As you've already noticed, I'm big, but, a big fan of AURORA! Just access the two messages I wrote on my Blog.
She, however, released a new album on January 21st called "The Gods we Can Touch". She had already shared some songs, but I'm going to listen and react to the album, to talk about my perspective on the songs.
First, I'll talk about the title of the record that is very dear to me. "The Gods We Can Touch" is absolutely genius. The record is a tribute to the gods of Greco-Roman mythology, something I adore, that I studied in a self-taught way and that led me to study astrology many years ago. I can make a birth chart and I can still connect to my old studies for the people closest to me. This allegory linked to the mythology that embodies a pluralistic mystique gives us a broad vision of our human condition. Each song has its mythological representation, its entity that is a god or a goddess. Goddess is Aurora, and I will be able to prove it to you.
Religion is part of everything and nothing in our existence; it is something personal, universal, and great, but it is one of the personal constructions if we want it or not. No one can under any circumstances make judgments about the lives of others, because if it is an individual enrichment (or not), it cannot serve to attack other people on pain of not responding to the very essence of religion, which is to allow the construction of a reason for our existence - and it is clear that this reason must be expressed through peace. We can believe without imposing our beliefs, without destroying other people's reason for living (we should). "The Gods We Can Touch" are the gods we can touch, who are close to us and our humanity. Truth be told that in mythology there is a whole imperfect effervescence with many confusions in the mix... There is no perfection, it's life.
The first title of the album is very beautiful and is called "The forbidden Fruits o Eden". The name says it all! The apple that Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden. AURORA's voice is angelic as always. The music is minimalist, the bass and the piano… Very beautiful! The Goddess she chooses is Gaia, the Earth Goddess.
Gaia The Forbidden Fruits of Eden
Dionysus by Fedini The Blood in The Wine
The second title of the album is "Everything Matters". She invited the French singer Pomme to sing with her. It talks about all the things that touch our lives and the things that make life something magical, but that we often don't see and miss. It appeals to everything that surrounds us to be part of the greater good. Atlas is the God who is represented in this song. I chose this live version with Pomme because it's perfect. I love AURORA's voice, as well as Pomme's, the intro of the "beat", the bass, and the piano at the end, is amazing.
Atlas Everything Matter
"Giving To The Love" was released in 2021 and talks about the outside world, and the influences that transfigure the external image in opposition to the inside, symbolically portrayed by the fire that Prometheus stole from the Gods to give to humans. The song is about the transfiguration of clay and the freedom that this transformation allows assuming your self-love. I love the intro and the rhythm.
Prometheus Giving To The Love
The fourth "Cure For Me", which had already come out in 2021 alludes to "Conversion Therapies" a cure for homosexuality or gender identity. These therapies are, (how to write something without being unpleasant?) a ridiculous thing. As if treating a disease!? What would the conversion be for? To become heterosexual and homophobic? It makes no sense, and they should be banned worldwide. Being homosexual or claiming your own identity is something personal and no one has the right to force another person to be and feel differently than they are - respect is reciprocal. AURORA, who is an ardent supporter of the LGBTQIA community says there is no cure for her and for us.
Panaceia Hermaphrodite
Cure For me
"You Keep me crawling" has a strong message. The misuse of power in the various spectrums of life and the idea of superiority over others is evident, raised, above all, in ethnic, racial, relational, religious differences, and in gender inequality... Everything that can subjugate and put people on their knees. Persephone was kidnapped by Hades, who kept her in her underworld.
Persephone You Keep Me Crawling
"Exist For Love" was released during the pandemic, because, according to her, it was the right time for people who were going through a very complicated phase to receive a song about love to appease their lives a little. She was the one who made the video with her closest friends. For the fans it was a surprise, the song appeared out of nowhere and the sound was completely different from what she does - a song inspired by the 1920s, and the clothes too. But the surprise was above all the choice of the theme, this time she sings about love, something she transcribes underlying. In this song, she makes us Exist for Love. The first guitar accords are divine, the lyrics recognize the peace that we experience when we are in love because suddenly we feel complete. There is no comparison in vocal terms, AURORA is tender… The violins personify peace and love, universal love, and sentimental love. How I would like that the leaders to listen to this song at this troubled moment and put an end to war and the evil that intrinsically exists, and to be able to open their arms and say that they live for Love. AURORA, how I liked it! The Goddess she chose is Aphrodite.
