AUD $30.00
Through a Sylvan Doorway released 2012 (physical CD)
Step through the Sylvan Doorway into the realm of the Goddess and the Green Man, where the horned one walks the leaf-dappled pathways and bright Áine dances in the greenwood at Midsummer.
You are ordering the physical CD.
Starting on the snare drum as a youngster, Matt soon expanded his interests to playing the Drum Kit and dove headlong in to the world of Classic Rock.
Enjoying the music of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Cream, He found a large Jazz influence in the drummers of those bands which led to listening to all sorts of Jazz, Blues, Funk, Latin, fusion and progressive rock music.
Over the years Matt has played in many different groups and genres of music, including developing a keen interest in playing the Bass guitar and dabbling in a bit of banjo. influences and inspiration have come from listening to lots of Indian music, Celtic, Folk and other World music styles across the decades.
The exciting thing about playing in Spiral Dance is the ability to be able to draw upon all the styles and influences he has absorbed in over 30 plus years of immersion in the music world.
Simon started learning violin as a young child, later studying at the Australian National University in Canberra and The Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance in Melbourne.
Simon has played violin and viola in orchestras as far afield as Ontario, Canada and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Wanting to branch out from the world of classical music, Simon performed violin, guitar and vocals in punk, rock and country bands in Canberra and Melbourne, most notably The Orphanage and Patches, selling out iconic Melbourne rock venues like the Workers Club and the Old Bar.
After moving to Adelaide, Simon joined Spiral Dance in 2022, where his alter ego the Scrubwren feels at home with the band’s strong connection to the earth and its stories.
Residing in Naarm/Melbourne, Rena has been involved in musical performance on stage and behind the scenes for over 40 years. Her styles have mostly centred around rock, pop, folk and blues.
Her first public performance was playing bagpipes in Adelaide’s Christmas Pageant, aged 10, which launched her lifelong addiction to entertaining audiences. Rena spent her teenage years busking in Adelaide's Rundle Mall every chance she got.
In addition to her work with Spiral Dance, Rena has collaborated on projects with members of F.A.B., Seven Stories, Colcannon and the Steve Brown Band. She was a founding member of the long running live-to-air radio show The Hillbilly Hoot (Three D Radio) and also made musical guest appearances on AM Adelaide and children’s TV show The Music Shop (including some with Spiral Dance!).
“I love playing live! You pour your energy into the performance, the audience amplifies that back and you keep lifting each other until it hits them – they are part of the band.”
Through fire light and dark the winter called
Come greet an early morning with the frost upon the land
A halo binds the moon with ice crystals in the air
And the skeletons of trees like guardians do stand
The harvest is long over and we’ve passed through Samhain’s gate
The misty woods are sleeping, for Bridhe’s sweet kiss they wait
The wind it cuts like a knife, for the bones of Jack Frost keens
And the Winter King will soon bow down to the champion of the green
And the lord of the woodland is waiting in the leaves
Through the forest and the hedgerows the song of life he weaves
With his feet deep in the soil he watches over the greenwood
He’s a messenger from nature this ancient wise god
Hey oh it’s the green man Jack, running through the woods singing up the summertime
And you know you will never look back from where the spirit of the green will take you
There’s poetry in the breezes that tell of things to come
With dancing corn and swaying wheat beneath the summer sun
Lay down among the blossoms sacred to the flower bride
Lost in scented fields where meadowsweet runs wild
Lady of the lakes and fields, lady of the woods
I feel your verdant energy pulsing through my blood
Your silver skin of bark and moss upon your thighs
With Ivy twirls and briar curls you watch with hidden eyes
Can you tell the green man is waiting in the leaves
Through the forest and the hedgerows the song of life he weaves
With his feet deep in the soil he watches over the greenwood
He’s a messenger from nature, this ancient wise god.
Hey oh it’s the green man Jack, running through the woods singing up the summertime
And you know you will never look back from where the spirit of the green will take you
Strength of Oak and sage of Yew, Rowan, Ash and Thorn
The summer king has claimed his bride so all will be reborn
The spirit of the wildwood calls, in the language of the trees
Protect the woodlands of the earth is the forest gods’ decree
Without the essence of the green our world can never be
Drawing breath around us from the sun into the leaves
from soil and shoot, stem and root, by leaf and bark and limb
We keep alive the wisdom of the Lord and Lady Green
And the Wildman of the woodland is watching from the leaves
Through the forest and the hedgerows the song of life he weaves
With his feet deep in the soil he watches over the greenwood
He’s a messenger from nature, this ancient wise god.
