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
Snow White in Appalachia
David Sylvian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She moves in a half-life
Imperfect
From a place on the stairs
Or sat in the backseat
Sometimes you're only a passenger
In the time of your life
Blown in from the doorway
It would take pack-mules and provisions
To get out alive
There were concerts and car-crashes
There were kids she attended
And repeat indiscretions
For which she'd once made amends
Then there's ice on the windshield
And the wipers are wasted
And the metal is flying
Between her and her friends
She'd abandoned them there
In the hills of Appalachia
She threw off the sandbags
To lighten the load
As soon as the sun rose
The keys were in the ignition
Following the tire tracks
Of the truck sanding the road
There had to be drugs
Running through the girl's body
There had to be drugs
And they too had a name
And the adrenalin rush
Had left her exhausted
When under the blue sky
Nothing need be explained
And there is no maker
Just an exhaustible indifference
And there's comfort in that
So you feel unafraid
And the radio falls silent
But for short bursts of static
And she sleeps in her house
That once too had a name
The song Snow White in Appalachia by David Sylvian is a melancholic and introspective reflection on a woman's life, told through vivid and evocative imagery. The opening lines, "Half-life, she moves in a half-life, imperfect," suggests that the woman is not fully living, but rather existing in a half-state of being. She is not perfect, and her life is defined by imperfection and incompleteness. We see her in various moments, sitting on the stairs or in the backseat, as if she is just a passenger in her own life. The snow on the mattress blown in from the doorway symbolizes the difficulties and challenges that have entered her life uninvited and made it hard for her to escape. The line "It would take pack-mules and provisions to get out alive" suggests that she is trapped in her situation and struggling to navigate her way out.
The woman has experienced both joy and pain in her life. The references to concerts and car crashes, kids she attended, and repeat indiscretions point to a life full of experiences and mistakes. The ice on the windshield and the metal flying between her and her friends suggest conflict and a sense of danger. We later learn that she has abandoned her friends in the hills of Appalachia, throwing off the sandbags to lighten the load. This is a metaphor for leaving behind the burdens and expectations of her past and trying to carve out a new path for herself.
Throughout the song, there is a sense of detachment and indifference. The line "there had to be drugs running through the girl's body, and they too had a name" suggests that she is numbing herself to the pain and difficulties of her life through drug use. The adrenalin rush has left her exhausted, and she finds comfort in the "exhaustible indifference" of the world. The line "there is no maker, just an exhaustible indifference" suggests a lack of belief in a higher power or meaning to life. The woman is left with only herself and her own resilience to make her way in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Half-life
She lives a life that's only half-real, fleeting and imperfect
She moves in a half-life
She moves through life with a sense of incompleteness or disconnection
From a place on the stairs
She observes the world from a passive, removed position
Or sat in the backseat
Her life is often defined by being a passenger or an observer, rather than a driver
Sometimes you're only a passenger
Life can be beyond our control, and we might only be able to observe it from a distance
In the time of your life
During the moments that define our existence
And there's snow on the mattress
The world has intruded into her private life in a way that's difficult to ignore
Blown in from the doorway
The intrusion was uninvited and unexpected
It would take pack-mules and provisions
Getting away from the intrusion would be difficult and require immense effort
To get out alive
The situation is suffocating and feels life-threatening
There were concerts and car-crashes
Life is a mix of beauty and danger, through which we move somewhat unpredictably
There were kids she attended
The girl had taken care of children, fulfilling a nurturing role in her life
And repeat indiscretions
She's made mistakes in the past that she has had to own up to and attempt to correct
For which she'd once made amends
She's tried to make up for the mistakes from her past
Then there's ice on the windshield
The world has conspired against her and made her life more difficult
And the wipers are wasted
The tools she has to deal with the difficult situation are useless
And the metal is flying
The situation feels out of control and dangerous
Between her and her friends
Her friends are also affected by the dangerous world around them
She'd abandoned them there
She's separated from her friends, possibly intentionally
In the hills of Appalachia
Among the rugged and wild terrain, where life is unforgiving
She threw off the sandbags
She's attempted to shed the unnecessary or oppressive parts of her life
To lighten the load
To make her life easier, less burdened
As soon as the sun rose
She took action to improve her life as soon as the opportunity presented itself
The keys were in the ignition
She was ready to take off and begin anew
Following the tire tracks
She's following a path laid out before her
Of the truck sanding the road
The truck symbolizes the work that's been done to make the path easier to navigate
There had to be drugs
Drugs likely have a role to play in the girl's life
Running through the girl's body
The drugs have become a part of her physical existence
And they too had a name
The drugs have become a discrete object within her life
And the adrenalin rush
The drugs have a specific effect on her, causing an intense burst of energy
Had left her exhausted
The effects of the drugs have taken a toll on her, leaving her tired and spent
When under the blue sky
When in a moment of clarity, when distractions have been stripped away
Nothing need be explained
The world can be understood in a moment, without the need for words
And there is no maker
The universe is indifferent to us, and there is no higher power guiding our lives
Just an exhaustible indifference
The indifferent universe will eventually cease to exist
And there's comfort in that
The lack of control we have over our lives is freeing, in a way
So you feel unafraid
Without the pressure of having to live up to external expectations, we can be fearless
And the radio falls silent
The interruptions of everyday life have ceased, giving her a moment to reflect
But for short bursts of static
Even in those quiet moments, the noise of the world intrudes
And she sleeps in her house
After everything, she's able to return home and find peace
That once too had a name
Even her home, which was once an important part of her life, has become inconsequential
Lyrics © Red Brick Music Publishing
Written by: CHRISTIAN FENNESZ, KEITH ROWE, WERNER DAFELDECKER, MICHAEL MOSER, DAVID SYLVAIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind