Wondering where this attention to detail comes from? Efdemin is a graduate of the Institute for Computer Music in Vienna, where he put together sound installations as well as worked on a contemporary opera morphing sopranos into howling voices. He also used to sing in a band, although you might not know it from his clothes. One of the snappiest dressed men in dance music, Efdemin's rarely spotted not wearing a shirt and tie.
2007
Oh Lovely Appearance of Death
Efdemin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No sight upon earth is so fair
Not all the gay pageants that breathe
Can with a dead body compare
In solemn delight I survey
A corpse, when the spirit is fled
In love with the beautiful clay
And longing to lie in its stead
How blest is our brother, bereft
Of all that could burden his mind
How easy the soul, that has left
This wearisome body behind
Of evil incapable, thou
Whose relics with envy I see
No longer in misery now
No longer a sinner like me
This earth is afflicted no more
With sickness, or shaken with pain
The war in the members is o′er
And never shall vex him again
No anger henceforward, or shame
Shall redden his innocent clay
Extinct is the animal flame
And passion is vanished away
To mourn and to suffer is mine
While bound in a prison I breathe
And still for deliverance pine
And press to the issues of death
What now with my tears I bedew
Oh I might this moment become
My spirit created anew
My flesh be consigned to the tomb
In Efdemin's song "Oh Lovely Appearance of Death," the singer reflects on death as a serene and welcome release from the burdens of life. The concept of death is romanticized, as the singer describes the beauty of a dead body in contrast to the vanity of living pageants. The idea of death as a peaceful escape is further emphasized as the singer points out how death frees the soul from the wearisome body.
The singer's tone is melancholic as he describes his envy of the deceased, who is now incapable of evil and suffers no more. The singer longs for the spirit to leave the prison of the body, to be newly created while the flesh is confined to the tomb. The song is introspective, introspective, pondering the meaning of life and the release of death. The singer seems to find solace in the idea of the body's extinction of the animal flame and the eradication of pain and suffering.
Overall, "Oh Lovely Appearance of Death" is a thought-provoking reflection on the topic of life and death. The song's tone is melancholic yet serene, romanticizing death as an escape from the struggles of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, lovely appearance of death
Expressing admiration for the sight of the dead body
No sight upon earth is so fair
The singer finds beauty in death over any other sight on earth
Not all the gay pageants that breathe
Even the most dazzling and lively events cannot compare to death
Can with a dead body compare
A dead body surpasses all other sights
In solemn delight I survey
The artist observes the dead body with seriousness and pleasure
A corpse, when the spirit is fled
A corpse, once the soul has departed from it
In love with the beautiful clay
The singer is fond of the physical body, even after death
And longing to lie in its stead
The artist desires to become like the dead body
How blest is our brother, bereft
The dead person is now free from any burdens that troubled them
Of all that could burden his mind
All the things that troubled the dead person's mind have ceased to exist
How easy the soul, that has left
The soul that has departed the body is at peace
This wearisome body behind
The troublesome physical body is no longer a concern
Of evil incapable, thou
The dead person is no longer capable of doing evil
Whose relics with envy I see
The singer is envious of the lifeless body
No longer in misery now
The deceased is no longer in pain or distress
No longer a sinner like me
The artist feels inferior to the pure and sinless dead
This earth is afflicted no more
The earth is no longer suffering with the dead person's presence
With sickness, or shaken with pain
The earth is free from the suffering that the dead felt
The war in the members is o′er
All troubles and conflicts within the physical body have come to an end
And never shall vex him again
The dead person will never experience any pain again
No anger henceforward, or shame
The dead person will never experience negative emotions again
Shall redden his innocent clay
There will be no more guilt or shame to tarnish the deceased's innocent body
Extinct is the animal flame
The physical desires and passions of the body have now disappeared
And passion is vanished away
The strong desires and emotions that once consumed the dead are gone
To mourn and to suffer is mine
The singer still experiences pain and sorrow
While bound in a prison I breathe
The singer feels trapped and confined to their own body
And still for deliverance pine
The singer desires freedom from the body and liberation from their pain
And press to the issues of death
The artist longs for death to come
What now with my tears I bedew
The artist's tears reflect their intense emotions
Oh I might this moment become
The singer wishes they could become like the deceased now
My spirit created anew
The singer desires spiritual or emotional rebirth
My flesh be consigned to the tomb
The artist wants their physical body to rest in peace
Writer(s): Phillip Sollmann
Contributed by Gabriel I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.