Hey oh it’s the green man Jack, running through the woods singing up the summertime
And you know you will never look back from where the spirit of the green will take you.
I shall go into, go into a hare
With sorrow sigh and with mickle care
I shall go into, go into a hare
With sorrow sigh and with mickle care
I go to the Devil in the Devil's name
And stay till I come home again
I go to the Devil in the Devil's name
And stay till I come home again
I shall go into, go into a crow
With sorrow sigh and the blackest throw
I shall go into, go into a crow
With sorrow sigh and the blackest throw
Chorus
I shall go into, go into a cat
With sorrow sigh and a jet black shot
I shall go into, go into a cat
With sorrow sigh and a jet black shot
Chorus
I shall go into, go into a hare
With sorrow sigh and with mickle care
I shall go into, go into a hare
With sorrow sigh and with mickle care
Chorus
As the ocean kissed the shore over nine waves they came
And by the queens of Ireland three gave the land a name
A mighty fleet of ships sailed with Amergin at their head
And when his feet touched the sand in rhapsody he said
I am the wind across the sea
I am the Bard of poetry
I am the lake upon the plain
I am the storm that brings the rain
I am the roar of the ocean tides
I am the stag of seven tines
I am the heat of the noonday sun
I am the dusk when the day is done
I am the salmon of the wise
I am the Queen of every hive
I am the dark of the mountain strong
I am the flowing river’s song
I am the hawk that hovers high
I am the land, the sea and sky
I am the wild and raging boar
I am the ninth wave on the shore
I am the spear in battle dread
I am the fire in your head
As the ocean kissed the shore over nine waves they came
When the chill winds blow in and there’s flurries of snow
Into the woods the wren boys will go
The smallest of birds with feathers of brown
With their bows and their arrows they’ll hunt the wren down
Thirteen notes between the winter and the spring
In the holly and hedgerows hear the druid-bird sing
At the coming of Yuletide the hunt will begin
For the Wren, the King of the birds, King of the birds
Flushed from the bramble and chased from the gorse
With sticks and with stones taken by force
The quest for the wren as he draws his last breath
In a bier of ribbons paraded in death
Chorus
Your time is slipping by, four seasons in your song
I’ll listen tiny bard as you sing all winter long<
The pattern you wove, high above the ground
Why try to win with strength when there’s wisdom to be found
Chorus
It’s a melancholy autumn, can you feel late summer’s breath
Dusk has come a chasing the light is fading in the west
She waits outside my widow crying in the forest tongue
The time has come for endings you know it won’t be long
Old Norfolk pine stands sentinel he watches over my home
His branches all lie silent now the ravens have all flown
But come he calls and rest a while in amongst my boughs
The sky is waiting for you and there’s omens in the clouds
Sleek of wing, white knowing eye yes it’s you I see
I’m longing to fly with you into eternity
And in the waning dusty days there’s a message in your song
Come lie beneath the fallen leaves and sleep ‘till winters gone
Light splinters through the trees as sharp as any thorn
And the prism of your tears are rainbows waiting to be born
So it’s time to draw the curtains on life’s dark pantomime
All that’s left is a suitcase of memories locked in the attic of time
CHORUS
Always trust your intuition the raven said to me
For you know the whispers from your heart foretold a prophecy
And you’ll see that everything passes nothing forever lasts
So take the mantle from the gaslight and bury the bones of the past
CHORUS
Close your eyes against the sunlight where scarlet pools lie deep
like the rivers and the lochs where the water spirits sleep
beneath the rocks and stones there's secrets that they keep
down below black water below black water deep
Beneath the lowering sky where darkness reaches green
on a hill above a burn a proud horse was seen
wild were her eyes her flanks were strong and lean
gazing down into black water into black water deep
Ride Kelpie ride the wind is at your side
Take the wanderer on your back into the waters dive
