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Enya sings in a tongue from a 'distant planet'
SOMETIMES words are not enough — well, English ones anyway. Enya, the reclusive Irish artist, has invented a new language after deciding that English was too “obtrusive” for her lyrics.The Dalkey-based singer also rejected Gaelic and Latin, both of which she used on previous records. So a quarter of the songs on Amarantine, her new album, are in a tongue called Loxian, which she devised with her lyricist Roma Ryan.
Don't look now, but it seems the ghost of L. Ron Hubbard has some competition.
Adiemus called, they want their gimmick back.
Posted by: DensityDuck on November 28, 2005 08:25 AMNothing wrong with that. Lisa Gerrard has done the same thing for years. To me it is just the artist taking the the idea of the voice as another instrument. It lets you concentrate on the music and expression being made. If visual artists don't have to stick to a certain rule of thumb and get to create their own form because existing ones don't quite get out their idea, why should musicians?
Posted by: Joshua on November 28, 2005 09:19 AMWell, if one of the goals is for people to understand the song, singing it in a language they know might help.
I'm just sayin... :)
Posted by: Scott on November 28, 2005 09:29 AMAh, but who says the goal is to understand the lyrics? And, who says you need to understand the lyrics to understand the song?
Just sayin' ...
Posted by: Joshua on November 28, 2005 09:36 AMEnya has lyrics? I thought it was just her making funny noises in 6/8 time.
Not that I don't enjoy her music, but still, I haven't listened to it for awhile, so I can't remember much of the lyrics (or whether or not they made sense...)
But, I'll support Joshua on this - I listen to Shakira in Spanish (or Portuguese, depending) and enjoy it. I listen to Clannad in whatever the hell language they speak and enjoy it. Good music tends to transcend the lyrics - assuming that it's made for the enjoyment of the sound. If you're trying to get folks to enjoy your message, however, you probably need to put the music in some language that you didn't just make up because you're a reclusive Irish singer/artist/whacko.
English and Irish Gaelic is what Clannad sings in Ron. Oh and Enya was in Clannad before going solo, she is the sister of three of the members in the group.
Posted by: Joshua on November 28, 2005 12:11 PMYeah - I remember understanding some of the words on their album, but then having songs go way the hell out there - enjoyable, but I think they were singing about hard-boiled eggs (the exact same thing I think all operas are about if I bothered to translate them).
Posted by: ronaprhys on November 28, 2005 12:18 PMMUSIC GEEK FIGHT!!!!
Posted by: Scott on November 28, 2005 12:48 PMI bought the album. It's not bad, I just didn't understand it :)
Posted by: ellen on November 28, 2005 12:58 PMEllen - don't worry, nobody outside of Enya and the lady who helped her did, either. Except maybe the aliens. Not the grey ones, though. Just the greenish ones, the ones with medium to large eyes that have a fondness for cattle-probing.
Ya know Ellen..we bought it too. And I am enjoying it.
With Enya I just go "Does it sound good?" "Yup." "Good enough for me."
I leave the existential b-s to other loonies.
Posted by: Carrie on November 28, 2005 05:30 PM