Diamanda Galás (born August 29, 1955) is a Greek-American avant-garde perfo… Read Full Bio ↴Diamanda Galás (born August 29, 1955) is a Greek-American avant-garde performance artist, vocalist, and composer. Galás was born and raised in San Diego, California, USA.

Galás is known for being a fiercely confrontational avant-garde performer and is noted for her wailing, four-octave vocal range. Galás was the daughter of Greek Orthodox parents and her singing was roundly discouraged, although her prowess as a classical pianist was nurtured; ultimately, her strict upbringing resulted in a reckless, drug-fueled youth prior to her entrance into the University of California's music and visual arts program. Galás made her performing debut in 1979 at France's Festival d'Avignon, which led to an invitation to assume the lead role in composer Vinko Globokar's politically charged opera Un Jour Comme un Autre. In subsequent solo performance art pieces like Wild Women with Steak Knives and Tragouthia Apo to Aima Exon Fonos, Galás further honed her unique, shattering vocal style, inspired by the Schrei ("shriek") opera of German expressionism (a form employing a system of four microphones and a series of echoes and delays).

She worked with many avant-garde composers including Phillip Glass, Terry Riley, John Zorn, Iannis Xenakis and Vinko Globokar. She made her performance debut at the Festival d'Avignon in France as the lead in Globokar's opera, Un Jour Comme Une Autre which deals with the death by torture of a Turkish woman. The work was sponsored by Amnesty International. She also contributed her voice to Francis Ford Coppola's film Dracula (1992) and appeared on the film's soundtrack.

Her work first garnered widespread attention with the controversial 1991 live recording of the album "Plague Mass" in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York. With it, Galás attacked the Catholic Church for its indifference to AIDS using biblical texts. In the words of Terrorizor Magazine, "The church was made to burn with sound, not fire." Plague Mass was a live rendition of excerpts from her same-titled trilogy which began as a response/homage/indictment to the multitudinous effects of AIDS upon the silent class - of which her brother was a member. During the period of these recordings, Galás had "We are all HIV+" tattooed upon her knuckles; an artistic expression of disillusionment and disgust with the ignorance and apathy surrounding the AIDS epidemic. Her brother, who died during the trilogy's final production, reportedly appreciated her efforts.

Susan McClary (1991) writes that Galás, "heralds a new moment in the history of musical representation," after describing her thus: "Galás emerged within the post-modern performance art scene in the seventies...protesting...the treatment of victims of the junta, attitudes towards victims of AIDS...Her pieces are constructed from the ululation of traditional Mediterranean keening...whispers, shrieks, and moans."

In 1994, Galás collaborated with Led Zeppelin bass guitarist John Paul Jones. The resultant record, "The Sporting Life", while containing much of Galás's trademark vocal gymnastics, is probably the closest she has ever come to rock music.

Galás also performs as a blues artist interpreting a wide range of songs into her unique piano and vocal styles. This aspect of her work is perhaps best represented by her 1992 album, "The Singer" where she covered the likes of Willie Dixon, Roy Acuff, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins while accompaning herself on piano. For that album, she also recorded several traditional songs as well as the rarely heard Desmond Carter-penned version of Gloomy Sunday. Many of her selections both within and outside of blues repertoire have sometimes been categorized as 'homicidal love songs'. She also focuses on the death penalty. One program of songs, "Frenzy", has been dedicated to Aileen Wuornos and features the work of Phil Ochs and Hank Williams Sr.

Her latest song cycle is an interpretation of songs by Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich.

Official Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/songsofexile

Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down
Diamanda Galás Lyrics

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There ain't no grave
Can hold my body down
There ain't no grave
Can hold my body down
When I hear that trumpet sound
I'm gonna rise right out of the ground
Ain't no grave
Can hold my body down

Well, look way down the river
And what do you think I see
I see a band of angels
And they're coming after me
Ain't no grave
Can hold my body down
There ain't no grave
Can hold my body down
Well, look down yonder, Gabriel
Put your feet on the land and sea
But Gabriel, don't you blow your trumpet
Until you hear from me
There ain't no grave
Can hold my body down
Ain't no grave
Can hold my body down
Well meet me, Jesus, meet me
Meet me in the middle of the air
And if these wings don't fail me,
I will meet you anywhere
Ain't no grave
Can hold my body down
There ain't no grave
Can hold my body down
Well meet me, Mother and Father,
Meet me down the river road
And Mama, you know that I'll be there
When I check in my load
Ain't no grave
Can hold my body down
There ain't no grave
Can hold my body down

There ain't no grave
Can hold my body down

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Diamanda Galas's song Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down speak of the singer's unbreakable spirit and faith. The belief that death is not the end and that even the grave cannot contain one's soul. The repetition of "There ain't no grave can hold my body down" emphasizes the singer's conviction and undying faith. The lyrics also reference the sound of a trumpet, which is a symbol of the end of days and also represents the call to rise up to heaven.

In the second verse, the singer sees a band of angels coming for her, emphasizing her belief in salvation and eternal life after death. The third verse references the biblical character Gabriel, who blows the trumpet to signal the end times. The singer requests that Gabriel waits to blow his trumpet until she is ready to rise up, demonstrating her trust in divine timing.

The final verses express the singer's hope to reunite with loved ones, both on earth and in heaven. She asks to be met by Jesus in the middle of the air, and by her "Mother and Father" down the river road. The final line once again emphasizes the singer's belief in the resilience of the human spirit, promising that "There ain't no grave can hold my body down."

Line by Line Meaning

There ain't no grave
No physical barrier can prevent my spirit from leaving my body

Can hold my body down
I will rise from the dead

When I hear that trumpet sound
On the day of resurrection

I'm gonna rise right out of the ground
My soul will leave my buried body and ascend to heaven

Well, look way down the river
As I gaze across the river

And what do you think I see
I see a vision of a band of angels coming towards me

I see a band of angels
My spiritual guardians

And they're coming after me
To guide me to the afterlife

Well, look down yonder, Gabriel
As I look to the distance and see Saint Gabriel

Put your feet on the land and sea
Commanding the earth and sea

But Gabriel, don't you blow your trumpet
But Gabriel, wait to blow your horn