Having disbanded in 1998, they reunited briefly in 2005 for a world tour and reformed in 2011, releasing a new album (Anastasis) and embarking on several tours.
Dead Can Dance formed in Melbourne, Australia in August 1981 with Paul Erikson on bass guitar, Lisa Gerrard (ex-Microfilm) on vocals, Simon Monroe (Marching Girls) on drums and Brendan Perry (also of Marching Girls) on vocals and guitar. Gerrard and Perry were a couple who met as members of Melbourne's little band scene. In May 1982, the band left Monroe in Australia and moved to London, England, where they signed with alternative rock label 4AD. With the duo, the initial United Kingdom line-up were Paul Erikson and Peter Ulrich.
The group's debut album, Dead Can Dance, was released in February 1984. The artwork, which depicts a ritual mask from New Guinea, "provide a visual reinterpretation of the meaning of the name Dead Can Dance", set in a faux Greek typeface. The album featured "drum-driven, ambient guitar music with chanting, singing and howling", and fit in with the ethereal wave style of label mates Cocteau Twins. They followed with a four-track extended play, Garden of the Arcane Delights in August. AllMusic described their early work as "as goth as it gets" (despite the group themselves rejecting the label), while the EP saw them "plunging into a wider range of music and style".
A shift in sound followed for the Spleen and Ideal album, with more emphasis on strings, brass and drones being used. A quasi spiritual element also emerged on this album, notably on the opening tracks "De Profundis" and "Ascension". Its worth noting that around this time Lisa and Brendan had been doing tours of European Cathedrals, absorbing the ambience which in turn was reflected in the work.
The highlights of the bands career followed with the genre defining album Within The Realm of a Dying Sun, featuring fan favorite "Cantara", which is where the bands Arabic and World music influences began to appear, and the double whammy of "Summoning of the Muse" and "Persephone (The Gathering of Flowers)." Critics at the time were undecided about the album, mainly due to the fact that the pieces were split according to the vocals. Brendan had the first side of the album, where Lisa took over for the latter half.
The Serpent's Egg was the next album and built on the premise set by the previous album, although the album is slightly uneven in quality and a short listen at around 40 minutes. The album is redeemed by the opening and closing pieces "The Host of Seraphim", and Perry's epic "Ullyses".
For the next album Aion, the band slipped back several centuries and recreated working medieval instruments such as the Sackbut, Viol and Hurdy Gurdy for the distinctly Medieval flavor. Included on the album is "Song of the sibyl" a text from 14th century Spain and now a live favorite. Another text appears in the song "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According To The Book".
Into the Labyrinth was the follow up album and was the album that saw Brendan mastering the use of samples and synthesizers and also the album that brought the band's music to American audiences selling over a million copies worldwide. The track "The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove" was played across on college radio and was instrumental in the albums success.
Spiritchaser was the seventh studio album for the band and brought about an abrupt upturn in musical style, instead of drawing on the historical past the band drew upon South American and African influences which gave the album a very rhythmic ambience. Considered by some to be the bands weakest album, it features highlights such as the percussive "Nierika" which was the most played track on American college radio for that year, and the epic 9 minute trance inducing "Indus".
A 3 CD retrospective simply called 1981-1998 was issued by 4AD and compiled a comprehensive overview of the bands career, and provided diehard fans with the only finished track from the Spiritchaser follow-up sessions called "The Lotus Eaters".
As a live band is probably where Dead Can Dance have gained their reputation. To put it simply, they were phenomenal. The concerts often featured many improvised pieces that to date have never been recorded in the studio. A live album entitled Toward the Within was released in 1994 and allowed fans unfortunate enough to have not attended concerts the chance to hear a few of these songs. A companion video/DVD of the concert was also released allowing people to see these highly ethereal concerts.
After Dead Can Dance ceased to be a functioning band both Perry and Gerrard embarked upon solo careers. To date, Brendan has released one solo album The Eye of the Hunter and has completed work on a new album, 'Ark', to be released in June 2010, whilst Lisa has been more prolific but with mixed results, releasing two solo albums The Mirror Pool and The Silver Tree. Lisa has also collaborated with other artists, namely Pieter Bourke of the band Soma and Irish composer Patrick Cassidy on the respective albums Duality and Immortal Memory. Lisa has also become a sought after soundtrack artist too after a wave of publicity for the Ridley Scott film Gladiator and continues to release work on a regular basis including soundtrack work on Ali, Layer Cake, and Whale Rider. Peter Ulrich, former percussionist of the band has also released two solo albums, Pathways and Dawns and more recently, Enter the Mysterium.
