After having taken piano lessons, Vangelis began his professional musical career working with several popular bands of the 1960s such as the Forminx and Aphrodite's Child, with the latter's album 666 going on to be recognized as a psychedelic classic. Throughout the 1970s, Vangelis composed music scores for several animal documentaries, including L'Apocalypse des Animaux, La Fête sauvage and Opéra sauvage; the success of these scores brought him into the film scoring mainstream. In the early 1980s, Vangelis formed a musical partnership with Jon Anderson, the lead singer of progressive rock band Yes, and the duo went on to release several albums together as Jon & Vangelis.
In 1981, he composed the score for the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. The soundtrack's single, the film's "Titles" theme, also reached the top of the American Billboard Hot 100 chart and was used as the background music at the London 2012 Olympics winners' medal presentation ceremonies. Vangelis also received acclaim for his synthesizer-based soundtrack for the 1982 film Blade Runner.
Having had a career in music spanning over 70 years and having composed and performed more than 50 albums, Vangelis is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of electronic music.
Vangelis was born 29 March 1943, in Agria, near Volos, Greece. Largely a self-taught musician, he reportedly began composing at the age of three. His earliest memory is "playing piano, some percussion and whatever else that was available that made a noise. Right from the start, I was only interested in playing my own music". He refused to take traditional piano lessons, and throughout his career did not have substantial knowledge of reading or writing musical notation. When he was six, Vangelis's parents enrolled him at a specialist music school in Athens. He recalls "I was lucky not to go because music schools close doors rather than open them". He studied painting, an art he still practices, at the Athens School of Fine Arts.
In 1989 received Max Steiner Award. France made Vangelis a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1992 and promoted to Commander in 2017, as well Chevalier de la Legion d’ Honneur in 2001. In 1993 received music award Apollo by Friends of the Athens National Opera Society. In 1995, Vangelis had a minor planet named after him (6354 Vangelis) by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory; the name was proposed by the MPC's co-director, Gareth V. Williams, rather than by the object's original discoverer, Eugène Joseph Delporte, who died in 1955, long before the 1934 discovery could be confirmed by observations made in 1990. In 1996 and 1997 was awarded at World Music Awards.
NASA conferred their Public Service Medal to Vangelis in 2003. The award is the highest honour the space agency presents to an individual not involved with the American government. Five years later, in 2008, the board of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens voted to make Vangelis an Honorary Doctor, making him Professor Emeritus at their Faculty of Primary Education. In June 2008, the American Hellenic Institute honoured Vangelis with an AHI Hellenic Heritage Achievement Award for his "exceptional artistic achievements" as a pioneer in electronic music and for his lifelong dedication to the promotion of Hellenism through the arts. On 16 September 2013, he received the honour of appearing on the Greek 80 cent postage stamp, as part of a series of six distinguished living personalities of the Greek Diaspora.
Suffocation
Vangelis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tutte le persone con bambini si rechino immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Attenzione! Ripeto! Attenzione!
Tutte le famiglie con bambini si rechino al rifugio B37!
Attenzione! Attenzione!
Attenzione! Attenzione!
Tutte le famiglie con bambini sono pregati di recarsi immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Ripeto! Tutti i genitori con bambini si rechino immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Tutte le famiglie con bambini si rechino immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Ripeto! I genitori con bambini si rechino immediatamente al rifugio B37!
[man:]
"Senti, io esco... e cerco di arrivare fino al blocco 14, perché... è necessario. Ieri ho visto Paul e..."
[woman:]
"E la sua ragazza?"
[man:]
"Niente, non ce l'ha fatta, lei non ce l'ha fatta"
[woman:]
"Caspita"
[man:]
"Però comunque così prendo una... così la tuta protettiva... e spero che sia sufficiente"
[woman:]
"Solo la tuta protettiva, forse è meglio che prendi anche la maschera, cosa pensi?"
[man:]
"Okay, così parto ora"
[woman:]
"No, è meglio aspettare ancora un quarto d'ora, venti minuti prima di uscire, che faccia più buio"
[man:]
"Guardo fuori come stanno le cose"
[woman:]
"Guarda fuori adesso sì"
"Hai guardato fuori che cosa succede?"
