SARAH BRENDEL
FOLK / POP

At times, Sarah Brendel wished she could… Read Full Bio ↴SARAH BRENDEL
FOLK / POP

At times, Sarah Brendel wished she could have been on the road in the sixties - during the American folk music revival - to share that experience with artists like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. But lucky for us, Sarah makes music in our days and we can enjoy her unique style of folk music mixed with modern influences.
Sarah, daughter of parents who are both artist, grew up in the north of Germany. She started writing her own songs at the age of 16; she taught herself how to play the guitar, learned how to play the piano and started recording her own songs only one year later in a recording studio by the sea. Her unique style is characterised by her extraordinary voice. Wild mouth organ parts, forceful guitar play, her voice and the soothing melodies with her poetical lyrics are reminis-cent of her musical heroes from Great Britain and the USA. Sarah moves between the worlds of Folk, Indie, Rock, and Pop and cannot be pigeon-holed by any means. Whether it is Sarah by herself just with her guitar, or the whole band, whether quiet and contemplative, or loud and cranking – her music never fails to move the heart.
Sarah Brendel is one of the first German song writers to get a record deal in the USA. With her song “Fire“ she reached number 14 in the U.S. Billboard Airplay charts – a considerable achievement. For several months she lived in Nashville, Tennessee and played concerts all over the United States. In the last two years Sarah played more than 250 gigs in Germany and the USA and also on the Faroe Islands, in Scandinavia, Slovakia and Switzerland. For tour dates and listening samples go to: www.sarahbrendel.de and www.myspace.com/sarahbrendel.

Slowly
Sarah Brendel Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

He talked to me so slowly
Couldn't change my mind
All these phrases are circling and raging like a storm
Throwing me into the ocean of secrets and mystery

I thought that I have reached the top
But again I'm pushed back to the start
I thought I would be someone else

Someone bigger than myself
But still I am this child of God with a name

The time is rising slowly
Hot like the sunlight
While the world is turning
Covered in blindness
On the stairs to nowhere
Without a shepered

I thought that you have reached the top
But again you're pushed back to the start
I thought you would be someone else
Someone bigger than yourself
But still you are this child of God
Still you are this child of God
With a name

Still you are

Still I am
Still you are

Overall Meaning

In Sarah Brendel's song Slowly, the singer reflects on the experience of being persuaded by someone through their slow and steady words. The person's phrases encircle and rage like a storm, taking the singer into the ocean of secrets and mystery. Despite this, the singer finds themselves pushed back to the start, feeling uncertain of who they are and where they stand in the world. They had thought they had reached the top but now find themselves lost and unsure of even the simplest of things. As the time rises slowly, hot like the sunlight, the world keeps turning but it is covered in blindness. The singer is on a "stairs to nowhere" with no shepherd to guide their way. They speak to the listener as if they are in a similar situation, telling them that they are also a child of God with a name, despite feeling small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

The metaphor of the ocean and storm in the lyrics is particularly powerful since it conveys the sense of chaos and turbulence that can come from being slowly convinced of something. The imagery of blindness and a lack of direction also adds to this. The song is ultimately a meditation on the human experience of struggling to find one's place in the world and not succumbing to the pressures of others.

Line by Line Meaning

He talked to me so slowly
He spoke to me calmly and deliberately

Couldn't change my mind
I remained firm in my beliefs and opinions

All these phrases are circling and raging like a storm
So many thoughts and emotions are overwhelming me

Throwing me into the ocean of secrets and mystery
I am lost in a sea of unknowns

I thought that I have reached the top
I believed I had achieved my goals

But again I'm pushed back to the start
Yet again, I find myself starting over

I thought I would be someone else
I hoped to be someone different from who I am

Someone bigger than myself
Someone who has achieved more than I have

But still I am this child of God with a name
I am a human being with my own identity and worth

The time is rising slowly
Time is passing by gradually

Hot like the sunlight
Intense and overwhelming