“It regularly happens that people ask me:
“what are you actually singing about?”,
referring to a certain song, or: “what is the text, what is it about?” And it is true that behind words, behind a text, very often a whole world is hidden and also that certain words can be explained in different ways. That is the reason why the introduction of this third CD is devoted to the contents of the various texts which accompany the melodies, to give an impression of what was at the cradle of the origin of the songs, and how to understand them.”
MOTHER
Songs presentation
1. Water drops (3:35)
In the first song, Waterdrops, the principle of love is connected with the symbol of water. The text invites us to consider love in a broader way, to see love as an encouragement to learn to give instead of being often disappointed in our expectations. And plants, animals, the sunshine, and also the air and water, aren’t they gifts which are freely available all the time?
Lyrics & Music: Mother
2. A real friend (3:40)
A real friend is about love in the form of friendship. Perhaps a real friend is someone who has the courage to speak their mind freely, when it can help us at a certain moment.
Lyrics & Music: Mother
3. A sword of fire (4:02)
A sword of fire leads us into the world of those who fight or fought for more truth or justice in this world. It may concern an advocate of a certain (holy) matter in the interest of humanity, or –- in a more spiritual sense – the archangel Michael.
Lyrics & Music: Mother
4. Les affaires du monde (2:42)
Les affaires du monde (The affairs of this world) was originally written for a meeting of businesswomen, but turned out to be interesting enough for a recording.
Lyrics & Music: Mother
5. ذرّة الوجود Dharratou el woudjoud (6:03)
Dharratou el woudjoud (Every atom of the universe) is based on an Arabic text by Ahmed Ben Mustapha el Alawi, which describes how in every atom of this universe the name of the Creator is engraved.
Lyrics: Ahmed ben Mustapha El Alawi
Music: Mother
6. Il était une fois (3:46)
The song Il était une fois (long ago in a faraway land…) refers to the inner reality of the world of the fairy-tale. Happiness eventually falls to the person who was the first to stand up to witches, dragons and gluttons, on a thorny path, without a road-map…
Lyrics & Music: Mother
7. Angel (2:33)
The title song, Angel, has to do with the role of women in this world. After more than a century of fighting for more freedom and equality, especially with regard to men, it is not certain that for humanity as a whole the result is fundamentally one of happiness, especially as we look at the condition of the earth. Perhaps we can say that women have not yet fully taken on their real task.
Lyrics & Music: Mother
8. The journey (2:39)
The journey came about in co-operation with two flutists from the Algerian Gasba tradition. The text concerns the road man has to take in this world, but as a personal experience it is based on the idea of brotherhood and on that which binds us, humans, together, even when our roads appear to be very different.
Lyrics: Mother
Music: Mother / Abdelkader Hamadi
9. 9. Live it (2:58)
Live it is about the core of existence: life is a serious matter and should not be taken too lightly.
Lyrics & Music: Mother
10. La danse des aigles (4:22)
La danse des aigles (The dance of the eagles) is about the flight of the eagle, who high above the earth seems to defy existence and was therefore symbolic of heroic man and freedom in many mythological stories.
Lyrics & Music: Mother
11. Wherever you go (2:08)
The song Wherever you go was originally written for a person who, at the end of a long sick-bed, finds himself at the transition to the other side. It represents the (optimistic) conviction that the parting is temporary and existence outside the material world a reality.
Lyrics & Music: Mother
12. Wheel of life (4:19)
In Wheel of life we find what in the Tarot is called ‘the wheel of fortune’, which is a symbol of fate. Fate seems to be unwavering, and yet it leaves man fully free in the choice of how to act.
Lyrics & Music: Mother
13. فرحة الإل Ferhatou el Ilahi (2:31)
The last composition, Ferhatou el Ilahi (The joy of God) is based on a poem in Arabic from my own hand, in Soefi tradition. After all these words I would like to wish everybody much listening pleasure, and thank all those who have contributed to the realization of this work!
Lyrics & Music: Mother