Although she has become a popular performer at Canadian folk festivals, she is best known both in Canada and internationally for her collaborations with BjΓΆrk, including concert tours and the 2004 album MedΓΊlla. She has also performed with the Kronos Quartet and featured on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.
In 2005 her CD entiled Sinaa (Inuktitut for Edge) was nominated for five awards at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. At the ceremony on 25 October 2005 the CD won awards for Best Producer/Engineer, Best Album Design and Tagaq herself won the Best Female Artist award.
Her Sinaa CD was nominated for the 2006 Juno Awards as the Best Aboriginal Recording.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanya_Tagaq_Gillis
http://www.tanyatagaq.com/en/home/
Retribution
Tanya Tagaq Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Retribution will be swift
We squander her soil
and suck out her sweet black blood to burn it
We turn money into God and salivate over opportunities
To crumple and crinkle our souls for that paper
That gold money has spent on us
Left us in small boxes, dark rooms
Left investing our time in hollow philosophies
To placate the fear of our bodies returning back into our mother
Demand awakening
The path we have taken has rotted
Ignite, stand upright, conduct yourself like lightening
Because the retribution will be swift
In Tanya Tagaq's song Retribution, the lyrics revolve around the theme of environmental destruction and its impending consequences. The mother referred to in the opening line is Mother Nature herself, who is growing angry at the way humans have been treating her. The following lines express how humans blindly exploit the resources of the earth, including oil, without any regard for the harm caused to the environment. The lyrics metaphorically compare money to God, where the pursuit of wealth becomes the ultimate goal and edifice of our existence. However, the singer draws attention to the fact that this gold has already been spent on us, leaving us in dark rooms and empty tombs, investing our precious time in vain philosophies to disguise our fear of death.
The second half of the song is a call for awakening to the dire consequences of our actions. Conveyed through vivid imagery of a path that has already rotted, the lyrics urge listeners to ignite and stand upright like lightning. The singer seeks to remind listeners that the retribution for our follies will be swift, and it is imperative to conduct ourselves responsibly before it is too late.
Line by Line Meaning
Our mother grows angry
The Earth is becoming increasingly angry with humanity for our careless actions
Retribution will be swift
The consequences of our actions will quickly catch up to us
We squander her soil
We waste the natural resources provided by the Earth
and suck out her sweet black blood to burn it
We relentlessly extract and burn fossil fuels, damaging the planet's ecosystems
We turn money into God and salivate over opportunities
We pursue wealth and material possessions as if they are the ultimate goal in life
To crumple and crinkle our souls for that paper
We sacrifice our well-being and personal fulfillment in order to accumulate wealth
That gold money has spent on us
Our obsession with money has ultimately left us empty and unfulfilled
Left us in small boxes, dark rooms
We live in cramped, isolated environments, disconnected from nature and each other
Bright screens, empty tombs
We spend most of our time staring at screens, leading empty, unfulfilling lives
Left investing our time in hollow philosophies
We pursue shallow, meaningless beliefs and ideologies to fill the void in our lives
To placate the fear of our bodies returning back into our mother
We use these beliefs to cope with our fear of death and the inevitable return of our bodies to the Earth
Demand awakening
It is imperative that we awaken to the reality of the damage we are causing to the planet and ourselves
The path we have taken has rotted
Our current way of life is unsustainable and destructive
Ignite, stand upright, conduct yourself like lightening
We must take action, stand up for what is right, and move quickly to address these problems
Because the retribution will be swift
If we don't take action now, the consequences of our actions will quickly catch up to us
Lyrics Β© Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Bernard Falaise, Jean R. Martin, Jesse Freeman Zubot, Tanya Tagaq Gillis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@redwillowcreations6919
This matriarch is phenomenal. My 2yr old daughter loves Tanya and imitates her throat singing and performancing.
@mitchybee8258
β€οΈ
@vincent2053
Lol
@SoundShinobiYuki
βMoney has spent USβ, and the following lines, especially βhollow philosophies to placate the fear of returning to our motherβ, that was such an eye opener (in the form of a massive backhand) to the disease that is modern capitalism. Iβm no minimalist in most senses- but over the last few years I finally learned the philosophy of βI have ENOUGH. I donβt NEED this. This doesn't improve anything in my life or make me happy, so I won't own it.β
@torontoguy1097
Inuit woman making art. Making us proud!
@jackiepower2439
So great!
@williamdunn9053
Tanya Tagaq is one of my most favorite Inuit artists
@johnpetten8717
Raw, uncomfortable, primal,addictive. A song like this enrages the spirit within and unleashes it upon the world. I cant get enough
@peterbyrne5004
This is more metal than metal, and more punk than punk.
@cheyennet218
Iβm here after listening to BjΓΆrkβs vocal album MedΓΊlla. Tagaq was featured on the song ancestors, and her performance was absolutely mind blowing. Because of this, I wanted to find out more about her.
From just listening to this song, itβs easy to see that Tanya is insanely creative. I have never heard anything like this song before, and thatβs coming from a BjΓΆrk fan. I love how the intensity builds throughout the song, making it a beautifully harrowing experience for the listener. Personally, I found this a little hard to digest, because itβs so out of the ordinary, but that doesnβt mean it isnβt beautiful. Great work!