Day of the Dead: Norrda and "Infinite Face"

Tonight I'm doing our Global Music Show (10 pm - 1 am Mountain time on KUNM 89.9 Albuquerque/Santa Fe or live stream at http://www.kunm.org). The show will focus on the Day of the Dead, or Dia de Los Muertos, as well as All Souls Day and Halloween. For the last couple of days, I've kind of immersed myself in musical death - finding songs that reference death or ghosts or remembrance or lamentation or even joyful songs about death and dying. As you may know, this time of year many believe the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is thinnest, and the dead walk among us. Seen or unseen, the dead have role to play in our lives. Perhaps we allow this veil to be torn open because we want to be reminded of those who have gone before us, and to remember our relationships with them. In that way, we allow the dead to have some power in our lives, and that power can be good or it can be destructive. I'm not sure I believe that the dead physically haunt us, but I do believe that they can haunt us if we let them do so. What I like about Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead is that it turns something that could be negative into a positive, a loving remembrance of the people most influential in our lives and allows the spirit of them to be with us for a little while. I like that Halloween mocks the demons and evil that we are ordinarily afraid of by costuming the most vulnerable members of our population, our children, often as those that scare us most. I will admit it, I fear death. But, I fear it less at this time of year when I see the festivities, the ofrendas, and I get a little comfort that no matter what, I still have my honored deceased as a part of my life.

In many years, our song for today, Infinite Face, would have made it to my list for the show, but I had such a selection of good music that it was left out. The lyrics fit right into the spirit of the show tonight - it could easily be about death...

no pain my love
nothing's left to suffer anymore
no rain my child
earths are full from top to the core
with rage and hate
and the gaze of the infinite face
we come and we go
pray for the road
can't find a way
help for your lost soul

no pain my love
nothing's left to suffer anymore
no rain my child
earths are full from top to the core
with rage and hate
and the gaze of the infinite face
we come and we go
pray for the road
can't find a way
help for your lost soul

we were in greed
black and deep
this hole inside of me wants everything
calls it the needs
we throw the seeds
wait them to grow and get us freed
from rage and hate
and the gaze of the infinite face
we come and we go 

Norrda is a Turkish ensemble that takes their name from the Swedish word for North. The band creates their musical fusion from the musical backgrounds of the members of the band and one of the band members resides in Sweden. Their first album, Infinite Face, features melancholy lyrics sung by a young woman accompanied by an eastern flavor of percussion and guitars. Infinite Face, with lyrics in English, can be found on their 2007 CD of the same name.