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
Vapour Trail
Sylvan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Watch the clouds drift by.
Looking at the fields, small and so unreal,
Think of me.
Sight's not clear, I'm losing [...]
I'm begging, please look and hear me.
Feel the time runs out.
Thinking of the past, still this is my last:
Think of me.
In my eyes...
Flying long way back in time.
And I fly...
In the midst of bluish skies.
See me...
As my flight comes to a close.
See me...
When I'm dared to let it go.
In my eyes...
Where the wind provokes my tears of shame.
In my eyes....
Where my memories take the fuel away.
While I fly...
See the man that I became.
Losing height...
As the pressure rise again.
See me...
But I cannot understand.
See me...
When the choice lay in my hand.
In my eyes...
Where the wind provokes my tears of shame.
In my eyes...
Where my memories take the fuel away.
In my eyes...
Rage the storms to make my landing fail.
In my eyes...
See the shadows of my vapour trail.
The faces in a sort of flashback
Hey, you faces, don't you stare at me!
The faces mumble words I lose track
And the faces whisper, dazzlingly.
The faces, how the hell they found me?
But the faces know the answer well.
The faces quite a few that I see.
What the faces `round me try to tell?
All faces in a kind of weird show
All this faces, [I] know them personally.
But there's one face that I really don't know,
And this lonely hollow face - that's me.
Now that I...
Flew back here and here I cry.
All this time...
Fought my emptiness inside.
See me...
As my plane is falling low.
See me...
As the sight begins to grow.
In my eyes...
When the wind provokes my tears of shame.
In my eyes...
Where my memories take the fuel away.
In my eyes...
Rage the storms to make my landing fail.
In my eyes...
See the shadows of my vapour trail.
Flying from my past, way up and above.
Leave the time behind.
Heading for the stars, for the ones I love.
I think of you.
Do you dream or think of me?
I'm hoping, please, can you hear me?
In Sylvan's song Vapour Trail, the lyrics depict a journey of self-discovery through the eyes of the singer who appears to be a pilot. As he flies, he looks back on his life, remembering vividly the moments that shaped him. He sees the faces and memories of people he has met and the choices he has made. But as he reflects on his life while flying through the clouds, he sees a version of himself that he does not recognize. The singer is grappling with the realization that the choices he has made have led him to a place he did not intend. His emotions are a mixture of sadness, regret, and confusion as he tries to make sense of his life's meaning.
The lyrics convey a profound message about the value of self-reflection and introspection. The singer realizes that he has been disconnected from his true self, and while he strives to find his way back to himself, he hopes in desperation that someone, somewhere, can hear him. The lyrics are infused with emotions that resonate deeply with listeners, especially those who have struggled with self-discovery and purpose. Vapour Trail is a haunting and poignant song that speaks to the universal human experience of introspection and the search for meaning.
Line by Line Meaning
Vivid memories did I start to sleep?
Did I start to dream of vivid memories?
Watch the clouds drift by.
I watched the clouds drifting by.
Looking at the fields, small and so unreal,
The fields looked small and unreal as I looked at them.
Think of me.
Please think of me.
Sight's not clear, I'm losing [...]
I can't see clearly, I'm losing something.
I'm begging, please look and hear me.
Please look at me and hear me, I'm begging you.
Flying to the stars – way down or far up?
Am I flying to the stars, down or up high?
Feel the time runs out.
I feel like time is running out.
Thinking of the past, still this is my last:
I'm thinking of the past, this is still my last.
Think of me.
Please think of me.
In my eyes...
I see in my eyes...
Flying long way back in time.
I fly a long way back in time.
And I fly...
I fly...
In the midst of bluish skies.
I'm in the midst of bluish skies.
See me...
Please see me...
As my flight comes to a close.
As my flight is coming to an end.
When I'm dared to let it go.
When I'm daring myself to let it go.
Where the wind provokes my tears of shame.
The wind provokes my tears of shame.
Where my memories take the fuel away.
Where my memories are taking the fuel away.
Rage the storms to make my landing fail.
The storms are raging to make my landing fail.
See the shadows of my vapour trail.
See the shadows of my vapour trail.
The faces in a sort of flashback
I see faces in a sort of flashback.
Hey, you faces, don't you stare at me!
Hey, faces, don't stare at me!
The faces mumble words I lose track
The faces mumble words and I lose track.
And the faces whisper, dazzlingly.
The faces whispers, dazzlingly.
The faces, how the hell they found me?
How did the faces find me?
But the faces know the answer well.
But the faces know the answer well.
The faces quite a few that I see.
I see quite a few faces.
What the faces `round me try to tell?
What are the faces around me trying to tell me?
All faces in a kind of weird show
All the faces are in a kind of weird show.
All these faces, [I] know them personally.
I know all these faces personally.
But there's one face that I really don't know,
But there's one face that I really don't know.
And this lonely hollow face - that's me.
And that lonely, hollow face is me.
Now that I...
Now that I have...
Flew back here and here I cry.
I flew back here and now I'm crying.
All this time...
All this time I...
Fought my emptiness inside.
Fought my emptiness inside.
As my plane is falling low.
As my plane is falling low.
As the sight begins to grow.
As the sight begins to grow.
Do you dream or think of me?
Do you dream or think of me?
I'm hoping, please, can you hear me?
I'm hoping you can hear me, please?
Flying from my past, way up and above.
I'm flying from my past, way up and above.
Leave the time behind.
I'm leaving the time behind.
Heading for the stars, for the ones I love.
I'm heading for the stars for the ones I love.
I think of you.
I think of you.
Contributed by Sophia C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.