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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Indoctrination
Dead Can Dance Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When one must choose between what's right and wrong.
Freedom, so they say,
Amounts to the choices you have made
Through all the arbitrary rationale concerning liberty.
Freedom, I must say,
Exists within unconditioned minds.
How can you be satisfied with things the way they are,
When all that surrounds us now, and so much more,
Remains inside the keeper's dark embrace?
The insatiable thirst for power has made
Idols out of mortals, gods into clay,
Soldiers into heros, children into slaves,
All damned.
Desires,
Their hopes betrayed.
Who will suffer the laws
That State can decide your child's education
Unless you pay the price?
Who will suffer their laws?
Who will suffer their minds?
Who will suffer their words?
Who will suffer their designs?
Who will suffer their laws?
Who will suffer their minds?
Who will suffer their words?
Who will suffer their designs?
The lyrics of Dead Can Dance's song Indoctrination speak to the struggle of navigating moral choices in challenging times. The song's opening lines describe the difficulty of deciding between what is right and wrong while living in a society that claims to prioritize freedom, but often imposes arbitrary restrictions on individual liberties. The singer asserts that true freedom can only be attained through unconditioned minds, suggesting that the key to personal liberation lies in resisting indoctrination and maintaining an open, critical perspective.
The second verse of the song expands on this theme, drawing attention to the ways in which power structures and societal norms can erode individual agency and corrupt even those who should be leading by example. The line "The insatiable thirst for power has made idols out of mortals, gods into clay," for example, suggests that human beings are often willing to sacrifice their own humanity in pursuit of power or prestige. The following lines describe the way in which this desire for domination and control can warp even the most benevolent-seeming institutions, turning schools into indoctrination centers, soldiers into symbols of glory, and children into slaves.
The final section of the song poses a series of questions about who will be made to suffer under the tyrannical rule of those in power. The repetition of the lines "Who will suffer their laws?" "Who will suffer their minds?" and so on, serve to underscore the idea that no one is truly immune to the effects of oppressive systems, and that it is only by questioning and resisting these structures that true freedom can be achieved.
Line by Line Meaning
In times of great vexation,
During difficult times,
When one must choose between what's right and wrong.
When one is faced with a moral dilemma,
Freedom, so they say,
Freedom, according to popular belief,
Amounts to the choices you have made
Is determined by the decisions you have made
Through all the arbitrary rationale concerning liberty.
Despite all the illogical arguments about freedom.
Freedom, I must say,
However, I believe that freedom
Exists within unconditioned minds.
Is found in minds that are not influenced or controlled by external factors.
Reason has come of age.
Logic and critical thinking are now prevalent.
How can you be satisfied with things the way they are,
How can one be content with the current state of affairs
When all that surrounds us now, and so much more,
Considering all the injustice present
Remains inside the keeper's dark embrace?
Is still under the control of those who hold power.
The insatiable thirst for power has made
The uncontrollable desire for power has resulted in
Idols out of mortals, gods into clay,
Mortals being worshipped, and gods being reduced to insignificance,
Soldiers into heroes, children into slaves,
Soldiers being glorified, and children being made subservient,
All damned.
All condemned to misery.
Desires,
Human cravings,
Their hopes betrayed.
Have led to disappointment and disillusionment.
Who will suffer the laws
Who will be adversely affected by the rules created by those in power
That State can decide your child's education
Allowing the government to determine how your children are educated
Unless you pay the price?
Unless you comply with their demands?
Who will suffer their minds?
Who will be impacted by their ideologies?
Who will suffer their words?
Who will be harmed by the propaganda they spread?
Who will suffer their designs?
Who will be negatively affected by their plans and intentions?
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