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
Presentiments
Sylvan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's a breath of air and a sigh for future times
See the distant glint,
Almost powerful, with a wave of cryptic signs
Now vibrating winds sprout so constantly,
Can you hear this sound of joy?
Even oceans sing, and their melodies prophesy
the change of all they knew before.
The sky will shine…the storm will spin…
Seas rage as once they welcomed hin
The lands might stake, but time stands still –
Forgotten realms that you fulfil
Glimpse of moments –
Not yet concrete but clear –
Did you feel the breathe –
Drops will become a stream
Just one instant –
Far away but still near –
Did she speak to you:
This is your dream
In Sylvan's song Presentiments, the lyrics seem to be about a feeling of anticipation for something that is about to come. The first verse talks about whispers that are just heard softly, almost like a breeze in the air, but they carry a significance that is felt as a "sigh for future times." This is followed by imagery of a distant glint that is almost powerful and is accompanied by cryptic signs. The second verse talks about the constant vibration of winds and the sound of joy that can be heard in them. Even the oceans seem to prophesy a change in their melodies. The chorus speaks of the sky shining and the storm spinning, and how the seas rage as they once welcomed someone. The lyrics suggest that the change that is about to happen is significant, and it will fulfill forgotten realms.
The bridge in the lyrics speaks of moments that are not yet concrete, but they are clear, and the anticipation is palpable. A stream is formed from drops, and this is compared symbolically to the realization of a dream. The lyrics to Sylvan's Presentiments seem to promote the idea that the listener should be aware of the signs around them and be prepared for a change that is coming, but its consequences are enjoyable and fulfilling.
Line by Line Meaning
And they whisper soft,
Voices, possibly premonitions or intuitions, speak quietly
It's a breath of air and a sigh for future times
The whispers are like a gentle breeze that hints at what is to come
See the distant glint,
Something in the distance catches the eye, possibly a sign of what is to come
Almost powerful, with a wave of cryptic signs
The glint appears to be an influential symbol, possibly containing hidden meanings
Now vibrating winds sprout so constantly,
The sounds around, possibly created by the whispers, are becoming more frequent and noticeable
Can you hear this sound of joy?
The sounds around are not just eerie, but also bring happiness
Even oceans sing, and their melodies prophesy
Nature itself seems to be enchanted with the same message the whispers bring
the change of all they knew before.
All of nature, including the oceans, are aware of a change that is coming
The sky will shine…the storm will spin…
The future holds both positive and negative events, symbolized by the contrast of the sky shining and the storm spinning
Seas rage as once they welcomed hin
Even the oceans, which once seemed welcoming, will not be the same in the future
The lands might stake, but time stands still –
Even if there are oppositions to this change, time will continue to move forward
Forgotten realms that you fulfil
This change will fulfill something that has long been forgotten
Glimpse of moments –
This is a brief look into what is to come
Not yet concrete but clear –
The details may not be established yet, but the certainty of the change is clear
Did you feel the breathe –
Are you aware of the whispers and the hints of what is to come?
Drops will become a stream
Small hints and details will add up to a clearer picture of the future
Just one instant –
This change may come suddenly
Far away but still near –
The change may feel distant, but it is still relevant and approaching soon
Did she speak to you:
Possibly an allusion to some sort of prophetic or mystical figure revealing information to the singer
This is your dream
The change that is coming might hold a bigger significance to the artist and their inner goals and aspirations
Contributed by Brody T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.