Bide Kelpie bide in the lake cold and wide
Dark shape shifter of the tides
Along the open road a traveller came by
and by a darkling pool the proud horse he did spy
grazing all alone with no one by her side
down beside black water beside black water deep
His journey had been long the travel had been slow
and weary were his feet with many miles to go
he thought to take the horse and upon her back he'd go
and ride away from black water from black water deep
Chorus
So to the horse he came with freedom on his mind
and holding to her mane upon her back he climbed
but kelpies won't be tamed so never shall he ride
away from black water from black water deep
Her scream pierced the sky worse than a banshee's shriek
the mare reared up high as sparks flew from her feet
and with a roar like thunder from the bank did leap
down into black water into black water deep
Chorus
Dusk is falling round your eyes
heart is beating in your chest
in the north I see your rise
but you run towards the west
how long must I hold the sky
before it's time for you to flee
if the hemispheres ever collide
perhaps then you’ll l be free
Cold star cluster beauties
Ice blue jewels in flight
In your celestial realm
Don’t let him see your light
He'll steal what you won’t give him
And he’ll strip your spirit bare
There’s a chaos in his love
In a line of song so rare
Running in darkness alone
struggling now to forget
memories into black holes are thrown
stardust shelters regret
and to me you will always be lost
heart and spirit now torn
once my last thought every night
once my first thought every morn
Chorus
I see you my beautiful sisters
running reckless across the night skies
in the present we’re all seeking peace
but fear what the future decides
and when I’ve been gone a thousand years
your shining youth wouldn’t have died
still on your dark soul journey
waiting for the hemispheres to collide
Chorus
The musk of earth the musk of deer
I turn, I run I show no fear
With velvet tines and head held high
Smell the breeze taste the sky
With thunder hooves beneath the moon
I know the hunt is coming
On silent wing the flight of owl
With star filled night the wild dog howl
Of feather beak black eye and claw
Of scale and talon bone and fur
I live and dream within the wild
And with the wild I journey
I run with hoof I run with horn
I shed my skin I am reborn
It’s to the wild that I am sworn
And to the wild I am returning
With sunlight’s ray the day is new
Upon my skin the morning dew
Damp leaves cling to skin so fair
Twigs and bark knot chestnut hair
I hear the song of stag and hind
And know my heart is singing
CHORUS
Moon’s crystal kiss on spider weave
Silver caress on darkling leaves
Chill nights breath on rock and stone
Dancing mist the way is shown
Within body and within soul
The forest now is calling
And when dawn wakes me from my dream
I’ll taste the clear of mountain stream
Soil and leaves fall from my face
Of human form there is no trace
What binds me has been left behind
I see the track way I must follow
Hold the river
Hold the river for the river is life
Hold the river
Hold the river for the river is life
She snakes her way across the land
From rising alps to golden sand
Moving to the rainbow song
He’ll fill her belly and make her strong
Chorus
From the water hole big codfish swam
Carved the banks and the waters ran
From snow melt east and high cliffs south
Life blood flows from her sandy mouth
Chorus
Riverine forest red gums grow
Send their seeds into the flow
Deep rooted, firm by the water’s side
You give your soul to the river’s tide
Chorus
River sweet she’ll feed you
quench your thirst and keep you
take you on a journey to where the Southern Ocean lies
Through drought we’ve watched her dying
But now the river’s crying
It took a blue-sky flood to make the waters rise
Chorus
Through the mists of long ages past
in a time of great gods and alchemy
beneath dark hills and caverns deep
worked a strange and mystic sorcery
born in thunder from the mountain
awakened by an ancient flame
forged by immortal power
the mighty swords from Wayland came
White metal upon the anvil rings
shining steel upon the iron lay
cooled in the dew of early morning
runes of prophecy carved along the blade
who has seen this shadowy smith?
