Peel says she has a “love for the golden age of cinema and Italo Calvino’s 1972 book Invisible Cities, the imagined travels of Kublai Khan, through the very real loneliness felt by living in big cities, the failure and building of new relationships, to the dreams of a better future.” As with Marco Polo’s Silk Road, Peel’s treks through many different cultures, from London’s electronic worlds, to Middle Eastern-style melodies, to Asian folk shrapnel, to classical European keys.
As well as her solo work, Peel has worked with collaborators on projects including orchestrations and conducting for Paul Weller, and an album with the Faber poet Will Burns, and is a member of the psychogeography indie rock group The Magnetic North and the electronic group John Foxx and the Maths.
She has released solo records on her own imprint label, My Own Pleasure Records, including Awake but Always Dreaming and Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia / Particles in Space. Awake but Always Dreaming was released by My Own Pleasure Records, on 23 September 2016 and was awarded "#1 Electronic Album of the Year 2016" by Electronic Sound Magazine.
In 2019, Peel scored her first feature-length film score to the documentary Game of Thrones: The Last Watch.
In 2020, Peel scored the soundtrack for the Channel 5 drama The Deceived written by Lisa McGee.
https://hannahpeelmusic.bandcamp.com/album/particles-in-space
Silk Road
Hannah Peel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's rhythm rocks the earth
And to this unknown land
We turn into the night
The great Khan leafs through maps
Of cities yet unfound
And where am I to go?
From dark to blazing bright
We thunder through ravines
From dark to blazing bright
Where no one else has been
Rising, scattered lands
Always draw us near
Ever narrowing the tracks
To where they lead
If I could draw the way
A map of my mind
From dark to blazing bright
We thunder through ravines
From dark to blazing bright
Where no one else has been
In the song, "Silk Road," Hannah Peel uses four verses to illustrate the journey through the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that connected the East and West. The first verse describes the train's movement through uncharted territory. The train's motion is so powerful it shakes the earth beneath it. The second verse talks about the great Khan leafing through maps of cities yet undiscovered, indicating his interest in exploration and conquest. In the third verse, the landscape changes from dark to blazing bright as the train thunders through ravines. It suggests a new frontier being traversed. The final verse speaks to the ever-narrowing tracks that lead us to wherever our journey has destined us to go, with the adage "if I could draw the way, a map of my mind."
The lyrics are fascinating in their illustration of a journey through the Silk Road, and are almost like a metaphor for personal growth and exploration. The Silk Road represented a steppingstone in history where East and West met and exchanged ideas, culture, and technology. In the same way, our personal journeys through uncharted territories are often what help us grow and navigate life's challenges.
* Silk Road is a term coined by a 19th-century German geographer, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, to describe a network of trade routes that connected the East and West.
* The Silk Road includes routes that traveled through Asia, Europe, and North Africa.
* The Silk Road was vital for the exchange of goods, ideas, traders, and technologies across different cultures.
* The Silk Road influenced the development of civilizations across the globe, including China, India, Persia, Arabia, and the Mediterranean.
* The Silk Road played a significant role in the spread of Buddhism from India to East and Southeast Asia.
* Hannah Peel first performed the song on her album, Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia, in 2017.
* The song features synthesizer sounds and samples of ascending and descending train whistles.
* Hannah Peel was inspired to create the song after visiting the Chinese city of Xi'an, where she saw the Terracotta Army, which was discovered by chance in 1974 by farmers digging a well.
* The song was released as a single in 2018 and features a remix of the track by Chris Watson, a sound recordist famous for capturing natural sounds and wildlife on recordings.
* The song was part of a playlist created by astronaut Tim Peake during his stay at the International Space Station called "My Trip to Space."
Chords: The chords for Silk Road by Hannah Peel are G, Em, Am, and D.
Line by Line Meaning
Now as the train pulls west
As the train heads towards the west, we begin our journey.
It's rhythm rocks the earth
The train's movement is so powerful that the ground trembles beneath us.
And to this unknown land
We are traveling to a place that is unfamiliar to us.
We turn into the night
As we continue our journey into the unknown, darkness surrounds us.
The great Khan leafs through maps
The leader of our group is examining maps of undiscovered cities.
Of cities yet unfound
These cities have not yet been explored or discovered by anyone.
And where am I to go?
As a traveler, I am uncertain of my destination and purpose on this journey.
And what am I to find?
I am searching for something, but I am not sure what it is yet.
From dark to blazing bright
As we move through different terrains and emotions, our surroundings transform from darkness to light.
We thunder through ravines
The train's movement through narrow gorges is powerful and intense.
Where no one else has been
We are exploring areas that have not been visited or explored by others before.
Rising, scattered lands
The landscape around us is changing, with landmasses rising and spreading out.
Always draw us near
The allure of the unknown draws us towards it constantly.
Ever narrowing the tracks
As we approach our destination, our path becomes narrower and more focused.
To where they lead
We continue to follow the tracks, trusting they will take us to our destination.
If I could draw the way
If I knew the path to take, I would draw a map to help me and others navigate it.
Writer(s): ERLAND COOPER, HANNAH MARY PEEL
Contributed by Alice S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mono
~ Lyrics ~
Now as the train pulls west
It's rhythm rocks the earth
And to this unknown land
We turn into the night
The great Khan leafs through maps
Of cities yet unfound
And where am I to go?
And what am I to find?
From dark to blazing bright
We thunder through ravines
From dark to blazing bright
Where no one else has been
Rising, scattered lands
Always draw us near
Ever narrowing, the tracks
To where they lead
If I could draw the way
A map of my mind
From dark to blazing bright
We thunder through ravines
From dark to blazing bright
Where no one else has been
writerbethd
Charmed (S1 Ep 10) 2019 Brought me here.
Beautifully hypnotic, calming and sensual brain massaging song, with an intriguing OLD b&W suspense film-feel video!
Sydnei Chandler- Dixon
yup
ee
me too
Vaidas Alis
literally same,thank god i found this song!
Mono
~ Lyrics ~
Now as the train pulls west
It's rhythm rocks the earth
And to this unknown land
We turn into the night
The great Khan leafs through maps
Of cities yet unfound
And where am I to go?
And what am I to find?
From dark to blazing bright
We thunder through ravines
From dark to blazing bright
Where no one else has been
Rising, scattered lands
Always draw us near
Ever narrowing, the tracks
To where they lead
If I could draw the way
A map of my mind
From dark to blazing bright
We thunder through ravines
From dark to blazing bright
Where no one else has been
lowstreamixx
Charmed reboot episode 10 brought me here.. love the song
ee
SAME
Tekoah Johnson
Same af
Martin Fuller
I love this. So atmospheric.
Aref Malakootifar
Wow! this is amazing...
I've never seen something like this... so Pure! much Intellectual! very Incredible!