RO.T – “Dalens Dimmor” (Mists in the Valley).

   Hey dear people! 🙂 

   Today, I’d like to share with you a song from a very interesting Swedish group that I  recently discovered. RO.T (Rebecka O’Nils Trio) set Swedish-language poetry from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries to music. They are influenced by classical and folk music. Apart from  Rebecka O’Nils who composes melodies for the poems that the group performs, the other two thirds of the trio are Jenny Klefbom, who arranges harmonies for the songs, and William Bülow O’Nils who arranges them for guitar. 

   This particular song comes from their debut album, which focuses entirely on the poetry of Harriet Löwenhjelm. Löwenhjelm was born in the latter half of the 19th century. She was artistically inclined from an early age and, originally, she wrote her poems as a way to complement her drawings and paintings. Some of her poems are very well-known in Sweden from what I’ve read. Sadly, she lived only until her early thirties, as she had contracted tuberculosis, and spent her last months in a sanatorium in Småland. 

   I like the poem itself, as it definitely speaks to my angsty nature, but RO.T’s interpretation makes it even more beautiful and full of meaning. 

   The (possibly slightly inept, and literal, not poetic) translation below is written by Bibielz. 

      I am afraid of mists in the valley 

And the moon sucks my blood 

Oh, I stood at home on the doorstep 

I might regain my courage 

But I am afraid of mists in the valley 

And the moon sucks my blood 

Oh, , I stood at home on the doorstep 

I might regain my courage 

But I am afraid of mists in the valley 

 

They rise so pale from the soil 

As if white ghosts they walk 

Though the moon is not full yet 

He still sucks my liver 

Oh, I am afraid of mists in the valley 

And the moon sucks my blood 

Oh, I stood at home on the doorstep 

I might regain my courage 

But I am afraid of mists in the valley 

Rachel Newton – “To the Awe”.

   Hey dear people! 🙂 

   The song I have for you today is the title track from the Scottish singer and harpist Rachel Newton’s last year’s album To The Awe. It was recorded during the Covid lockdown, and, interestingly, as Rachel writes on her Bandcamp, her vocals were recorded in her bedroom wardrobe. Recording this album in such circumstances must have been difficult, but I like albums that were recorded in some unusual way or setting etc. and how people can be creative and resourceful about it. It is all about women, from a historical angle, because all of the lyrics here are old ballads or poems. On the contrary, the arrangements feel more contemporary, more than was the case with her previous albums, and with quite rich instrumentation. 

   As for this particular song, it was inspired by a poem called The Rock of Cader Idris, written by the English poet Felicia Hemmans. The poem, in turn, is inspired by the mysterious Welsh mountain Cadaer Idris, whose name translates to Idris’ Chair into English. Its name comes from Idris, the medieval king of Meirionnydd, who, according to Welsh folklore, was a giant, so huge that he could view his entire kingdom from the mountain, sitting on it as if in an armchair. There’s also a rock on top of the mountain that resembles a chair. According to the legend associated with Cadaer Idris, when you spend a night on the mountain, you’re going to wake up either dead, or frenzied, or possess the gift of poetic inspiration. And that’s what both Felicia Hemmans’ poem and Rachel Newton’s song are about. I have actually already shared one other musical piece about Cadaer Idris on here, recorded by The Harriet Earis Trio. 

The purring symphony.

Curled up together, we silently lie

me, and him – Misha, the sweet child of mine

I can hear the beating of his feline heart

knowing that no one could tear us apart.

I breathe in  his smell, listen to his sounds

his delicate paws, his head, small and round.

My hand on his chest, I feel how he breathes

What do you dream of, in your peaceful sleep?

his purring – a comforting

symphony

Puts me to sleep, with its sweet harmonies.

When the day comes, I wake up calm and free

And that’s how we live, my Misha and me.