Cygnus Rock Band - Winter in the North (Fire and Tales)

This song is my secret love from this album.

As usual, I'm aware of that it's underestimated.

Not that I would be surprised... 😒

This song is a beautiful example of the complexity and delicateness of Cygnus's music, also how much the average music listener is not aware of it.

I have cursed average music listeners here on this blog I don't know how many times for being superficial, going only for the easier, ear-candy melodies and not investing anything at all, neither energy, nor time into getting to know Cygnus's music on a deeper level, to discover the many hidden gems each and every song is full of. Even though I have the firm standpoint that everyone should be able to raise up on a higher level in listening to music, it's only the question of decision and focus, I'm learning - or rather I should learn - that there are some people who are simply unable to dive deep into music, may it be Cygnus or anything else. Whether it's the lack of sensitivity, perhaps simply just being lazy or overy comfortable - or they really try to understand it, but they can't reach beyond a certain level, it doesn't matter at the end. It exists. These people exist. It's just painful for me to see that here is this wonderful band with fully dedicated, absolutely talented, very creative musicians writing and composing songs, each and every one of them is a little masterpiece and you could go for hours discussing every little tune, melody, word, the time signatures, the tempo changes, the idea behind it, the lyrics... because they would deserve it. But the vast majority out there is just unable to do that.

Oh well. I'm rich. And this wealth is not exclusiverly and solely mine, it's out there for anyone. 

The intro of the song in itself is so beautiful that brings me goosebumps. Melodic, folk-ish, complex, played only by electric instruments. Soon the humane voice (Ruxx) takes it over, bringing the magic together with itself.

A pair of instruments accompanies the vocals. Very subtly, hiding behind the strong, sharp tenor there's a flute and a tiple whispering into the listener's ears with their sweet sound.

They are irresistible.

The electric instruments keep silent in the meantime. No harshness, no rock-ish sounds, only the humane voice along with these two, backed by - of course - the forever faithful rhythm section. They show themselves only in the chorus, joined by the symphonic orchestra and here I need to dedicate a few words to the lyrics, which by default are beautiful in this song (I'll tell you about it later).

Hearth fire kept strong and bright

Fading Skađi's brushstrokes through the night

A welcomed warmth filling the home

Warming one's soul to the bone

It's wonderful and I find this poetry breath-taking how it describes the northern light, the aurora borealis. 

Skađi is the "skiing goddess" of Norse mythology, often appearing as the personification of winter. A strong, independent huntress with bow, arrows and skis, known to be the ruler of winter, the mountains, snow, hunting, also revenge and justice is often described in the sagas as a wild, sometimes vengeful goddess living the life she wants, not allowing even the gods of Aesir to determine it.

And I love this very poetic contrast between the cold (symbolized by the northern lights) and the home's welcoming warmth with fire at the fireplace, a bowl of thick soup and most of all, love.

After the chorus the theme of the song returns, but now it's taking the tiple by its hand and keeps close to itself.

Pure beauty. It's just so wonderful, I lose words time after time. The sound of tiple in Cygnus's music always enchants me. No matter which song it is about, no matter how, no matter if it's hiding or if it's in the spotlight. Every time it caresses me, playfully dances around me, tempts me, laughs, holds me tight, then suddenly hides away just to return and kiss my tears off my eyes that I shed by the music's beauty. It makes my heart shiver, and I just reach out for it, with tears in my eyes, and the sound of the tiple, like a little firefly flashing its aethereal light sits on my palm and lets me keep it in the cup of my hands. 

The stanzas return, the flute and the tiple together tempt the listener and let me again quote the song, dear Reader, the fourth stanza of the lyrics.

The snow loves the trees and fields

It gently kisses them as they bow and kneel

"Go to sleep my darlings, in spring you will heal

Your bounty will be great for autumn harvest meal"

This is the first ever time I see and hear a rock/metal song singing about the beauty of winter. 

There are countless songs out there, where - especially for death and black metal bands - it's about the harshness, the cold and the darkness of winters where only the strongest and toughest can survive. Think of "Black Winter Day" by Amorphis, "Where Cold Winds Blow" by Darkthrone or "My Skin is Cold" by Satyricon. Winter is dark, winter is cold, the blizzard freezes even your bones, everything is lifeless, dead. Your breath freezes onto your face as the frost slowly kills you. And here appear two wonderful Colombian men who open up our eyes to the beauty of it. How I love this image of the bowing trees and kneeling bushes and other plants

how many times I have seen them on winter days, when these plants were covered with snow and the weight of it made them bow down. Sometimes, especially when I was a child, I hit them a bit, so a part of the snow fell off of them and they could raise back up in their natural position. And how many times I have seen trees, especially pine trees staying in bowed position forever after an especially harsh winter...

and this entire idea behind it all, that in reality winter is really caring and gentle. It is only us, human beings who refuse to see it this way, because all we experience (or rather all we are willing to see from it) is the cold, the darkness and the lack of food. But the truth is, that winter is a caring phenomenon for Nature, allowing it to rest, even covering it with a blanket, healing and repairing all the wounds the other seasons caused.

And all this with such a poetic, wonderful image.

Have I mentioned how very much I love this band?...

After the chorus the theme appears only to quieten down and let only the tiple sing. It's accompanied by percussions only, and after a while the bass re-appears with its deep, soothing sound. Then the tiple disappears and the symphonic orchestra takes over the place; it's as playful as the dance of the snowflakes during wintertime.

This is again a hidden gem of the song. The solo is entirely acoustic/symphonic, with no guitars. Complex, with a tempo changing

yes, one of the things that make me melt

with a musical dialogue

again melting me here...

then everything disappears and the chorus returns with all its beauty. Humane voice, symphonic orchestra, tiple, guitars, bass, drums all together singing about the heart-warming, loving home in the middle of the cold and dark, but still gentle and caring winter.

I can't get enough of it.