Sharron's debut album Beautiful Twisted was released by Australian psych label Camera Obscura in 2002 and received rave reviews around the world. It was listed in Rolling Stone Magazine's Critics' Top Albums of 2002. After touring with US psychedelic folk band The Iditarod, she collaborated with them on an album of wintry songs and soundscapes entitled Yuletide and released by avant/experimental label Elsie and Jack in 2003.
Sharron's second solo album, Songs of Love and Loss, was recorded at home in Oxford and at Dungeon Studios in the Cotswolds. The album features Jane Griffiths on fiddle and viola, Jon Fletcher on harmonica and occasional guitar, banjo and vocals, Colin Fletcher on bass, as well as BBC Folk Award-winning fiddler Jon Boden and Grammy-nominated early music violinist Giles Lewin. The album was finished in Providence and mixed with Jeffrey Alexander (The Iditarod, Black Forest/Black Sea). Songs of Love and Loss is a natural follow-up to Beautiful Twisted, in places darker and more discordant, in others gentler and sweeter.
Sharron has been featured in The Wire, New Folk Sounds, Arthur, Ptolemaic Terrascope and Broken Face. She has been interviewed on BBC Radio 3 for 'A Place Called England' discussing the future of English folk music and recorded sessions for BBC Radio Scotland and independent radio stations across the US. Her fans include veteran folk musician Archie Fisher and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore.
The Frozen Lake
Sharron Kraus Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The town has gone to sleep
Stillness in the parks and fields
Silence in the streets
Won′t you come for a winter's walk
Around the frozen lake
Won′t you sing a song with me
Let's see who we can wake
The children are all sleeping now
Pillows soft and blankets warm
They know their parents sit downstairs
Keep them safe from harm
Won't you come out dancing with me
Upon the frozen lake
Let′s see if we can break the ice
And shards of diamond make
We′ve been wandering all the night
And some part of the day
We've watched the sun die down
And watched it rise again
Kiss me with your night breath
Breathe life into my frozen lips
Put your cold hands to mine
Fingertip to fingertips
We walked and danced and sang all night
Down by the frozen lake
I′d like to do that every night
Till all the ice breaks
"The Frozen Lake" by Sharron Kraus is a poetic composition that is rich in winter imagery to tell a tale about a frozen lake, a couple dancing in the snow, and the silence that envelops the town. The opening verse sets the tone of the song with snow falling everywhere and the town asleep. The winter's cold has made everything hushed, and there is stillness in the parks, fields, and streets. In the chorus, the singer calls to a lover to join them on a winter's walk around the frozen lake, and they invite their lover to sing a song with them to see who they can wake. The snowy environment and the frozen lake seem to bring out a sense of playfulness and wildness from the singer.
The second verse describes the children sleeping in their warm beds as their parents sit downstairs, keeping them safe from harm. The singer then invites their lover to come out dancing on the frozen lake to see if they can break the ice and create shards of diamonds. In the final verse, the couple has been wandering all night into the day, watching the sun die down and rise again. The singer asks their lover to kiss them and breathe life into their frozen lips and to hold hands to stay warm. They end the song walking, dancing, and singing all night by the frozen lake and wishing for their winter reverie to continue until the ice breaks completely.
Line by Line Meaning
Snow is falling all around
The weather is cold and snowy.
The town has gone to sleep
The town is quiet and empty because people are sleeping.
Stillness in the parks and fields
The parks and fields are quiet and still.
Silence in the streets
The streets are quiet and there are no sounds.
Won′t you come for a winter's walk
Come and take a walk with me in the winter.
Around the frozen lake
Let's walk around the lake that is frozen because of the cold weather.
Won′t you sing a song with me
Let's sing a song together.
Let's see who we can wake
Let's see if we can wake someone up with our singing.
The children are all sleeping now
The children are sleeping.
Pillows soft and blankets warm
They are sleeping comfortably with soft pillows and warm blankets.
They know their parents sit downstairs
The children are aware that their parents are downstairs.
Keep them safe from harm
The parents are keeping the children safe from danger.
Won't you come out dancing with me
Let's dance together in the cold outside.
Upon the frozen lake
Let's dance on the surface of the frozen lake.
Let′s see if we can break the ice
Let's see if we can break the ice with our dancing.
And shards of diamond make
The broken ice will look like shiny diamond pieces.
We′ve been wandering all the night
We spent the whole night wandering around.
And some part of the day
We also spent some time wandering during the day.
We've watched the sun die down
We saw the sunset.
And watched it rise again
We also saw the sunrise.
Kiss me with your night breath
Kiss me with your cold breath.
Breathe life into my frozen lips
Your breath will warm up my frozen lips.
Put your cold hands to mine
Put your cold hands on mine.
Fingertip to fingertips
Let's touch our fingertips together.
We walked and danced and sang all night
We spent the whole night walking, dancing, and singing.
Down by the frozen lake
We did all of those activities near the frozen lake.
I′d like to do that every night
I would like to walk, dance, and sing by the frozen lake every night.
Till all the ice breaks
Let's continue doing all those activities until the ice melts.
Contributed by Christopher C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.