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
Midnight Sun
Sylvan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As far as the eye can see
And when I listen closely
The silence speaks
To me
And while I listen closely,
A peaceful majesty
From a time beyond the floes of ice
And when you watch it closely
A beauty takes the lead
And while you watch it closely,
It's sunken in the sea
But where to find?
But where to find?
Where is this ocean?
Where is this sea of ice?
A quiet distant ocean
Dressed in divine simplicity
And though I listen closely,
Where might it be?
And while I listen closely,
Quiet melancholy,
Starting to happen...
But where to find?
But where to find?
Guide me,
Oceans of ice
Don't you guide me,
Oceans of ice
Please don't you guide me,
Oceans of ice
Please don't you guide me
Ageless ice...
Pulling me under
To life...
The lyrics of Sylvan's song "Midnight Sun" describe a beautiful, serene scene of an ocean made of ice crystals, stretching out as far as the eye can see. The singer describes the silence of the scene, which speaks to them and fills them with a sense of peaceful majesty. The image is compared to an old scenic painting from a time long ago, but with an added beauty that takes the lead when studied closely, even though it has long since sunk to the bottom of the sea. The singer then expresses a desire to find this quiet, distant ocean, dressed in its divine simplicity, but isn't sure where it might be found. The song takes on a tinge of melancholy as the singer longs for this unattainable place.
The repetition of the phrase "But where to find?" emphasizes the singer's longing and intensifies the feeling of being lost or searching. The three mentions of "guide me" push this feeling even further, as if the singer is lost at sea and in desperate need of guidance. The penultimate line, "Ageless ice...pulling me under...", can be interpreted in different ways. It could be a description of the singer being drawn deep into the ocean of ice, perhaps losing themselves to the beauty and majesty of the scene. Alternatively, the mention of "pulling me under" could imply a more sinister undertone, as though the singer is being pulled down by the weight of their own melancholy.
Overall, the lyrics of "Midnight Sun" create a vivid image of a peaceful and beautiful scene, but also convey a sense of melancholy and longing. The singer is searching for something unattainable, perhaps a physical location, or maybe a spiritual or emotional state.
Line by Line Meaning
An ice crystal ocean
A vast and expansive frozen ocean, consisting of ice crystals
As far as the eye can see
Extending as far as one can perceive with their vision
And when I listen closely
When I intently pay attention and focus on the silence
The silence speaks
The absence of sound communicates and expresses itself
To me
Directing its expression towards the artist
And while I listen closely,
While I continue to concentrate on the silence
A peaceful majesty
A serene and impressive sense of grandeur
An old scenic painting
An antique work of art that depicts a view
From a time beyond the floes of ice
Representing an era prior to the existence of frozen masses
And when you watch it closely
When observing it with an intense focus
A beauty takes the lead
An attractive and captivating quality takes precedence
And while you watch it closely,
Continuing to intently observe the artwork
It's sunken in the sea
It has descended and submerged into the water
But where to find?
Questioning where to locate this aforementioned scenery
But where to find?
Reiterating the previous question
Where is this ocean?
Demanding to know the location of this ice crystal ocean
Where is this sea of ice?
Asking for the whereabouts of the frozen ocean
A quiet distant ocean
A calm and remote expanse of water
Dressed in divine simplicity
Adorned with a pure and elegant quality
And though I listen closely,
Despite greatly concentrating on hearing
Where might it be?
Wondering where the ocean can be found
And while I listen closely,
Continuing to intently listen
Quiet melancholy,
The sound of somberness and sadness
Starting to happen...
Beginning to occur and take place
Guide me,
Requesting guidance and assistance
Oceans of ice
Addressing the vast expanse of frozen water
Don't you guide me,
Beseeching the ocean not to mislead or lead astray
Oceans of ice
Directly speaking to the icy water once again
Please don't you guide me,
Imploring the water to not act as a guide
Oceans of ice...
Focusing again on the cold expanse of frozen water
Ageless ice...
Extremely old and long-lasting ice
Pulling me under
Dragging the artist beneath the water's surface
To life...
Leading towards an existence full of vigor and vitality
Contributed by Ian L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@RienV1980
Excellent song. Nice harmony vocals. Highly underrated band.
@positivelastaction3957
Gorgeous track.
@bienemetal
wunderschön <3