Since her career began in 1981, Gerrard has been involved in a wide range of projects. She received a Golden Globe Award for the music score to the film Gladiator, on which she collaborated with Hans Zimmer.
Lisa Gerrard was born on 12 April 1961 in Melbourne, and grew up in the suburb of Prahran with her Irish immigrant parents. She has said that she grew up with "Mediterranean music blaring out of the houses" and that this influenced her music, particularly on later Dead Can Dance albums and in her solo and collaborative works.
Gerrard's first foray into forming bands and creative music-making was in Melbourne's little band scene, an experimental post-punk scene which flourished from 1978 until 1981. It was at one of these little band events that she first met Dead Can Dance co-founder Brendan Perry. Perry recalls, "It never occurred to me that we would one day collaborate musically together because at the time I thought her music was too avant garde. I particularly remember one song that she sang about finding a man in the park and asking her mother if she could bring him home to keep in her wardrobe as she attacked this chinese dulcimer with two bamboo sticks".
Dead Can Dance originally formed as a quartet in 1981 in Melbourne, but in 1982 moved to London with members Gerrard, Brendan Perry and bass player Paul Erikson. Shortly after coming to England, Erikson flew back to Australia, leaving the band as a duo. Dead Can Dance recorded eight albums on the 4AD Records recording label beginning with the self-titled Dead Can Dance LP in 1984. In 2005, the song "Nierika" became part of the opening titles for Mexican television station TV Azteca's soap opera "La Chacala". The band split in 1998, but reunited in 2005 for a world tour. In 2012, the band announced a new world tour to coincide with the release of their new album, Anastasis.
Gerrard possesses the vocal range of a contralto but can also reach upward into the mezzo-soprano range. Her voice has been described as rich, deep, dark, mournful and unique.
Examples of Gerrard's mezzo-soprano range include the songs "The Host of Seraphim", "Elegy", "Space Weaver", "Come This Way" and "One Perfect Sunrise". Gerrard however performs more predominantly in the dramatic contralto range in her other songs, "Sanvean", "Sacrifice", "Largo", "Lament" and "Not Yet".
Gerrard sings many of her songs, such as "Now We Are Free", "Come Tenderness", "Serenity", "The Valley of the Moon", "Tempest", "Pilgrimage of Lost Children", "Coming Home" and "Sanvean" in idioglossia. With respect to such work she has said, "I sing in the language of the Heart. It's an invented language that I've had for a very long time. I believe I started singing in it when I was about 12. Roughly that time. And I believed that I was speaking to God when I sang in that language."
Gerrard was married to Polish graphic design artist and music producer Jacek Tuschewski, with whom she has a daughter (born 1992).
Her nephew Jack Gerrard plays for Cairns post-hardcore act Almost a Square as the drummer and back-up vocalist.
Abwoon
Lisa Gerrard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nethqadash shmakh
Teytey malkuthakh
Nehwey tzevyanach aykanna d'bwahmaya aph b'arha
Hawvlan lachma disunqanan yaomana
Washboqlan khaubayn aykana daph khan shbwoqan l'khayyabayn
Wela tahlan l'nesyuna ela patzan min bisha
Metol dilakhie malkutha wahayla wateshbukhta l'ahlam almin
The lyrics to Lisa Gerrard's song Abwoon are a prayer in Aramaic, which is believed to be the language spoken by Jesus Christ. The prayer begins by calling upon the name of the divine, "Abwoon d, bwahmaya," which means "Our Father who exists in the heavens." The next line, "Nethqadash shmakh," means "Hallowed be thy name," and is an acknowledgement of the power and holiness of the divine.
The prayer then asks for the divine to bring its kingdom into being, "Teytey malkuthakh." This line is a request for the divine to establish its reign and bring about its will on earth. The next line, "Nehwey tzevyanach aykanna d'bwahmaya aph b'arha," is a plea for the divine to unite us with its will and to give us the strength to carry it out. The following lines ask for daily sustenance, the forgiveness of sins, and protection from temptation.
Overall, the prayer is a humble acknowledgement of the power and holiness of the divine, and a request for guidance, sustenance, and protection. It is a reminder of our dependence upon something greater than ourselves and our need for divine intervention.
Line by Line Meaning
Abwoom d, bwahmaya
Our Father who dwells in Heaven
Nethqadash shmakh
Holy be Your Name
Teytey malkuthakh
Your Kingdom come
Nehwey tzevyanach aykanna d'bwahmaya aph b'arha
Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven
Hawvlan lachma disunqanan yaomana
Give us this day our daily bread
Washboqlan khaubayn aykana daph khan shbwoqan l'khayyabayn
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
Wela tahlan l'nesyuna ela patzan min bisha
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
Metol dilakhie malkutha wahayla wateshbukhta l'ahlam almin
For Yours is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, forever and ever
Ameyn
Amen
Writer(s): Lisa Gerrard Copyright: Sony/ATV Music Publishing (Australia) Pty Lim
Contributed by Ian F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Tammy Baker Samuelson
on Mirror Medusa
Does anyone know what she's saying in the song Mirror Medusa?
Becky Evans Davis
on Sleep
so deep in slumber that you shan't know you're wanderin'.
sleep
Becky Evans Davis
on Sleep
my ear attends to you