1. Prog Rock, German band<… Read Full Bio ↴Note: There are three artists with this name.
1. Prog Rock, German band
2. 60's female pop singer.
3. Low-Fi Dublin Band
1.
In the spring of 1990, Kay Söhl, the two keyboarders Volker Söhl and Matthias Harder, founded the band TEMPORAL TEMPTATION. By that summer the band had already played its first gig - the first live performance of the core founding members of the band. In a way it was also Sylvan's birth. At this time the band played hard rock music and sang in German. Only a small part of their music was progressive rock.
In Autumn 1990, the band changed its name to CHAMELEON, a symbol of changeability, representing the long instrumental parts in their music. The cover artwork had a likeness to early MARILLION covers and has never been issued. In summer 1991 Marko Heisig joined Chameleon as the lead singer and bassist. Between 1992 and 1994 the band had a gloomy and aggressive tonality to them and in this they were very different from the more rocky sounds of the previous years. In 1992 the first official demo tape of Chameleon was released. With Matthias Koops as lead singer, the second official demo tape was recorded. The title was 'Slaves' and its tracklist was 'Time', 'Slaves', 'Mirror of a Lifetime' and 'Childhood Dreams'. (By the way, 'Slaves' was the old title of a version of today's song 'Deliverance' after which Sylvan's first album was named!).
In winter 1995 one of the band's dreams was fulfilled: Marco Glühmann, an old friend who played many years before with Chameleon, joined the band. Within the same year the third and last official demo tape was recorded. The tracklist was 'Beren and Luthien', 'Golden Cage' and 'Outro'. All of these songs have merged into Sylvan's first studio album in one way or another.
In 1997 the last live concert took place under the name Chameleon. Marko Heisig left the band and the bass was taken over by Patrick Münster. The band changed its name to Sylvan. Their first cd was recorded in 1998 and the second was released in 2000. (Adapted from text on the official history website). The music of the band is progressive rock with some hard rock moments, and some spacey melodic pop-rock elements, probably lingering from earlier in their career. Also there are some Art-prog elements, but really not enough to call this music Art-rock as such. Other apparent influences include psychedelic rock, a little PINK FLOYD in the spacey elements, and surely MARILLION and GENESIS.
2. 60's female pop singer. In 2006 her record "We Don't Belong" first recorded in 1965, was featured on a Rhino Records compilation set "The Hatbox collection" "Girl Groups Lost and Found" which gained two Grammy Award nominations in January 2007. Now a successful photographer living in London. www.sylvanmason.com In 1965 Sylvan became the first and only Stowaway on Radio Caroline's Mi Amigo Pirate Ship. She spent the weekend with Tony Blackburn, Roger Gale and Mike Allen promoting her record "We Don't Belong" which had recently been banned by the BBC; helping the dj's with their quiz shows and making jingles whilst the headlines in newspapers screamed "Beautiful blonde Marooned with 15 men". Unlike the new film "The Boat That Rocked" which is based on Radio Caroline, it was cold, uncomfortable and a bit smelly says Sylvan but the boys were very sweet and well behaved.
3. Irish band Sylvan are a five-piece low-fi Dublin-based group, originally formed in 2000 by band members Colin Russell-Conway (drums), Paul Clynes (vox & lead guitar), and Adam McCormack (vox & guitar). Adam left the group in 2004, to move to Denmark and is now recording & gigging with his new band, Imagine I Had Hands. At this point Kieron (Beardy) joined the band to replace Adam on vox & guitar. And Fergus Russell-Conway was also recruited to join the band on bass & backing vox. The band have released 3 full-length albums to date. Their first album "The Ugly Lemon" was recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini in 2003. They then recorded their second album My Marble Eye themselves in Dublin in January 2005. Sylvan have just released their third album "We Are Lying to you through song" in September 2007, and are currently touring this album in Ireland and Europe. http://www.myspace.com/sylvan1
Bequest of Tears
Sylvan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the shadows play the dance of you
All around me – where each part once told your life
Where the window still reflects your smile
Still I feel you, still I'm trapped within our time
Wondering vainly – why you left, my child
When my fingers start to open your bequest
The lyrics of the song Bequest of Tears by Sylvan are a poignant and evocative description of the pain of loss and the longing for a loved one who has passed away. The first two lines set the scene in a beautifully descriptive and vivid way, conjuring up the image of a person alone in a quiet room, surrounded by memories of the person they have lost. The shadows that dance around them are a metaphor for the flickering, elusive nature of memory and the way that the past can seem to come alive and disappear again in an instant.
The second stanza of the song deepens this sense of loss and yearning, as the singer reflects on the fact that they are still trapped within their memories of the loved one, unable to let go and move on. The final lines of the song, with their description of the lifeless book that the person has left behind, are especially poignant. The fact that the book is described as a "bequest" implies that it is a precious and treasured object, one that is imbued with the memory of the person who has passed away. The singer clutches it tightly, perhaps hoping to find some solace or comfort in its pages, but ultimately knowing that it can never replace the person they have lost.
Overall, the lyrics of Bequest of Tears are a powerful and moving exploration of the themes of love, loss, and memory. Through its vivid imagery and emotional power, the song speaks to anyone who has ever experienced the pain of losing someone they love.
Line by Line Meaning
In the quietness of my silent walls
Amidst the stillness of my empty home, I sense solitude.
Where the shadows play the dance of you
As the shadows move, it reminds me of the dancing figure of you.
All around me – where each part once told your life
Every corner of my house is a reminder of you and the life we shared.
Where the window still reflects your smile
The window mirrors your smiling face from the past, bringing back memories.
Still I feel you, still I'm trapped within our time
You may be gone, but I can still sense your presence, leaving me stuck in our past life together.
Wondering vainly – why you left, my child
I can't help but wonder fruitlessly, why you had to go, my dear child.
When my fingers start to open your bequest
As I start to unravel the legacy you left behind for me, my emotions start to surface.
Clutching tightly the lifeless book you left … for me
I tightly hold onto the book you left behind, which now carries no life, a symbol of your absence.
Contributed by Mila E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.