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
Artemis
Diamanda Galás Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For you are surely queen, first and last?
For you are surely king, O first and last lover?...
Love the one who loves you from the cradle to the grave;
The one alone I love loves me dearly still:
She is death - or the dead one... Delight or torment!
And the rose she holds is the hollyhock.
Saint of Naples with your hands full of fire,
Have you discovered your cross in the desert of the skies?
White roses, fall! you offend our gods,
The lyrics to Diamanda Galás's song Artémis are complex and multi-layered. On the surface, the lyrics seem to reference a powerful leader or monarch, perhaps a queen or king, who is grappling with their own mortality and legacy. The song opens with the question of whether this monarch is still "the only one," and whether the present moment is all that matters. This sense of existential uncertainty is further reinforced by the references to death, with the singer questioning whether they will be remembered as a beloved ruler or a first and last lover.
As the song continues, however, it becomes clear that this is not just a song about mortality and power; it is also a song about love and devotion. The singer implores the listener to "love the one who loves you from the cradle to the grave," suggesting that enduring love is the true measure of a life well-lived. This idea is further reinforced by the mention of a "dead one" who still loves the singer, suggesting that love can transcend even death itself.
Line by Line Meaning
And she is still the only one, or is this the only moment;
Is she the sole being present in the world, or does her existence merely have significance during this fleeting moment?
For you are surely queen, first and last?
Are you the quintessential queen, always and forever?
For you are surely king, O first and last lover?...
Are you the absolute monarch, my very first and very last love?
Love the one who loves you from the cradle to the grave;
Cherish the one who cherishes you from birth until death.
The one alone I love loves me dearly still:
The one whom I adore, and no other, still adores me unconditionally.
She is death - or the dead one... Delight or torment!
She is either death itself, or a deceased individual... joy or misery!
And the rose she holds is the hollyhock.
The rose she clasps in her hand is in reality a hollyhock.
Saint of Naples with your hands full of fire,
O saint of Naples with your flaming hands,
Mauve-hearted rose, flower of Saint Gudule:
You, the purple-hearted rose, the bloom of Saint Gudule:
Have you discovered your cross in the desert of the skies?
Have you stumbled upon your cross amidst the heavens' wasteland?
White roses, fall! you offend our gods,
White roses, tumbling down to the earth! You cause offense to our immortal deities,
Contributed by Hailey F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.