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.
Sacrifice
Lisa Gerrard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hear one thousand voices
A solitary echo
Feel one thousand pains
But one is receiving
A bloody invitation
Do you want to feel the warmth?
To taste the life, to taste the life
To taste the life, to taste the life flow
Go, go
Feel one thousand lost
Sinking into soft skin
Ingest rejuvenation
One to consume
One to renew
Demanded invitation
Do you want to feel the warmth?
To taste the life, to taste the life
Do you want taste the life?
To taste the life, to taste the life flow
I offer grace
I offer blood
I offer everything till my heart is crystal clear
I offer grace
I offer blood
I offer everything till my heart is crystal clear
Let me taste the life flow
Do you want to feel the warmth?
To taste the life, to taste the life
I want to taste the life
To taste the life, to taste the life flow
Go, go, whoa, go
The lyrics of Lisa Gerrard's song "Sacrifice" evoke an intense and haunting imagery of a ritualistic sacrifice. The first stanza of the song describes the screams and voices of the participants, amplifying the intensity of the scene. The second stanza emphasizes the experience of pain and the consumption of life force for rejuvenation. The lines "Do you want to feel the warmth? To taste the life" seem to be the invitation to the main subject, who is being offered as the sacrifice.
The last stanza shifts the focus onto the offeror who seems to be willing to give everything, including themselves, till their "heart is crystal clear." This is the most intriguing line in the song, as it hints at a deeper motivation behind the sacrifice. It brings to mind the concept of purity and absolution through sacrifice. The final lines of the song express the desire to taste the life force, which may imply that the sacrifice is a necessary step in the achievement of some higher purpose.
Overall, the lyrics are enigmatic and leave a lot of room for interpretation. They paint a vivid and unsettling picture of a ritualistic sacrifice that may be meant to bring about a transformation or change in the participants.
Line by Line Meaning
Hear one thousand screams
Listen to the cries of a thousand people in pain.
Hear one thousand voices
Listen to the voices of the thousand people in agony.
A solitary echo
Only one person's voice echoes, drowning out the thousand voices.
Feel one thousand pains
Experience the suffering of a thousand people.
But one is receiving
Only one person is benefiting from the pain of the thousand people.
A bloody invitation
The invitation is to join in the consumption of the blood shed by a thousand people.
Do you want to feel the warmth?
Are you willing to indulge in the warmth and sensation of the consumed blood?
To taste the life, to taste the life
To taste the life essence that flows through the spilled blood.
Do you want to taste the life?
Are you willing to indulge in the life force contained in the blood?
Flow, go
Let the life flow and go with it.
Feel one thousand lost
Experience the thousand people who have been sacrificed, now lost forever.
Sinking into soft skin
The sacrificed people's blood is sinking into the soft skin of the consumers.
Ingest rejuvenation
Consuming the blood rejuvenates and revitalizes the consumers.
One to consume
Only one person is chosen to consume the thousand people's blood.
One to renew
The chosen person is renewed and revitalized by consuming the blood.
Demanded invitation
The invitation to consume the blood is forceful and insistent.
I offer grace
The person offering the invitation seeks to present grace to the consumer.
I offer blood
The person offering the invitation seeks to present the blood of the sacrificed people.
I offer everything till my heart is crystal clear
The person offering the invitation is willing to give everything and bare their soul to the consumer.
Let me taste the life flow
The person offering the invitation seeks to join in the blood consumption and experience the life force within.
I want to taste the life
The person offering the invitation desires to experience the revitalization and renewal offered by the blood.
Flow, go, whoa, go
Let the life force flow, but also be cautious and aware of the consuming power it possesses.
Writer(s): Lisa Germaine Gerrard, Pieter Alan Bourke Copyright: Universal/Momentum Music 3 Ltd., Polygram Music Publishing Pty. Ltd.
Contributed by Sophie E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mastopakya
Many many years ago a friend who lived in Prague introduced me to Lisa Gerrard's music. He died tragically in a motorcycle accident, but every time I listen to her haunting melodies he is alive again for me to thank. Thanks Jeff.
@vanessac1965
That's beautiful
@CICCIOJEEP
❤❤❤
@paddyjoe68
He lives with you in this music
@julianalui9325
❤
@BaldricksTurnip1
Sad,but great story,you lost a friend but he introduced you to a vocal phenomenon.
@schneevongestern9898
She stands like a statue. all emotion is transported by the voice. No need for effects, performance, dancers, lights and all that. No need to even have your eyes open.
Absolutely mesmerising. Such a rich, ancient, emotional voice.
@andreanicolodecandia1201
Exactly. Just her voice.
@heartofrilke4228
Her voice is rich, powerful, dark and on top of all - her approach to singing is non-pretentious and very sophisticated. All so while she's singing, dressed in neutral colors, with nothing to distract the listener from her captivating voice. I wonder how tall she may be?
@schneevongestern9898
@@heartofrilke4228 171cm