Aphrodite Exist For Love
I particularly like "Heathens" because of the meaning of the lyrics. An ode to the choice of Eve, the first woman created by God, according to the Abrahamic religions, when she ate the apple from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and gave it to Adam to eat. She gave us the self-determination, to fall into temptation, and she is the first woman to be seen as a sinner because of that choice - the original sin of Adam and Eve described in the Christian religion. That's why AURORA says that we live like pagans, our women because everything we do and has done for centuries was related to sins. We are judged for having an opinion, burned, subjugated to the will of men, and, unfortunately, still ongoing today. The discourse on women's freedom is always questioned by men to control us, control our bodies, and our sexuality, whether through religious doctrines or a simple invasion of our identity. Everything is terrible. The idea that women are inferior to men is still foreseen. Let us live in peace, and be what we want. Women should go on strike. "Heathens" is therefore a chant to send everyone who wants to demote us for a walk. It is a song of freedom and pride in doing what we want without negative condescension or paternalism from anyone, even within a family. It is also for everyone who is not respected in your life, whether they are men or women. When women judge other women, they cannot forget that they are judging themselves, their sisters, or their daughters, and the men who do that are judging their wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters. Also… she chooses Persephone
Persephone Heathens
She bargains with the world
So everything she wants will come to her
With no greed inside her mind
She knows what she deserves
We fell from sky with grace
And landed in her soft and warm embrace
She gave her love, her gift of life
So we could live with her
That is why we live like heathens
Stealing from the trees of Eden
Living in the arms of freedom
And everything we touch is evil
That is why we live like heathens
The stone, the dirt, the dust
The unforgiving promise made to us
Unworthy of your light, your god, your touch
We're guided by the lust
We cry the fallen names
We cry for those who burn beneath the flame
We stand beside the good and brave
The broken and enslaved
That is why we live like heathens
Stealing from the trees of Eden
Living in the arms of freedom
And everything we touch is evil
That is why we live like heathens
Everything you touch will be hers
A mother with no heart will give love
Her love is yours, but only if you give your heart to her
That is why we live like heathens
Stealing from the trees of Eden
Living in the arms of freedom
And everything we touch is evil
That is why we live like heathens
That is why we live like heathens
That is why we live like heathens
"The Innocent" is interesting and matches the other songs. It's about the sexualization of nudity. In this piece, she talks about the freedom to dance naked, to be free in the world without feeling the weight of the sexualization of everything we do, of how we dress, so she talks about internal innocence in contrast to the evil that people see around us. Many of the people who express themselves freely, who dress freely, and who are free don't feel the evil around them because they are often innocent. The related god is Eros for his representation of love, beauty, youth, and innocence.
Eros The Innocent
"Exhale, Inhale" is a work of art. AURORA manages to reach heights of beauty with her songs in such a way that life is suspended when she sings. This song is one of them. The message, once again, is from someone who cares about what's going on in the world. A song clearly about climate change, but that can also speak of people's indifference to those closest to them. With the war we witnessed in Ukraine, it's a song that can also help those who are suffering. Just breathe again and feel the peace in the words she wrote. The God represented is Thanos who is the personification of death.
Thanos Exhale Inhale
"A Temporary high" is about time and the experiences we live. About the past, the present, and the future. The possibility of living in this space-time in the best way, taking advantage of the past and the present to have a better future. The Gods represented are Chaos for life itself and Janus for the two opposite faces - one for the past and one for the future. The sound of the song is reminiscent of the 1980s, the band A-ha to be precise.
Chaos Janus. Watercolor by Tony Grist. 2011
A Temporary High
"A Dangerous Thing" is about the illusion we encounter in life. The deception is hidden in beauty, in people, in our choices, in politics, in our relationships, and in how we transform ourselves along the way. Wings are lost, says AURORA, we lose faith in others, in humanity. Se chooses the Goddess Peitho, the goddess of seduction and persuasion.
Peitho A Dangerous Thing
Artemis is the Goddess of hunting, the moon, magic, childbirth, and virginity, she is a warrior goddess. AURORA represents her as a Goddess who occupies all space, who conquers, who accumulates and keeps everything in her bosom, and who has no scruples. Despite her nature, everyone wants to be close to her, and everyone dreams of conquering her.
Artemis by Bachzim Artemis
"Blood in The Wine" is very interesting, mainly because it starts with a tone related to the "Westerns" and the "cowboys" movies. My interpretation of the lyrics is also very interesting. It can be mine because everyone has their own. I think it is related to religion, something that in the first instance is something good, intrinsic, individual, and enriching and that if you feel its presence in your hearts, it should be respected. However, it is often related to the lack of choice that many lives because they are born in countries where a certain religion predominates and are forced to live with dogmas that may not represent them. This lack of freedom and obligations transforms people, and they often end up being seen as sinners when what they want is just to live according to their own needs. Religion, and its representatives, when they are malicious (unfortunately) take advantage of their power to imprison people, to put blood in wine. This song can also be related to Dionysus, the god of parties and feasts. The enjoyment of life. Dionysus is the God she chooses.
"This Could be a Dream" is my favorite from this album. She has a very beautiful melody. The structure of the song is perfect. It reminds me a bit of a song from the 1980s. The lyrics once again have an altruistic message. She sings to help those who can't overcome some difficulties in their life. The God she chose is Morpheus, the God of dreams.
Morpheus This Could Be A Dream
"A Little Place Call Moon" is the last song on this album. It is a very beautiful moment that she shares with us. The Moon is a star that she likes a lot. She is a star that allows us to dream of better days, for melodies that cradle our lives. The God is Astraeus.
Astraeus A Little Place Call Moon
On the original album, the songs end with "A Little Place Call Moon", but AURORA has made a new version, for vinyl, with two new songs - "The Woman I Am" and The Devil is Human" in place of "Giving Into The Love" and "You Keep Me Crawling". I will introduce these two songs in my message.
"The Devil is Human" is again a song about freedom and the will to live, even if it's not in tune with religions. AURORA, as good Norwegian, as she is, has a backlash about religions, about the weight they cause on people, about hell. Another masterpiece. She chooses the god Hades, the god of the underworld, of souls.
On the vinyl record, the previous song is after "The Woman I Am", but as I like it a lot, I choose to end my message with it. The song is a tribute to women. The emphasis is on the difficulties of living in a man-made world. She sings that women, people, must love themselves first. She chooses the Goddess Hera, the queen of Olympus, Goddess of the Gods, of motherhood, of wives, the first to have shrines. The song has a tone that takes us back to the 1980s, AURORA's voice is incredible, and the chorus is impeccable. Very, very good! I share a live version.
Hera The Woman I Am
I finish the message, finally. It took longer than I thought. AURORA is a complete artist. She never strays too far from her essence. Bravo AURORA!
The images were taken from the internet, some I couldn't know the authors or authors.
The first posts about AURORA on my Blog.