A series of 31 reunion concerts took place in 2005 in both Europe and North America including two memorable sell out concerts at The Hollywood Bowl and Radio City accompanied by 40 piece orchestras. Many of these concerts were professionally recorded and released as a double CD.
In late 2011, the band announced a reunion World Tour, in order to promote their new album, fittingly titled Anastasis, as it was released on August 9, 2012, 16 years after the group's previous album. Anastasis was well received by critics and is also the first album of the band not released by 4AD Records.
The name "Dead Can Dance" is often misleading. Although this group is quite popular among the goth sub-culture with the name appearing to be inspired by the Danse macabre allegory, it should instead be interpreted as 'giving life to something that was previously inanimate' as Perry said:
"The album artwork [of our self titled first album], a ritual mask from New Guinea, attempted to provide a visual reintrepretation of the meaning of the name "Dead Can Dance." The mask, though once a living part of a tree is dead; nevertheless it has, through the artistry of its maker, been imbued with a life force of its own. To understand why we chose the name, think of the transformation of inanimacy to animacy.... Think of the processes concerning life from death and death into life. So many people missed the inherent symbolism, and assumed that we must be 'morbid gothic types,' a mistake we deplored and deplore...".
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East of Eden
Dead Can Dance Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where tortured souls often cried together in anguish,
And the scenes that were shown were of a cruel and violent nature.
Scenes of pain and cruelty were there to be seen.
The arena, the time and the place were set
For all to watch and see.
I was told of a place in a distant land
Scenes of pain and cruelty were there to be seen
And all the while I should have known
It was you killing me.
Somewhere east of eden the designs will never change.
Infected through others fear the world stops at the end of the hall.
We watched the life force fade away.
The eventual price you will have to pay.
(Once you are dead how could the children have known)
The Dead Can Dance song "East of Eden" showcases the theme of oppression and the pain and cruelty that are often associated with it. The opening lines of the song depict a place far away where people are always crying and suffering due to the oppressor. The scenes in the place are filled with torturous and violent events. The entire setting is being watched by people who are unable to help or intervene. The oppressors in this place rule with an iron grip, leaving the nations cold and apathetic to the struggles of the oppressed.
The song speaks about the impact of oppression and how it can infect and impact people's lives even if they are not directly involved. The lines "Somewhere east of eden the designs will never change" show how oppression has been a persistent problem throughout history, and despite efforts to stop it, it continues to exist. The lyrics "Infected through others' fear, the world stops at the end of the hall" further portray the devastating impact of oppression.
The final lines of the song, "We watched the life force fade away. The eventual price you will have to pay. (Once you are dead, how could the children have known)" show the irreversible consequences of oppression. The death of the oppressed leaves a lasting impact on everyone, including future generations.
Line by Line Meaning
I was told of a place in a distant land
Someone told me about a faraway land
Where tortured souls often cried together in anguish,
Where suffering people cried out in pain together.
And the scenes that were shown were of a cruel and violent nature.
They showed scenes of violence and cruelty.
Scenes of pain and cruelty were there to be seen.
The images they showed were filled with pain and cruelty.
The arena, the time and the place were set
The place and time were prepared.
For all to watch and see.
Everyone could watch it.
Where the oppressor ruled with an iron hand, and of nations who sat in complacency left cold and emotionless by history.
A cruel ruler was in charge, and the countries around it were numb and emotionless due to its oppressive history.
And all the while I should have known
I should have realized
It was you killing me.
That it was you who was harming me.
Somewhere east of eden the designs will never change.
In a place beyond paradise, the patterns of life remain the same.
Infected through others fear the world stops at the end of the hall.
The world is paralyzed by the fear of others, and it seems as if it will soon reach its end.
We watched the life force fade away.
We saw the energy of life vanish.
The eventual price you will have to pay.
You will eventually have to pay for your actions.
(Once you are dead how could the children have known)
(How could anyone know once they're gone?)
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BRENDAN MICHAEL PERRY, GUS FERGUSON, JAMES E. PINKER, LISA GERMAINE GERRARD, PETER LAWRENCE ULRICH, SCOTT RODGER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind