was adopted and the CD, titled Snow Borne Sorrow, was released in October of 2005. The sound was a return to more traditional avenues for Sylvian after the radical departure he took with Blemish. Elements of avant-garde jazz, pop, folk and electronic music were all blended together
Nine Horses' Money For All EP was released in 2006, which included new material as well as Burnt Friedman remixes of songs selected from their first disc.
News on Sylvian's website was released in March stating that "We're preparing for the release of David’s new album Manafon. It’s a powerfully bold, uncompromising work featuring contributions from Evan Parker, John Tilbury, Keith Rowe, Christian Fennesz, Otomo Yoshihide, and many more."
David Sylvian's official website: www.davidsylvian.com
GOD
David Sylvian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You fall in
Born in darkness
Built on shame
And hurting
Filled with silence
Filled with silence
And stars
Stars
Find the ladder
Climb the ladder
To god's monkey
No songs
To sing
That I believe in
That I believe in
Can't breathe the air
It's too thin
This far from heaven
This far from heaven
And stars
Stars
Find the ladder
Climb the ladder
To god's monkey.
The lyrics of David Sylvian and Robert Fripp's "God's Monkey" convey themes of despair, pain, and desperation. The opening lines "One push/You fall in/Born in darkness/Built on shame/And hurting/Filled with silence/Filled with silence/And stars" speaks to the feeling of helplessness that one can experience when they are in a dark and painful place in life. The imagery of darkness and stars adds to the sense of ambiguity and chaos, emphasizing that this is a place of confusion and fear.
The lyrics then move to a somewhat surrealistic imagery with "Find the ladder/Climb the ladder/To God's monkey." This line can be interpreted as the search for a pathway out of the darkness and towards something that may offer salvation or hope. However, the lyric "No songs/To sing/That I believe in/That I believe in" suggests a crisis of faith or trust, where the singer is unable to find comfort in any religious or spiritual beliefs. The line "Can't breathe the air/It's too thin/This far from heaven/This far from heaven" highlights the distance that separates the singer from any kind of salvation, again underscoring the sense of abandonment and hopelessness.
Line by Line Meaning
One push
Someone, or something, forced you into this situation
You fall in
You didn't have much choice in the matter
Born in darkness
You were brought into a dark and uncertain world
Built on shame
You came from a place of shame and guilt
And hurting
You've experienced pain and suffering
Filled with silence
There's a quiet sadness that lingers within you
Filled with silence
It's hard to express how you feel sometimes
And stars
The world around you is vast and beautiful, full of endless possibilities
Stars
There's something hypnotic about the night sky
Stars
The stars represent all that you could have been
Find the ladder
You need to find a way out of this mess
Climb the ladder
It's going to take some effort, but you can do it
To god's monkey
You're striving to reach a higher power, something greater than yourself
No songs
You haven't found your voice yet
To sing
You want to share your story, but you don't know how
That I believe in
You can't bring yourself to share something you don't believe in
That I believe in
You're looking for something that resonates with your soul
Can't breathe the air
The environment you're in is toxic
It's too thin
You don't have enough support, physically or emotionally
This far from heaven
You feel isolated and alone
This far from heaven
You're searching for something that feels like paradise
And stars
The stars remind you that there's always hope
Stars
The beauty of the universe fills you with awe and wonder
Find the ladder
You can climb out of this darkness
Climb the ladder
You'll have to work hard, but there's a way to find happiness
To god's monkey.
You're striving to be more than just a mere mortal
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ROBERT FRIPP, DAVID SYLVIAN, DAVID JOHN BOTTRILL, TREY GUNN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@rolandmarckwort
LOVE it- great work!!
@sidor020368
Thank's...Cool.
@zenobowie
missed this ep me thinking got everything of DS , thx for sharing !
@renewillemsen5605
~Nice~
@KissEnlightenment
ある意味刺激的なmixがあり楽しめたEP。
勿論僕はアルバムバージョンがすべてのmix作品より好きだがシルヴィアンの曲はクラシックのような技工を駆使した作品でも、売り線バリバリの作品でもないためノリを意識するとかなり退屈するアート作品。その意味でmixやコラボレーションはシルヴィアンの芸術至上主義の部分を補ってくれる。
@user-uq8nr6xv7f
👍🏻💀💁🏼♂️
@KarlHainer
I misunderstood the place where you stand God Man. North America deserves more than Trump. Great EP.