•
Rating: TAVOR FOR YOUR EARS. I just can't swallow this one... It's been 15 years (maybe a few less) that Enya keeps giving us albums that are carbon copies of one another. But I wonder: who the hell buys these honeyed and sugary albums, like medieval folk-ambient from the soundtrack of a Scottish period film? I can imagine hordes of stressed young housewives in a romantic mood whose man doesn't give them anymore, or women managers coming home with terrible headaches, saying "come on, (very Milanese, in fact) let's put on Enya, that relaxes me..." This is indeed Enya's strategy: listen to me, you'll be calm, I won't shake you, no jolts, no minor chords, no drum rolls, you just sit there quietly in your armchair, I’ll take care of relaxing you. A true and authentic "Sound Tavor"... to be taken once a year via stereo. And unfortunately, some believe it and do it seriously, because otherwise, the great success of this pallid little English girl with the same photoshopped face on the cover forever wouldn't be explained, as if time never passed, as if nothing ever passed. The proof? You take one of the early albums and put it in your CD player... well? Everything is as it was, nothing new, nothing has changed, everything is similar, a chord changes, in one track there are distant bell sounds, in another the rhythm is a tiny bit more sustained and she sings as if she were the fourth shepherdess of Medjugorje with the fourth secret of Fatima on artistic and economic longevity. In short, an insipid and downright sticky album due to how much molasses oozes from every track. An album that, however, "works damn well" on HER audience, on a whole category of people who want a pseudo-soundtrack from music to "unplug" and enjoy a "brain in neutral" without thoughts, without effort, without the slightest perceptual or interpretive involvement. Downright nauseating. P. S. goodbye and I'm off like a few million Italians on "vacation" to stress in traffic on the highway... oh my, what music should I bring in my car radio to kill time? Oh no... I won't fall for it, I'd prefer an Eno DOC, PanAmerican, Devendra Banhart, or any other artist but Enya, no chance?!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Less Than a Pearl (03:44)
Out of night has come the day.
Out of night, our small earth.
Our words drift away.
Our words journey
to find those who will listen.
We call out into the distance...
We call out into the distance...
We call out into the distance...
We call out into the distance...
Less than a pearl in a sea of stars,
we are a lost island in the shadows.
It may be our words become lost.
It may be our words find nothing, find no-one.
We call out into the distance...
We call out into the distance...
02 Amarantine (03:12)
You know when you give your love away
It opens your heart, everything is new
And you know time will always find a way
To let your heart believe it's true
You know love is everything you say
A whisper, a word, promises you give
You feel it in the heartbeat of the day
You know this is the way love is
Amarantine, amarantine, amarantine
Love is, love is, love...
Amarantine, amarantine, amarantine
Love is, love is, love...
You know love may sometimes make you cry
So let the tears go, they will flow away
For you know love will always let you fly
How far a heart can fly away
Amarantine, amarantine, amarantine
Love is, love is, love...
Amarantine, amarantine, amarantine
Love is, love is, love...
You know when love's shining in your eyes
It may be the stars falling from above.
And you know love is with you when you rise,
For night and day belong to love
06 Long Long Journey (03:17)
City lights shine on the harbour,
night has fallen down,
through the darkness
and the shadow
I will still go on.
Long, long journey
through the darkness,
long, long way to go;
but what are miles
across the ocean
to the heart that's coming home?
Where the road
runs through the valley,
where the river flows,
I will follow every highway
to the place I know.
Long, long journey
through the darkness,
long, long way to go;
but what are miles
across the ocean
to the heart that's coming home?
Long, long journey
out of nowhere,
long, long way to go;
but what are sighs
and what is sadness
to the heart that's coming home?
07 Sumiregusa (04:42)
Mono no aware
Murasaki iro no hana
Haru no hana
To fuyu mo koyuki
Harahara
Shizen no bi kana
Ah! Midori no ha to
aki no iro
Kaze no koe Tori no saezuri
Kanashii umi
yorokobiino umi
Yama
Koishi
Ayamegusa
(translation)
The poignancy of things
A purple flower
The blossoms of spring
and the light snow of winter
How they fall
The beauty of nature
A green leaf and
Autumn colours
The voice of the wind
The song of birds
A sad sea
A joyful sea
Mountains
Pebbles
A wild iris...
08 Someone Said Goodbye (04:02)
Night has gone without my tears
Now I walk alone
You're no longer here
The days turn to years
I could never say goodbye
To the sadness in my eyes
You know you are in my heart
But the miles keep us apart
Time moves slow
In the falling rain
I still dream of you
And whisper your name
Will I see you once again?
I could never say goodbye
To the sadness in my eyes
You know you are in my heart
But the miles keep us apart
I could never say goodbye
09 A Moment Lost (03:08)
It's only now when words are said
that break my heart in two,
I wonder how you can endure
all I've said, all I say to you.
How strong, how brave, how true of you
to bear the hurt I gave.
I know it tears your heart in two:
all I've said, all I say to you.
After all the words are said,
after all the dreams we made;
every one a precious one,
every one a summer sun...
A moment lost, forever gone,
can never be again,
so know how much it means to me;
all you said,
all you gave,
all your love to me.
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By Eneathedevil
"Amarantine is a fine product of recycling. Already familiar to connoisseurs, pleasant as a Fernet to those approaching the artist for the first time."
"Recycled, to be sure, but sounds good."
