The World Is Burning. Can Music Help Save It?
I spoke with my aunt in Arizona the other day. She’s confined to her house because going outside for five minutes can kill you; at her age, it probably would.
Cars turn into ovens. Pavement and metal surfaces can cause third-degree burns on contact. Birds and other animals are dying. It’s supposed to get worse before it gets better.
And now we have a report from scientists in Denmark that the Gulf Stream may be about to stop working. Combined with Greenland being on the verge of catastrophic melting, we may see Europe freeze while North Africa and the Caribbean broil, and the Florida coast simply washes away. It could start this year or in fifty years — we don’t know. Of course, Florida’s politicians are working overtime to require the state to boycott companies that shift their investments away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Because.
The forecasting models are still imprecise and full of uncertainties, but it is obvious — or should be — that something is seriously off. So, with the world burning and some people still in denial, I thought a little nature worship was in order. By coincidence, both of the artists I’m highlighting have Norwegian connections. Norway may actually stay livable longer than most other places, but in case magical incantations can help, they’re giving it their all. Call it a back-up option.
Heilung: “Norupo”
“Heilung” is German for “healing”. The members of the band hail from Germany, Norway, and Denmark.
They are:
Kai Uwe Faust — vocals (2014–present)
Christopher Juul — music, production (2014–present)
Maria Franz — vocals (2015–present)
They record and tour with large ensembles of supporting musicians.
Their concept is to re-create bronze-age music as it might have sounded, based on evidence from archaeological digs and bits of pre-Christian musical tradition still found in parts of Europe. They play bones, animal-hide drums, gongs, horns (yes, real horns), and modern instruments.
They sing in Proto-Germanic and Proto-Norse, languages reconstructed by linguistics experts from Old Norse, German, English, and other European languages.
Many of their songs are about our ties to nature and our world. We know that most pre-industrial societies worshipped nature and the universe in one way or another. Many cultures today still have a personal relationship with the natural world. Some Westerners laugh at that sort of thing, calling it “primitive,” but it looks like the joke may be on us.
This song is an incantation to the old gods, who symbolized the various forces of nature. They start the ritual with some magic mushrooms. Why not?
Aurora “The Seed”
Aurora Aksnes is hard to describe. She is pale, ethereal, almost elfin, yet she can be quite to the point, even crude. She has a pure yet powerful voice (she says she hates the sound of it). She has become Norway’s biggest musical export, almost despite herself. She has dedicated herself to getting the message out that we must save our planet.
Aurora grew up in Western Norway, in a small town on a fjord surrounded by trees and rivers. She found an old piano in her parents’ attic and taught herself to play some of the songs she had heard on the radio. Her list of influences includes Leonard Cohen and Enya. She began composing songs when she was nine but had no intention of performing them for the public. She imagined herself as a dancer or perhaps a doctor instead.
After one of her songs was performed at a school event, someone posted a video of it without her permission, leading to her being contacted by a major music label. She does not affect any cute hypocrisy — she is quite happy that millions hear her music. But she is most comfortable with isolation and quiet in her personal life.
This song is based on a Native American proverb about greed and what it is costing us.
You cannot eat money, oh no
You cannot eat money, oh no
When the last tree has fallen
And the rivers are poisoned
You cannot eat money, oh no.
Sources:
“How Denmark’s Heilung Are Creating “Amplified History” With Human Bones, Throat Singing” (Revolver, 2018) https://www.revolvermag.com/music/how-denmarks-heilung-are-creating-amplified-history-human-bones-throat-singing
Heilung facebook page
“Aurora Aksnes says she hates sound of her own voice” (2015, The DailyMirror) https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/john-lewis-christmas-advert-singer-6790489
“Without Darkness the World Would Be Boring and Life Would Be Very Flat” (Vice, 2016) https://www.vice.com/en/article/64ymyb/aurora-interview-all-my-demons-greeting-me-as-a-friend
“Mother Earth’s Warrior” (2018, The Line of Best Fit) https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/longread/mother-earths-warrior-aurora-interview-2018
Wikipedia pages on “Heilung” and “Aurora”