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
Birds of Death
Diamanda Galás Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
comes the cold
comes the face
of the one I love
I see the birds
upon the rock
the crows that knew
LIGHTS OUT
LIGHTS OUT
LIGHTS OUT
LIGHTS OUT
I see your eyes
we held your hands
What did you think
about until the angels came
Birds that love you know
what you know now
Could I have stopped them
from holding you down
LIGHTS OUT
LIGHTS OUT
LIGHTS OUT
LIGHTS OUT
Friends and lovers
the night draws near
your eyes don't fool her
who knows your fear
Birds of death
I've seen you all before
Birds of love cry
"This is yours no more!"
LIGHTS OUT
LIGHTS OUT
LIGHTS O UT
LIGHTS OUT
What is the answer to the waste of 10,000 days?
Your soul is now my destination
until the blackbirds come.
The lyrics to Diamanda Galás's song "Birds of Death" describe the singer's encounter with death, as represented by the birds that seem to know the name of the one they love. The opening lines set the mood for the rest of the song, hinting at the imminent arrival of something ominous. As the singer watches the birds on the rock, they think back to when they held the hands of their loved one, wondering what they must have been thinking about in their final moments. The repeated phrase "LIGHTS OUT" adds to the sense of impending doom, as if a switch is about to be flipped and everything will be plunged into darkness.
The song can be read as a meditation on death and grief, with the birds serving as a metaphor for the ways in which death can feel both familiar and unfamiliar. The singer knows these birds, has seen them before, but they are also a harbinger of something unknown and terrifying. The final lines suggest that the singer is navigating some kind of liminal space between life and death, hoping to find answers but also aware that they may never come. The reference to "the waste of 10,000 days" speaks to the futility of trying to make sense of our existence in the face of mortality.
Line by Line Meaning
Comes the night
As nightfall approaches
comes the cold
Accompanied by the chilling silence of the night
comes the face
Appears the image
of the one I love
Of the person close to my heart
I see the birds
Notice the birds
upon the rock
On top of a stone structure
the crows that knew
The black birds that were aware
your name and came on time
The ones that recognized your identity and arrived at the right moment
LIGHTS OUT
All lights turned off
LIGHTS OUT
Complete darkness sets in
LIGHTS OUT
Everything around is obscured
LIGHTS OUT
No more illumination
I see your eyes
The gaze from your eyes is apparent
we held your hands
When we clasped your hands
What did you think
What thoughts were going through your mind
about until the angels came
Until the divine beings arrived
Birds that love you know
The birds that cared for you understand
what you know now
What knowledge you possess now
Could I have stopped them
Was it possible to obstruct their actions
from holding you down
From keeping you motionless
LIGHTS OUT
The world is blacked out
LIGHTS OUT
No more light left to shine
LIGHTS OUT
Complete absence of radiance
LIGHTS OUT
Everything consumed by the engulfing darkness
Friends and lovers
People who cared for you
the night draws near
Closer to another dusky evening
your eyes don't fool her
She sees your true emotions
who knows your fear
The one who can sense your anxiety
Birds of death
The creatures of demise
I've seen you all before
Encountered them previously
Birds of love cry
The birds of righteousness bellow
"This is yours no more!"
Stating that you are no longer welcome
LIGHTS OUT
No sight to be seen
LIGHTS OUT
The world is eclipsed in darkness
LIGHTS O UT
Nothing left to illuminate
LIGHTS OUT
No more radiance at all
What is the answer to the waste of 10,000 days?
What is the solution to a life full of squandered opportunities?
Your soul is now my destination
I am now in possession of your essence
until the blackbirds come.
Until the ill-omened creatures arrive.
Contributed by Isaiah R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.