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Welcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Looking for something previously featured? Click here.
Typically I try to keep these covers "dancable" in terms of modern club dance with definitive and unmistakable rhythms. For this occasion and our monthly Third Sunday Throwback to the twentieth century, I've chosen something seasonally dark and festive done by our gothic godmommy to which you could certainly sway in goth style, but it's not really driven by beats.:
Siouxsie And The Banshees – Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant (Traditional - Original Recording Not Found)
Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant (translates as "He Was Born, The Divine Child,") is a traditional French carol with origins that date back to the 1700-1800's. Its general tune was derived from two hunting tunes: Ancien Air de Chasse and Tête Bizarde. Its lyrical content, pretty much the story of the birth of Jesus Christ as found in the Book of Luke, is believed to have been penned sometime in the 18th century. The first documentation of the song seems to have been when it was published by R. Grosjean in a 1862 collection of carols, Airs des Noëls lorrains and the lyrical text was published 13 or 14 years later in Dom G. Legeay's Noêls anciens. The popularity of the song would appear to have been surprisingly widespread in those times, to the point of reaching a number of international shores, with a notable cultural variation called Rotonni NiioRoie Mia by the Mohawk Indigenous Indian tribe of Northern Vermont.
The carol apparently also has its own traditional dance, akin to a polka, wherein the dancers fleetingly take the shape of a twinkling star.
It's not entirely clear who the first performer of this centuries old song was, but what might be one of its earliest recordings was done by Canadian folklorist singer and comedian Arthur Lapierre in the early 1900's (reportedly 1928.)
There are at least nearly sixty recordings of the song. Annie Lennox and Tom Tom Club are among artists who have covered it. One of the earliest recordings after Lapierre was done by Siouxsie And The Banshees as a second A-Side track on their 1982 single, Melt, which was released on the Friday following Thanksgiving that year (which in itself has little significance given it was only released in Europe and it was still a few years before that day became commonly refereed to as Black Friday.)
Sioux sings it in its original French, and while there is no specific indication of her inspiration, it's not unlikely she'd heard it in her youth as both of her parents spoke French and her father was from a primarily French-speaking part of Belgium. Whether she'd held any particular religious beliefs at the time, this was not the first time Sioux drew from Catholicism. One of her earliest performances was an improvised twenty minute rendition of The Lord's Prayer. Siouxsie And The Banshees also filmed a very basic video of the band performing the track on the set of a snowy Dickens-esque street. The video included Robert Smith, dejectedly waiting his turn to clash the cymbals he held, but never does.
This haunting rarity can be found on the 2004 Siouxsie and the Banshees box set, Downside Up, perhaps the perfect gift for the elder goth or baby bat in your life this season.:
The Cover:
The Earliest Found:
Next week:
One last carol for the holiday... a darkwave cover filled a bit of wonder on the weekend officially kicking off winter.
д＼(✖.̫✖)ノ♪
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... always welcome! You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to reply below, but all replies are screened for spam prevention.
Currently my next gigs will be in January 2020 and I'll spin at least four times throughout New England and upstate New York! Details can be found on my schedule with additional updates soon!
(And if, after 4+ years and 241 weekly entries, you find this blog of any value, consider leaving me a tip in the form of the gift of music and get me something from my wishlist on Bandcamp if you like. It'll go to good use! Thanks!)
Thanks for reading and keep dancing in darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 08 - Gunship – Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)
Dec 01 - She Wants Revenge – Hazy Shade of Winter (Simon & Garfunkel)
Nov 24 - Seer of the Merciful Own – One Week (Barenaked Ladies)
Nov 17 - Attrition– Underpass [click, click, drone] (John Foxx)
Nov 10 - Simple Minds – Teardrop (Massive Attack)
. Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies .
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Looking for something previously featured? Click here.
Typically I try to keep these covers "dancable" in terms of modern club dance with definitive and unmistakable rhythms. For this occasion and our monthly Third Sunday Throwback to the twentieth century, I've chosen something seasonally dark and festive done by our gothic godmommy to which you could certainly sway in goth style, but it's not really driven by beats.:
Siouxsie And The Banshees – Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant (Traditional - Original Recording Not Found)
Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant (translates as "He Was Born, The Divine Child,") is a traditional French carol with origins that date back to the 1700-1800's. Its general tune was derived from two hunting tunes: Ancien Air de Chasse and Tête Bizarde. Its lyrical content, pretty much the story of the birth of Jesus Christ as found in the Book of Luke, is believed to have been penned sometime in the 18th century. The first documentation of the song seems to have been when it was published by R. Grosjean in a 1862 collection of carols, Airs des Noëls lorrains and the lyrical text was published 13 or 14 years later in Dom G. Legeay's Noêls anciens. The popularity of the song would appear to have been surprisingly widespread in those times, to the point of reaching a number of international shores, with a notable cultural variation called Rotonni NiioRoie Mia by the Mohawk Indigenous Indian tribe of Northern Vermont.
The carol apparently also has its own traditional dance, akin to a polka, wherein the dancers fleetingly take the shape of a twinkling star.
It's not entirely clear who the first performer of this centuries old song was, but what might be one of its earliest recordings was done by Canadian folklorist singer and comedian Arthur Lapierre in the early 1900's (reportedly 1928.)
There are at least nearly sixty recordings of the song. Annie Lennox and Tom Tom Club are among artists who have covered it. One of the earliest recordings after Lapierre was done by Siouxsie And The Banshees as a second A-Side track on their 1982 single, Melt, which was released on the Friday following Thanksgiving that year (which in itself has little significance given it was only released in Europe and it was still a few years before that day became commonly refereed to as Black Friday.)
Sioux sings it in its original French, and while there is no specific indication of her inspiration, it's not unlikely she'd heard it in her youth as both of her parents spoke French and her father was from a primarily French-speaking part of Belgium. Whether she'd held any particular religious beliefs at the time, this was not the first time Sioux drew from Catholicism. One of her earliest performances was an improvised twenty minute rendition of The Lord's Prayer. Siouxsie And The Banshees also filmed a very basic video of the band performing the track on the set of a snowy Dickens-esque street. The video included Robert Smith, dejectedly waiting his turn to clash the cymbals he held, but never does.
This haunting rarity can be found on the 2004 Siouxsie and the Banshees box set, Downside Up, perhaps the perfect gift for the elder goth or baby bat in your life this season.:
The Cover:
The Earliest Found:
Next week:
One last carol for the holiday... a darkwave cover filled a bit of wonder on the weekend officially kicking off winter.
д＼(✖.̫✖)ノ♪
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... always welcome! You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to reply below, but all replies are screened for spam prevention.
Currently my next gigs will be in January 2020 and I'll spin at least four times throughout New England and upstate New York! Details can be found on my schedule with additional updates soon!
(And if, after 4+ years and 241 weekly entries, you find this blog of any value, consider leaving me a tip in the form of the gift of music and get me something from my wishlist on Bandcamp if you like. It'll go to good use! Thanks!)
Thanks for reading and keep dancing in darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 08 - Gunship – Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)
Dec 01 - She Wants Revenge – Hazy Shade of Winter (Simon & Garfunkel)
Nov 24 - Seer of the Merciful Own – One Week (Barenaked Ladies)
Nov 17 - Attrition– Underpass [click, click, drone] (John Foxx)
Nov 10 - Simple Minds – Teardrop (Massive Attack)
. Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies .
