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...".
http://www.deadcandance.com
http://www.facebook.com/DeadCanDanceOfficial
https://twitter.com/DCDmusic
The Carnival Is Over
Dead Can Dance Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The storm clouds gathering,
Moved silently along the dusty boulevard.
Where flowers turning crane their fragile necks
So they can in turn
Reach up and kiss the sky.
They are driven by a strange desire
Someone is calling.
I remember when you held my hand
In the park we would play when the circus came to town.
Look! Over here.
Outside
The circus gathering
Moved silently along the rainswept boulevard.
The procession moved on the shouting is over
The fabulous freaks are leaving town.
They are driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye.
The carnival is over
We sat and watched
As the moon rose again
For the very first time.
Dead Can Dance's song The Carnival Is Over speaks of the passing of time and the end of something dear. The opening lines suggest a scene of a storm brewing. The storm clouds represent the turmoil and the upheaval that accompanies the end of something. The dusty boulevard represents the forgotten street where the carnival is taking place. The flowers on the street turning their frail necks to look up at the sky represents the longing for something higher or better. The mention of a strange desire is a hint of the supernatural phenomenon that's causing the end. The line "Someone is calling" represents an unseen force that is causing the carnival to end.
The song then moves on to talk about a shared memory of a circus that was once held in the park. The repetition of the word 'play' represents the simplicity of the times when life was not so complex. However, the mention of the circus coming to town twice represents that good things have an end date.
As the song concludes, it comes back to the storm but this time, it’s raining. The mention of the 'moon rising again for the very first time' signifies a new beginning after the end of the carnival. The overall tone is melancholic, but it is a song of hope and the promise of new beginnings.
Line by Line Meaning
Outside
The scene is set outside, maybe at a street or a park.
The storm clouds gathering,
Dark clouds are coming together and forming a storm.
Moved silently along the dusty boulevard.
The clouds are moving without any sound, along a deserted street which is full of dust.
Where flowers turning crane their fragile necks
Flowers are bending their necks towards the sky, as if trying to reach it.
So they can in turn
This refers to the flowers' need to kiss the sky.
Reach up and kiss the sky.
The flowers are reaching out to the sky as if to kiss it.
They are driven by a strange desire
The flowers are moved by a strange, unknown longing or aspiration.
Unseen by the human eye
This desire or force is not visible to people.
Someone is calling.
An anonymous person is calling out to someone else, possibly the flowers.
I remember when you held my hand
This is a recollection of a simpler time when the person was physically close to someone else.
In the park we would play when the circus came to town.
The singer recalls a time when they used to play in the park while a local circus was taking place.
Look! Over here.
This could be someone calling to the artist in the present moment, or simply a nostalgic cry for attention.
Outside
The scene has shifted back outside, but now the rain is falling heavily.
The circus gathering
The circus has gathered in that same spot by the street.
Moved silently along the rainswept boulevard.
The circus moves quietly, even though the rain pours down upon them.
The procession moved on the shouting is over
The carnival has come to an end and the entire procession is leaving now.
The fabulous freaks are leaving town.
The performers are a mix of exotic and strange characters, who were part of the show. They are departing the scene as well.
They are driven by a strange desire
These characters have an inexplicable urge or drive to move on.
Unseen by the human eye.
This desire is not something that can be seen physically.
The carnival is over
The entire event has come to an end.
We sat and watched
The observer and the person they were close to before are now watching something together.
As the moon rose again
The moon has returned to the sky.
For the very first time.
The person is seeing the moon in a new way, as if they've never seen it before.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BRENDAN MICHAEL PERRY, LISA GERMAINE GERRARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@saltywisdom
Outside the storm clouds gathering
Moved silently along the dusty boulevard
Where flowers turning crane their fragile necks
So they can in turn reach up and kiss the sky
They are driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye
Someone's calling
I remember when you held my hand
In the park we would play
When the circus came to town
Look over here
Outside the circus gathering
Moved silently along the rain swept boulevard
The procession moves on the shouting is over
The fabulous freaks are leaving town
They are driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye
Someone's calling
The carnival is over
We sat and watched
As the moon rose
For the very first time
@carlotapuig
Outside the storm clouds gathering
Moved silently along the dusty boulevard
Where flowers turning crane their fragile necks
So they can in turn reach up and kiss the sky
They're driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye
Someone's calling
I remember when you held my hand
In the park we would play
When the circus came to town
Look over here
Outside the circus gathering
Moved silently along the rain swept boulevard
The procession moved on, the shouting is over
The fabulous freaks are leaving town
They're driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye
Someone's calling
The carnival is over
We sat and watched
As the moon rose
For the very first time
@dusilva932
Lá fora as nuvens de tempestade se reunindo
Movidas silenciosamente ao longo da avenida empoeirada
Onde as flores girando esticam seus pescoços
Então, elas podem, por sua vez, alcançar e beijar o céu
São movidas por um desejo estranho
Invisível ao olho humano
Alguém está chamando
Eu lembro quando você segurou minha mão
No parque iríamos brincar
Quando o circo veio para a cidade
Olha lá
A reunião do circo
Movido silenciosamente ao longo do bulevar varrido pela chuva
A procissão avançou, a gritaria acabou
As aberrações fabulosas estão deixando a cidade
São movidos por um desejo estranho
Invisível ao olho humano
Alguem está chamando
O carnaval acabou
Nós sentamos e assistimos
Enquanto a lua nascia
Pela primeira vez
@jillianperkins3207
This was my mother's funeral song. When she was alive, the first time she heard it she told my brothers and I that it was her funeral song. So we made sure she got her wish. Love you mum xx
@jaimesastre6393
Nice 🙏
I was thinking too for myself. It's an excellent choice I think.
@oscarchacon7543
so sorry jill, she wet with love and marvelous music vibes💞
@melangeazul286
R.I.P. Beautiful song. I had the privilege to see DCD live in the 90's
@darryltoups7315
I like the request.Peace.
@yccct54
🙁😢 sorry for your loss
@halschild1708
I edited this video. It's still my favorite project that I worked on.
@pslugworth
It's a tour de force! I admire the editing every time I watch this.
@gabbyhyman1246
Thank you. It's fantastic!!!!
@PawelChyrowski
Great work! I love this video clip. Amazing job!