[man:]
"Niente"
[woman:]
"Niente? Come niente, c'èqualcuno fuori?"
[man:]
"No, tutto uguale come prima. Sembra che nulla si sposti. In effetti vale la pena tentare. Dammela!"
[woman:]
"Sì, sì, va bene, te la porto, va bene, sì, sì, vado"
The lyrics of Vangelis's song "Suffocation" serve as a dark and ominous warning of an impending disaster. The song begins with a commanding and urgent voice, calling out for all families with children to immediately seek shelter at B37. The repetition of the warning emphasizes the urgency and gravity of the situation. The announcement implies that some catastrophic event is about to occur, and the only course of action is to seek refuge.
The dialogue between a man and a woman that follows is interspersed with sounds of the outside world, such as the wind and the rustling of objects. The two discuss survival strategies, with the man going out to retrieve protective gear and the woman warning him to wait until it gets darker. The tension and fear in their voices indicate that the situation is dire and uncertain. The song's title, "Suffocation," further highlights the claustrophobic and suffocating atmosphere.
Overall, "Suffocation" is a haunting and thought-provoking song that evokes a sense of impending doom and the struggle for survival in the face of catastrophe.
Line by Line Meaning
Attenzione! Attenzione!
Urgent announcement!
Tutte le persone con bambini si rechino immediatamente al rifugio B37!
All people with children must go to shelter B37 immediately!
Attenzione! Ripeto! Attenzione!
Attention! I repeat! Attention!
Tutte le famiglie con bambini si rechino al rifugio B37!
All families with children must go to shelter B37!
Attenzione! Attenzione!
Urgent announcement!
Tutte le famiglie con bambini sono pregati di recarsi immediatamente al rifugio B37!
All families with children are requested to go to shelter B37 immediately!
Ripeto! Tutti i genitori con bambini si rechino immediatamente al rifugio B37!
I repeat! All parents with children must go to shelter B37 immediately!
Attenzione! Attenzione!
Urgent announcement!
Tutte le famiglie con bambini si rechino immediatamente al rifugio B37!
All families with children must go to shelter B37 immediately!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediately to shelter B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediately to shelter B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediately to shelter B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediately to shelter B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediately to shelter B37!
Immediatamente al rifugio B37!
Immediately to shelter B37!
Ripeto! I genitori con bambini si rechino immediatamente al rifugio B37!
I repeat! Parents with children must go to shelter B37 immediately!
"Senti, io esco... e cerco di arrivare fino al blocco 14, perché... è necessario. Ieri ho visto Paul e..."
"Listen, I am going out... to try and get to block 14, because... it is necessary. Yesterday, I saw Paul and..."
"E la sua ragazza?"
"And his girlfriend?"
"Niente, non ce l'ha fatta, lei non ce l'ha fatta"
"Nothing, she did not make it, she did not make it."
"Caspita"
"Wow"
"Però comunque così prendo una... così la tuta protettiva... e spero che sia sufficiente"
"Anyway, I will take... the protective suit... and hope it will be enough."
"Solo la tuta protettiva, forse è meglio che prendi anche la maschera, cosa pensi?"
"Just the protective suit, maybe it is better if you take the mask too, what do you think?"
"Okay, così parto ora"
"Okay, so I leave now."
"No, è meglio aspettare ancora un quarto d'ora, venti minuti prima di uscire, che faccia più buio"
"No, it's better to wait another fifteen or twenty minutes before going out, so it gets darker."
"Guardo fuori come stanno le cose"
"I'll look outside to see how things are."
"Guarda fuori adesso sì"
"Hai guardato fuori che cosa succede?"
"Look outside now."
"Have you looked outside to see what's happening?"
"Niente"
"Nothing."
"Niente? Come niente, c'èqualcuno fuori?"
"No, tutto uguale come prima. Sembra che nulla si sposti. In effetti vale la pena tentare. Dammela!"
"Nothing? How nothing, is someone outside?"
"No, everything is the same as before. It seems like nothing is moving. In fact, it's worth a try. Give it to me!"
"Sì, sì, va bene, te la porto, va bene, sì, sì, vado"
"Yes, yes, okay, I'll bring it to you, okay, yes, yes, I'm going."
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: EVANGELOS PAPATHANASSIOU
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind