1999 – Dead Bees on a Cake

Praise (Pratah Smarami)

bhagavatīstutiḥ – ‘so moving…so pure’

‘I met Shree Maa in the Spring of 1996, when my wife asked me to accompany her to a friend’s house where the saint was visiting,’ recollects Charles Seward. ‘When we arrived everyone was singing, ringing bells and dancing about the room. I thought, “Is this a wild party, or a spiritual gathering?” Trying not to feel out of place, I sat in the back of the room and watched. There were song sheets but I could not pronounce the words which were in Sanskrit. The atmosphere was alive with a kind of infectious loving, joyful feeling. Slightly out of character for me, my hands started to slap my crossed legs, and before long my knees were bouncing, my head waving and my hands clapping. My heart started to open, as the boundaries that separated me from others faded. The whole experience contained a great sense of elation.

Thalheim – The Church Bells Strike

‘the rebirth of love’

‘Thalheim is a place in Germany,’ states David Sylvian factually on the promotional interview cd that was provided to journalists when Dead Bees on a Cake was at last released by Virgin. ‘A place where another famous Indian saint lives and receives people from around the world. I visited her there and the song touches upon that and my relationship with her.

Pollen Path

‘the chaotic nature of life on earth’

Some of the tracks destined for Dead Bees on a Cake had their first origins even before David Sylvian hit the road with Robert Fripp for The Road to Graceland tour, the first date taking place in Tokyo in October 1993 only weeks after David and his wife became parents. Continue reading “Pollen Path”

Darkest Dreaming

Climbing down from the mountain

David Sylvian really knows how to end an album on the perfect note. ‘Brilliant Trees’ captures a faltering faith but the wonder of human love as the summation of his debut release of the same name. Secrets of the Beehive, in its original incarnation, leaves the question ‘is our love strong enough?’ hanging in the air, extending beyond the last notes of ‘Waterfront’ and into our own thoughts. The ‘sunshine above the grey sky’ of ‘A Fire in the Forest’ calms the atmosphere after the brutal soul-searching of Blemish.

I Surrender

The joy of love, human and divine

‘I Surrender’. The track that broke a long silence. In the previous five years only a handful of collaborative tracks had been released and indeed David Sylvian admitted that at times the happy circumstances of his life may have resulted in him leaving music behind altogether.