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
The Only Daughter
David Sylvian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A friend of mine
Do us a favour, your one and only warning
Please be gone by morning
She was, she was
A friend of mine
Words on paper
The track still warm
I came to hate her
Smitten no longer
Me, the only daughter
Render the vow
It's my home now
This, your one and only warning
Please be gone by morning
And if the ending is clean
The quirk, the fuss, the vaseline
She won't even see it coming
Roll them over, roll them over, roll them over
Me, the only daughter
She was, she was a friend of mine
Smitten no longer
Me, the only daughter
Render the vow
It's my home now
The penny's dropped
The room's in order
I masked the spot
Me, the only daughter
Do us a favour, your one and only warning
Please be gone by morning
The lyrics to David Sylvian's song The Only Daughter are enigmatic and cryptic, requiring some interpretation. The song appears to be a story about a person, possibly a woman, who was a friend of the singer, but then did something inconsistent or unreliable that caused them to hate her. The lyrics suggest a rift between them, with the singer issuing a warning for the person to be gone by morning. The song makes use of vivid imagery and wordplay, with lines like "the track still warm," which could refer to a literal trail or a metaphorical trail of destruction left by this person.
The singer of the song seems to be struggling with their own identity as well. They refer to themselves as the "only daughter," a possibly metaphorical title that could suggest they are someone who identifies as female or who is struggling with their own identity. The lyrics "smitten no longer" also imply some sort of romantic relationship, adding another layer of complexity to the song's meaning.
The song appears to be a mood piece, evoking a sense of unease and discomfort. The singer's wavering identity and the unreliability of their friend create a sense of tension and anxiety that slowly builds throughout the song. The repeated refrain of "please be gone by morning" gives the song a sense of urgency, suggesting that something terrible might happen if the person doesn't leave.
Line by Line Meaning
She was, she was
A friend of mine
The singer had a friend who he/she is referring to
Do us a favour, your one and only warning
Please be gone by morning
The singer is asking their friend to leave them alone and not to stay beyond the night
Inconsistencies
Words on paper
The track still warm
I came to hate her
The singer found out something which made him/her change their outlook towards their friend and they started to hate her
Smitten no longer
Me, the only daughter
Render the vow
It's my home now
The artist was previously enamored with their friend but not anymore because they have realized their mistakes and taken control of their life
And if the ending is clean
The quirk, the fuss, the vaseline
She won't even see it coming
Roll them over, roll them over, roll them over
Me, the only daughter
The artist's friend is unaware of the situation and when things reach their logical end, their friend won't see it coming. This is represented by the line 'roll them over'.
The penny's dropped
The room's in order
I masked the spot
Me, the only daughter
The singer has come to a realization and has set things straight, and now everything is under control
Do us a favour, your one and only warning
Please be gone by morning
The singer is again asking their friend to leave them alone and not stay beyond the night
Contributed by Isaiah R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.