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
Essence of Life
Sylvan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He lived his life quite well,
Though he was a complete freak
You should believe me,
He's the kind of tick you wanna meet
Led a lone life in peace – oh yeah
He was quite tough…tick Pete
Oh sweet little Pete
Little Pete once was in a nasty mood
And so he asked himself:
"What is the reason that I don't feel good?"
He had a feeling that was rather strange
And so Pete knew that all
He needs was just a blood group change
Once someone told him of a place somewhere,
So he left home although he knew
That it would be hard to get there
You see his planning was quite terrific,
That's why I told you our Pete was such a cool, tough tick
Walking away…
Walking away my friend…
Life – what does it mean to you?
However you get through,
Each has another real essence of …
Life – who can make sense of it?
Some may think life's just shit
Some think that blood is the (es)sense of life!
Travelling from host to host - always alone.
No matter the time it costs – so far from home.
When he got there, it was like paradise.
A new sensation – you should have seen his eyes.
And Pete was quite pleased –
Blood in variety.
So he did not even see
The impending tragedy
How should he know – just a
Stranger after all – but blood in
Soho may contain alcohol.
Most of his time Tete was in a sort of – let's say – delirium
He lost from time to time his style and equilibirium
You might conclude: in a city – what a pity – but he will lose the day
But drugs create indifference,
So Pete doesn't care, anyway!
They fade away – the pheromones of bygone days.
What's left to say…ha, different priorities!
Drifting away…
The song "Essence of Life" by Sylvan tells the story of a tick named Pete who lived a solitary life and found himself feeling unwell one day. Pete realized that he needed a change in his blood group to feel better, so he set out on a journey to find a place that offered the blood he needed. After arriving in Soho, Pete found a variety of blood types to choose from, but he didn't realize that some of the blood contained alcohol. As a result, he lost his sense of balance and style, but he didn't care because he was indifferent to the effects of the drugs. The song concludes by reflecting on the different priorities in life and how they can lead one astray.
The lyrics of "Essence of Life" are open to interpretation, but some possible insights can be gleaned from the story of Pete. One could see Pete as a symbol of people who feel disconnected and alone in life, searching for a way to feel better. The journey he takes could represent the quest for self-discovery and the willingness to take risks to find what one needs. However, the tragic ending of the story shows the dangers of indulging in vices and losing one's sense of self in the pursuit of pleasure. The song asks the listener to reflect on what truly matters in life and to find their own unique essence of existence.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey, did I ever tell 'bout cute tick called Pete
Let me tell you a story about a tick named Pete
He lived his life quite well,
He lived a good life
Though he was a complete freak
Despite being different
You should believe me,
Trust me,
He's the kind of tick you wanna meet
He's worth knowing
Led a lone life in peace – oh yeah
He lived a peaceful, solitary life
He was quite tough…tick Pete
He was a strong and resilient tick
Oh sweet little Pete
A term of endearment for Pete
Little Pete once was in a nasty mood
Pete was once in a bad mood
And so he asked himself:
He pondered
"What is the reason that I don't feel good?"
"Why am I feeling unwell?"
He had a feeling that was rather strange
He experienced a peculiar sensation
And so Pete knew that all
He realized
He needs was just a blood group change
All he needed was a change in blood type
Once someone told him of a place somewhere,
Someone told him of a certain location
So he left home although he knew
He departed despite knowing
That it would be hard to get there
That the journey would be difficult
You see his planning was quite terrific,
His planning was exceptional
That's why I told you our Pete was such a cool, tough tick
That's why I said Pete was a strong and resilient tick.
Walking away…
Leaving
Walking away my friend…
Departing, my friend
Life – what does it mean to you?
What does life mean to you?
However you get through,
Regardless of how you cope,
Each has another real essence of …
Each person has their own unique essence of life
Life – who can make sense of it?
Who can truly understand life?
Some may think life's just shit
Some may view life negatively
Some think that blood is the (es)sense of life!
Some believe that blood is the essence of life
Travelling from host to host - always alone.
Moving between hosts, always solitary.
No matter the time it costs – so far from home.
Regardless of the time it takes, far from home.
When he got there, it was like paradise.
Upon arriving, it was like heaven.
A new sensation – you should have seen his eyes.
An unfamiliar feeling - you should have seen the excitement in his eyes.
And Pete was quite pleased –
Pete was content
Blood in variety.
Different types of blood
So he did not even see
He was oblivious to
The impending tragedy
The unfortunate event that would soon occur
How should he know – just a
How could he have known - he was just a
Stranger after all – but blood in
A stranger in the end - but blood in
Soho may contain alcohol.
May contain alcohol from Soho.
Most of his time Tete was in a sort of – let's say – delirium
He spent most of his time in a state of confusion
He lost from time to time his style and equilibirium
He occasionally lost his coordination and balance
You might conclude: in a city – what a pity – but he will lose the day
One might think he would fail in the city, but in the end he will fail anyway
But drugs create indifference,
But drugs create apathy
So Pete doesn't care, anyway!
Pete doesn't care either way!
They fade away – the pheromones of bygone days.
The scent of the past fades away.
What's left to say…ha, different priorities!
Nothing much to say... different priorities, haha!
Drifting away…
Floating away
Contributed by Miles J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.