Love Spirals Downwards was begun by multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum and then-girlfriend Suzanne Perry. In 1991, Lum and Perry recorded a demo, which led to a contract with Projekt Records. Over its 8-year history, the band released four full-length albums, a career retrospective, and a CD single, selling (by their own account) in excess of 40,000 CDs. They were also included on over two dozen various artist compilations, including the Heavenly Voices series released by the German label Hyperium.
Perry's sister Kristen collaborated with Lum on two tracks for the 1998 album, Flux. One of her songs, "Psyche ," was used on episode #501 of Dawson’s Creek, originally airing on 10/10/2001. This episode is included on the Season 5 DVD set.
Jennifer Wilde (then working under her maiden name, Jennifer Ryan Fuller) collaborated with Lum and Perry on two tracks for Love Spirals Downwards' 1994 second release, Ardor. Her vocals from one of these songs, "Sunset Bell," were reused for a new version of the song 4 years later on the band's album, Flux. Wilde went on to form her own band, Liquid State, in January 2006.
Although the band never officially broke up, in 1999 Lum began releasing music under the shortened moniker, Lovespirals, featuring new vocal collaborator, Anji Bee. In January 2000, the Love Spirals Downwards career retrospective CD, Temporal, was released by Projekt with no indication of the duo's split.
Soon after the 2002 release of Lovespirals' first full-length album, Windblown Kiss, Projekt announced that Perry would release an EP under the band name, Melodyguild. Though recorded in 2003, the band's debut EP, Aitu, wasn't released until mid-2008. Perry has since collaborated with Falling You on material released in 2006 and 2008.
In 2007 Projekt re-released the first two Love Spirals Downwards albums remastered by Ryan Lum with additional tracks included in newly designed digipacs.
Dead Language
Love Spirals Downwards Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sa ah hey su ra
Ra ja ni ra mo ma han
An la ji ka ra jum na
San dee dean nee ca su diva
Ka lay yey va na day vana
Va runa ba la re doola
Va vu oo na
Ba la ra ma
Ugrasena
Ja ta la
Va su de va
Su da ah ma
Vis nu in dra mu oo ni
Va vu oo na
Ba la ra ma
Ugrasena
Ja ta la
Va su de va
Su da ah ma
Vis nu in dra mu oo ni
The lyrics to Love Spirals Downwards' song Dead Language are in fact a mixture of Sanskrit and made-up words, designed to evoke a mystical and otherworldly feeling in the listener. The song is intended to be almost like a chant or mantra, with the repetition of certain phrases contributing to this effect.
The opening lines of "Kala yey ra na/Sa ah hey su ra" are a combination of several different Sanskrit words that translate roughly to "time/age, self/life force, and sun". The next verse contains the words "An la ji ka ra jum na", which appear to be completely made up; they could be interpreted as having a similar meaning to the previous line - perhaps something like "eternal light/energy" - but they don't have any specific meaning in any known language.
Overall, the lyrics to Dead Language suggest a connection to ancient and mystical concepts, but they deliberately resist straightforward interpretation. The combination of Sanskrit and invented words creates a sense of something ancient and arcane, but also mysterious and elusive.
Line by Line Meaning
Kala yey ra na
A plea to the Black Goddess to guide the way
Sa ah hey su ra
Praying for her grace and blessings
Ra ja ni ra mo ma han
Longing for the days gone by
An la ji ka ra jum na
Memories of ancient traditions and customs
San dee dean nee ca su diva
Hopeful for the enlightenment of the soul
Ka lay yey va na day vana
Love and devotion for the divine mother
A kur ran ney da ney yoona
Looking for the answers within oneself
Va runa ba la re doola
Opening up to the wisdom of the universe
Va vu oo na
Chanting the name of the divine mother
Ba la ra ma
Seeking the blessings of the supreme
Ugrasena
The lord who removes obstacles
Ja ta la
Chanting the names of the gods and goddesses
Va su de va
Praying to the lords of light and love
Su da ah ma
Offering oneself to the divine mother
Vis nu in dra mu oo ni
Invoking the presence of the divine in one's life
Contributed by Caleb I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
AnUnhingedMind
This song is pretty much the pinnacle of ethereal wave.
Love Spirals Downwards
thanks so much! this is one of the more mysterious songs we've made!
Erick Strada
Love this song, full of mistery and time. Greetings from Perú!
Aikea Guinea
thanks for the tip! nice to get the confirmation. One of my fave Idylls songs, well situated in the middle, like a mystic whirl before a quietness towards the end of the album...
Love Spirals Downwards
thanks so much! glad you're liking our channel here too. i've been quite busy working on it!
Love Spirals Downwards
thank you! it's safe to say there was a little be of that influence on our earlier stuff.
Kirkē Kopeckā
well, it's a dead language :) and long forgotten with no writings recorded . it is the mother language not only of english, but of russian, latin, greek, sanskrit and many many others . it was reconstructed by comparing all these languages . and furthermore, no song was written in this language yet ;)
Love Spirals Downwards
Good guess. But Suzanne is doing her thing here, kind of making up a language.
Kirkē Kopeckā
I my guess was based on the names mentioned :) I love ancient languages and most of all proto-indo-european, did you know that a fully functional grammar based on PIE was already made available ?
Aikea Guinea
I could also hear "vasudeva" ans "sita rama" etc... hari bolo