From the dwarves of Iceland learned his trade
the noble craftsman of magic metal work
the mighty swords of Wayland came
Follow along the old track way
to where the silent long barrow lies
the stones hold his secrets close
timeless voices still sing his praise
for such power won't stay hidden through time
within the secret of the blades
from the blacksmith of the immortals
the mighty swords of Wayland came
Chorus
The silver moon lay upon the black water
Upon the black water that covered the lake
She stepped over stones and walked down to the shallows
To ask the bright lady what path she should take
And the silver light crept into all the dark places
Into her heart and into her mind
Storm clouds will gather the moon will be waning
Come drink from the cauldron to see what you’ll find
Deep in the silence of snow covered mountains
And down to the valley a glitter with frost
In the depth of the night she searched for the tinder
To try and rekindle the embers she’d lost
But the fire had died and the flames were all ashes
The rose and the briar no longer entwine
Somewhere there’s a dream that’s suspended in amber
And the scar on her heart will be there for all time
Drops of rain gather on the heart’s cold bare branches
Weather the storm and your leaves turn to rust
Sing into the wind and cast words to the ether
Dance in the passion then choke on the dust
A new story has risen but who writes the ending
There’s thorns in the heart and storms in the head
Fingers would dance across a cold fret board
The lyrics were there but the music had fled
Many winters have passed and the summer comes bringing
Warmth and a start to a new melody
Shining notes scribbled across the soft vellum
Words written in tears will sketch new memories
A soul slick with heartbreak lays on the dark pavement
The trek back up the mountain has been a harsh climb
Only the gods know the length of the journey
and the wind whispers there’s no going backward in time
A dragon fly danced across the blue water
Across the blue water that covers the lake
She stepped over stones and walked down to the shallows
To ask the bright lady what path she should take
No point gathering thread to mend what was broken
or remember the feel of that final embrace.
The bright ladies beside you the full moon will guide you
The journey has ended and the story has changed.
There’s an old river redgum standing close to the water
Roots down deep into the bank are bound
And a ripple of song from the river god’s daughter
Follow the lyric to where your story is found
She calls ‘come, step into the shallows’
Leave your shadow behind for there’s darkness below
She’ll sing you a charm she’ll sing an enchantment
Step away from the past and dive into the flow
Let the flow take you between the old tree roots
Deep into the bank between water and earth
Come face the challenge of all that is shifting
Give yourself to the river give yourself to rebirth
Come into the womb of magical imagining
a slick salty path to the cauldron within
a sea that’s awash with bright inspiration
release what was broken let the journey begin
Swim with skin changing deep in mind reaching
dance with the pull of the moons wax and wane
vision unfolding and change is upon you
for the dark goddess has spoken your name
With invisible strings the wind harp calls to you
The warmth of summer on your skin where you lay
Drink from the cup filled with liquid sunlight
The sheoak whispers ‘tis a new day …
On a hide of land next to a wood
From spring through to harvest a man of straw stood
Sways with the breeze and looks over the wheat
As the shadows of summer fall at his feet
And the wind shakes the barley and rattles the rye
And scarecrow looks on as the year passes by.
Burnished thistles float through the air
Challenge the crow with a cold lifeless stare
No one thinks of you through the long sun kissed days
Nodding away in the summer time haze
And the wind shakes the barley and rattles the rye
And scarecrow looks on as the year passes by.
Scarecrow old scarecrow you look so forlorn
There alone in your field of ripe corn
And when all lies silent and there’s no crows to scare
Who lays the stalks into patterns so rare
And when the wind becomes restless and the harvest is done
You can dance like a dervish beneath the bright sun
When the winter winds howl and the hearth fire burns
From beyond the dark woodland the wild hunt returns
The hide lies in silence, the crows have all flown
Wild seed and thistle to the four winds are blown
Your coat is in tatters, straw in decay
Your season is over you’ve seen the last day
Heavy the plough that furrows the earth
Soil rich and black filled with seeds of rebirth
Across the sky dances a pattern of rain
Sun in his zenith will ripen the grain
And in the spring when all is reborn
A new man of straw watches over the Corn
CHORUS
Spiral Dance's two-CD album "Thirteen Notes" is a tightly-constructed set of sixteen songs stylistically reminiscent of the great British bands of the folk rock boom of the '60s and '70s such as The Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Jethro Tull, and others.
Their songs, perhaps best described as pagan folk, are inspired by tales and legends from Britain's Celtic past; their wide range of acoustic and electric instruments are tied together masterfully by David Pendragon's skillful mixing and production. Adrienne Piggott's lead vocals are rich, warm, and expressive. The musicianship is emotive, crafted and dynamic.
Thirteen Notes is an impressive album.
Fred Pilcher, Canberra.
