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.
The Little Fete
Vangelis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We are allways three ... counting my shadow and my friend the shimmering moon
Happily the moon knows nothing of drinking, and my shadow is never thirsty
When I sing, the moon listens to me in silence. When I dance, my shadow dances too.
After all festivities the guests must depart. This sadness I do not know.
When I go home, the moon goes with me and my shadow follows me"
The lyrics of Vangelis's song The Little Fete depict a joyful and carefree individual who finds comfort in the company of nature. The singer takes a bottle of wine and sits among the flowers to enjoy the moment. The setting is idyllic and perfect for reflection and introspection. The lyrics suggest that the individual is not alone, and that they count their shadow and the moon as their companions. The shimmering moon is portrayed as a friend who doesn't know anything about drinking, while the shadow is always present and never thirsty.
The lyrics also suggest that the singer is a performer who sings and dances while the moon and the shadow accompany them. When the festivities are over, the guests depart, and there is a sense of sadness in saying goodbye. However, the singer finds solace in the knowledge that the moon and the shadow will follow them home. The lyrics are a celebration of life, friendship, and the beauty of nature.
Interesting Facts:
Line by Line Meaning
I take a bottle of wine and I go drink it among the flowers.
I enjoy the simple pleasures in life, like sipping wine and admiring the beauty of nature around me.
We are allways three ... counting my shadow and my friend the shimmering moon
Even though I am alone physically, I find comfort in the presence of my own shadow and the moon.
Happily the moon knows nothing of drinking, and my shadow is never thirsty
While I indulge in wine, the moon and my shadow remain content in their own existence and do not crave any material pleasures.
When I sing, the moon listens to me in silence. When I dance, my shadow dances too.
Even though others may not be present to witness my joy, I find solace in the fact that the moon and my shadow appreciate my art forms.
After all festivities the guests must depart. This sadness I do not know.
While others may feel sad after a celebration comes to an end, I do not experience this same feeling as my companions, the moon and my shadow, are constant fixtures in my life.
When I go home, the moon goes with me and my shadow follows me
No matter where life takes me, I will always have the comfort of the moon and my shadow by my side.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: EVANGELOS PAPATHANASSIOU
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@fordwk
Thank you for posting...you answered a 33 year old question for me :)
"I take a bottle of wine and I go drink it among the flowers.
We are always three ... counting my shadow and my friend the shimmering moon
Happily the moon knows nothing of drinking, and my shadow is never thirsty
When I sing, the moon listens to me in silence. when I dance, my shadow dances too.
After all festivities the guests must depart...this sadness I do not know.
When I go home, the moon goes with me and my shadow follows me"
@Morgel666
Rite by Moonlight ...
Here are flowers and here is rite ...
Era in feeling with me to run ...
Love in hand and tear to heart ...
Thunder in cup and lightning struck ...
Rather than to feel alone ...
I’ll make right to whisper the bloom ...
To show and express her beauty in grace ...
It sentiments her loving embrace ...
Mary, answers, and she lifts ...
My water on her silver cheeks ...
The earth complies, we grow and shall be ...
I believe, a merry company ...
The modest waterfall abides the drop ...
But bloom promptly lives it up ...
And when I look my dear seeks ...
flying along in motion and feast ...
Every hour the bloom times to repel ...
She stares and loves in motion to tell ...
And when I love, my rite in song ...
The echoes of the bloom prolong ...
Say, when shall we next meet together ...
Surely not in cloudy weather ...
For you my most faithful companion dear ...
Come only when the sky is clear ...
Me ...
For every season there is a part and a time ...
For every gift of love, something grows and repels over time ...
For every heart granted be thankful with deep compassionate respect ...
Know that better times are ahead and in the present near you ...
For some things last, others are forgiven, be grateful ...
U will always be glad about the changes or experiences ...
Moral:
See it as a mirror of your own reflection upon life ...
But don't fall for the mirror of the mirage in the water ...
The emperor felt lost in his life because he believed something too good to be true ...
In his own reflection when seeing something beautiful in his life reflected in the water ...
So he tumbled over into the pool and drowned ...
Because he never could swim and forgot the weaknesses within himself ...
Be aware of the inner and outward parts of your life ...
Like the moon in my future, the sun in my presence, and my shadow in the past ...
Counting the company of three toward time that seen existence over life ...
The Holy Ghost reflected upon the earth in the spiritual guide that shows our moon ...
The Son of God reflected throughout life as Jesus within the sun as our presence ...
The Shadow of our life reflecting in consciousness is God ...
Where all past mistakes need to be confessed and sanctified ...
This is the three-cycle state within time over time ...
To guide every spirit back towards salvation and reckoning ...
Be grateful and forgive everyone child let it be and lively up yourself ...
@flyerbluedog
Je prends une bouteille de vin et je vais la boire parmi les fleurs.
Nous sommes toujours trois–
comptant mon ombre et mon amie la lune scintillante.
Heureusement la lune ne sait rien boire,
et mon ombre n'a jamais soif.
Quand je chante, la lune m'écoute en silence.
Quand je danse, mon ombre danse aussi.
Après toutes les festivités, les invités doivent partir;
Cette tristesse, je ne la connais pas.
Quand je rentre chez moi,
la lune m'accompagne et mon ombre me suit.
@daverei1211
Lets take a minute silence for those still looking for this song.
@steveneurrutia
I am made of blue sky and golden light...and i will feel this way forever
@KAs619
Where is that version?
@MikeCaz
It’s a commercial
@cacitybird
Chanel #5
@mikec.6500
@@KAs619 Right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBLFCQD76zk
@robertford7810
Sir Ridley Scott did those advertisements. Short but brilliant.
@southhussain2710
Whenever I listen to this song I always picture a man sitting in a patch of flowers in a beautiful forest, drinking and singing while enjoying the company of his shadow and the light from the shimmering moon.
@robertford7810
Back when people and times had class.
@EddieCaplan
This is my favorite from the China album.