Dead Winter Dead

[Ðanisty]

I'm mostly curious about Djamila's opinion on this one, but I'd love to hear from anyone who's a fan of Savatage. I'm not interested so much in the accuracy of events, but the overall affect of the story.

It's Christmas, so I've pulled out all my seasonal CDs. My favorite by far is Dead Winter Dead by Savatage. I actually listen to this one year-round because it doesn't sound so much like a Christmas CD and really it's not because it's about the Bosnian war, but the story being told takes place on Christmas. This is a concept album so just listening to a couple of tracks doesn't really tell the story. Here's the wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Winter_Dead

Here are the lyrics to all the songs and the story that's included in the leaflet that goes with this CD:
http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/savatage/deadwinterdead.html

Here's an anime music video that someone made using the song Not What You See. It's the last song on the album. Just ignore the video and listen to the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj89gr0_zEc

 

[Djamila]

I've heard a lot of these songs before. I really liked best the lyrics to the song "Sarajevo" because it was something that showed an understanding of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and of Sarajevo in particular.

For example:

In the town of Sarajevo, there's an old medieval square
There's a church aside one corner most believe was always there

The Church, Katedrala Srce Isusove (Cathedral of Jesus Heart) is just barely 100 years old and the square, Trg Katedrala (Cathedral Square), dates back to the same era. Yet, Sarajevo grew during that era and now this square is in the middle of the downtown area. So the lyrics were wrong, but they expressed the feeling at that time - that we had always lived togther, even though a real Christian presence in Sarajevo is something relatively recent by the city's history.

It was built a thousand years before any now were born
And its glory was its belfry with its stones all gray... and worn

Now there's a gargoyle on that belfry and he's been up there for years
And he has watched and he has pondered: "What is laughter, what are tears?"

And he's never found his answers as he sees the years go by
But he watches and he wonders with his stone unblinking eyes

The last line in this portion is also very nice. A lot of Bosnians, especially in multiethnic cities like Sarajevo and Tuzla, watched Serbia's war unfolding first in Slovenia, and then Croatia, and then in rural Bosnia - and felt helpless. They felt above all of this, and the poetry at the time, the art at the time, reflected this. There was one famous incident where some Serbian idiots wrote "THIS IS SERBIA!" on the side of the Post Office in downtown Sarajevo, and a day later someone had written the reply, "No, this is a post office, you ****ing peasant!"

It was sort of like being swept away into other people's hatred. And there was nothing anyone could do.

IT WAS THE YEAR OF NINETEEN-NINETY
AND THE BERLIN WALL WAS DOWN
AND A THOUSAND YEARS REGRETTED
NOW LAID BURIED IN THE GROUND

Very true. The Berlin wall coming down, Sarajevo hosting the Olympics, all of that - it was like our golden age.

AND THE PROPHETS READ THE FUTURE
AND THE OMENS ALL SEEMED KIND
IN THE CLASSIC WORDS OF DICKENS
IT SURELY WAS THE BEST OF TIMES

Again, nice.

 

[Ðanisty]

Yeah, I expected that the lyrics wouldn't be 100% accurate. I'm glad to hear though that the meaning behind it is mostly true. This album produces such strong emotion for me. What about these:

IN THE WORLD OF DEATH AND MURDER
THEY'RE THOSE WHO DO THE DEED
BUT WAITING IN THE SHADOWS
ARE THE MEN WHO SEWED THE SEEDS

THEY MAKE THEIR THIRTY-PIECES
SELLING GUNS TO ALL WHO PAY
AND WHEN BULLETS PIERCE THE FLESH
THEY ARE SAFELY FAR AWAY

AND BACK IN SARAJEVO
A GIRL STOOD INSIDE THE ROOM
LISTENING TO MEN CALLED MERCHANTS
OFFER GUNS TO FORESTALL DOOM

THEY SAID THEY CAME TO HELP
WHEN MUSLIMS PLIGHT THEY'D HEARD
BUT WHAT THEY HAD
SOMEHOW FAILED TO MENTION
WAS THEY SAID THE SAME THINGS
TO THE SERBS

We dared to ask for more
But that was long before the nights began to burn
You would have thought we'd learned
You can't make promises all based upon tomorrow
Happiness, security are words we only borrowed
For is this the answer to our prayers, is this was God has sent?
Please understand this isn't what we meant

The future couldn't last, we nailed it to the past
With every word a trap that no one can take
Back from all the architects who find their towers leaning
And every prayer we pray at night has somehow lost its meaning
For is this the answer to our prayers, is this was God has sent?
Please understand this isn't what we meant

No life's so short it can't turn around
You can't spend your life living underground
For from above you don't hear a sound
And I'm out here, waiting
I don't understand what you want me to be
It's the dark you're hating, it's not who I am
But I know that it's all that you see

No life's so short that it never learns
No flame so small that it never burns
No page so sure that it never turns
And I'm out here, waiting
I don't understand what you want me to be
It's the dark you're hating, it's not who I am
But I know that it's all that you see

 

[Djamila]

The last two could be about anything, as far as I'm concerned. It's romanticizing something that, in reality, doesn't really lend itself to that line of thinking.

But the first, about the merchants, is fairly close. It reflects the views of most foreigners. The Germans are about the only ones who Bosnian Muslims completely trust in terms of their government's actions leading up to, and during, the war.

Everyone else has various alterior motives in the minds of at least some of the population.