Demeter

“Demeter” is a song from my opera based on “The Flounder” by Günter Grass. This song is about Demeter, the Greek Goddess of Fertility, who was known for ages to flit and frolic with her daughter Persephone over the fields and through the forests of the earth leaving behind fertility and abundance until one day when Persephone was abducted and taken to the underworld. Demeter mourned for her daughter. Her tears fell like rain upon the earth, and where this rain fell was now barren. Zeus sent his messenger Hermes to the underworld to bring Persephone back. Hades agreed to release her if she had eaten nothing while in his realm; But Persephone had eaten a small number of pomegranate seeds. This bound her to Hades and the underworld for certain months of every year. During those times we were threatened by drought.

Performed and arranged with “My Hero”

Demeter – Lyrics
With open eyes
the goddess sees
how blind the heavens are
Petrified eyelashes cast shadows all around
No lid consents to fall and bring sleep
Always horror
ever since she saw the god
Always horror
here in the fallow field
Always horror
where the plowshare was engendered
Willingly the mule goes round and round
over his barley
That hasn’t changed
We who have fallen out of the cycle
take an overexposed photograph

Credits
from Broken Glass Promenade, track released 15 June 2014

Track Credits
Composed by The StiKman
Arranged by The StiKman and Wally Scharold
Production consultant: Nicholas Dobson
Lyrics by Günter Grass, translated by Ralph Mannheim
Engineered by The StiKman
Mixed by The StiKman

The StiKman: Vocals
Wally Scharold: Guitar and Vocals
Rob Reich: Keyboards and Vocals
John Brooks: Bass Guitar
Robin Reynolds: Cello and Vocals
Craig Dukes: Trap Drums

Basic tracks performed with My Hero :
The StiKman, Wally Scharold, Rob Reich, John Brooks, Robin Reynolds, Craig Dukes

Always Horror!

Rob Reich and Wally Scharold