On Oct 15, 1983, SONG TO THE SIREN by THIS MORTAL COIL entered the UK Singles Chart at #66.
In the autumn of 1983, the 4AD label released a mesmerizing single that would go on to become one of the most celebrated indie releases of the decade.
Fronted by Cocteau Twins vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, This Mortal Coil’s cover of Tim Buckley's Song to the Siren was achingly beautiful and melancholy, perfectly encapsulating the ethereal 4AD aesthetic. Paired with an atmospheric medley of two older Modern English songs, Sixteen Days and Gathering Dust, the 12” single established This Mortal Coil as a supergroup collective capable of reinventing both classic and contemporary works.
While pleased enough with the medley to use it as the A-side of the original 7” single, Watts-Russell was unhappy with the final product, shelving it until 2006 when it resurfaced on a 4AD iTunes compilation. In contrast, the shimmering B-side cover of Buckley's Song to the Siren exceeded all expectations. Backed by Guthrie’s crystalline guitar tones, Fraser’s otherworldly vocal performance instantly cast a spell, transforming Buckley's sorrowful folk ballad into something devastatingly gorgeous.
Watts-Russell quickly made Song to the Siren the focus, reissuing it as a single in its own right and earning This Mortal Coil a year-long run in the UK indie charts. By the time 4AD compiled the recordings into a box set in 2011, Song to the Siren had sold over half a million copies and established itself as an underground classic. Even the Cocteau Twins, who initially bristled at having their names attached to anything but their own work at the height of their powers, came to appreciate the recording’s singular beauty.
But what was it about Song to the Siren that lent itself so well to This Mortal Coil’s alchemical touch? To find the roots of the song’s emotional resonance, one must look to Tim Buckley himself, the mercurial singer-songwriter who composed it back in 1967. Buckley began his career in L.A.’s folk circles, garnering comparisons to Tim Hardin and Fred Neil, but he swiftly evolved into an avant-garde artist pushing the boundaries of jazz, funk, and vocal technique. Music writer Ira Robbins once described his voice as “an instrument of idiosyncratic range and capability...it dripped of sex.”
By the time Buckley wrote Song to the Siren at age 21, he was experimenting with lyrical concepts from Greek mythology and Elizabethan poetry. Longtime friend and poetic collaborator Larry Beckett had provided evocative lyrics centered on the destructive power of love. References to the Sirens of Homer’s Odyssey established themes of the sea, doomed romance, and betrayal.
Buckley was apparently unimpressed with the lyrics at first, objecting in particular to the line “I’m as puzzled as the oyster.” But accompanied only by sparse guitar work and wordless high wails, his tenor imbued the song with haunting beauty. His own hesitation to record it until changing the offending “oyster” reference meant that the first major release came from, of all people, Pat Boone. But the heartrending lyricism and Buckley's spectral presence in the original version give the song its enduring power.
By the time of Buckley’s early heroin-related death in 1975, he was a cult artist, admired by some but largely forgotten. This Mortal Coil’s cover introduced his work to a new generation open to his unrestrained style and palpable emotion. In Fraser’s hands, the song became something suspended outside of time itself. Stripped of any late 60s trappings, her mysteriously accented voice discovers new depths of meaning in the lyric. She transforms Buckley’s sorrowful ballad into an ageless lament.
It comes as no surprise then that Song to the Siren has inspired covers by artists from diverse worlds, including Bryan Ferry, Robert Plant, Sinéad O'Connor, and Half Man Half Biscuit. With its themes of love, loss, and the cruel sea, the song offers endlessly renewable inspiration. But nothing has matched the sublime, bittersweet intensity of This Mortal Coil’s version. More than just a lovely tune, it remains one of the great recordings of the 80s underground.
Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
'Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang
Sail to me
Sail to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you
Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you here when I was forced out
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks
For you sing, "Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow
Oh my heart, Oh my heart shies from the sorrow"
Well I'm as puzzled as the newborn child
I'm as riddled as the tide
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Or should I lie with death, my bride?
Hear me sing, "Swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you
Here I am, here I am, waiting to hold you"
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發表於 2024-10-16 22:00:47
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