Kate Bush has confirmed that she got the men's choral section of 'Hello Earth' from Herzog's "Nosferatu the Vampyre" (1979). The ('Greek') Tragic Chorus on 'Hello Earth' is a version of "Zinzkaro," the Georgian folk song performed on the Herzog soundtrack.
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)
Vokal-Ensemle Gordela "Zinzkaro"
Chapter 22: Pestilence
1:26:31-1:29:01
'Zinzkaro' plays as Lucy walks through the square observing mayhem, madness and social breakdown brought about by the plague. All real sounds are filtered out.
Werner Herzog: "Watch out for the music... from the Georgian Soviet Republic... and it has something very, very strange about it... And this scene is a little bit like in late medieval times where people would feast and dance as an homage to life itself and in the craze of the times of the plague..."
Interviewer: "So you would say at this point we have definitely crossed over into the other realm?"
Werner Herzog: "Yes."
"The scene where plague-infested people feast their last in the medieval square while surrounded by rats is surrealism straight out of Bosch that imprints permanently on the brain." (imdb)
Chapter 23: Sacrifice
1:34:16-1:35:24
'Zinzkaro' plays again as Count Dracula sucks the life out of Lucy, hand on her breast, with vampire bat cut.
IMHO, the 'Hello Earth' chorus is so like the Werner film soundtrack as to be considered the same. Hence, KaTe's "Special Thanks to... Werner Herzog..."
Indeed, Kate and Hickox's remarkable recreation of the orthodox singing/chanting that makes such a contribution to Herzog's 'Nosferatu' is an uncanny quote. Moreover, Kate Bush follows Herzog's 'Nosferatu' by using two sections of the "Zinzkaro" chorus. It must therefore be concluded that Kate was deliberately seeking symbolic associations between 'Nosferatu' and The Ninth Wave's 'Hello Earth' chorus.
Kate Bush's "Zinzkaro" quotes and signifies Nosferatu's "Zinzkaro", which in turn means that Kate is incorporating vampiric and plague myth, legend and lore into the ('Greek') Tragic Chorus on 'Hello Earth'. The cross-media cultural allusions thematically expand the idea that The Ninth Wave Suite addresses the social anxiety surrounding HIV/AIDS (and see the further comparison made above between 'Waking The Witch' ("Red, red roses, Go down") and the plague sea shanty "Blood Red Roses").
After seeing Herzog's 'Nosferatu the Vampyre', one cannot help but see La Danse Macabre and vampiric blood lust when listening to the 'Hello Earth' sections of "Zinzkaro". 'Waking The Witch' becomes more defined as a 'trial of conscience,' a 'Salem witch trial,' a crucible brought about by sex, sin, danger and mass hysteria. And The Ninth Wave Suite takes on board the edge of a modern morality play.
Kate Bush has confirmed that she got the men's choral section of 'Hello Earth' from Herzog's "Nosferatu the Vampyre" (1979). The ('Greek') Tragic Chorus on 'Hello Earth' is a version of "Zinzkaro," the Georgian folk song performed on the Herzog soundtrack.
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)
Vokal-Ensemle Gordela "Zinzkaro"
Chapter 22: Pestilence 1:26:31-1:29:01
'Zinzkaro' plays as Lucy walks through the square observing mayhem, madness and social breakdown brought about by the plague. All real sounds are filtered out.
Werner Herzog: "Watch out for the music... from the Georgian Soviet Republic... and it has something very, very strange about it... And this scene is a little bit like in late medieval times where people would feast and dance as an homage to life itself and in the craze of the times of the plague..." Interviewer: "So you would say at this point we have definitely crossed over into the other realm?" Werner Herzog: "Yes."
"The scene where plague-infested people feast their last in the medieval square while surrounded by rats is surrealism straight out of Bosch that imprints permanently on the brain." (imdb)
Chapter 23: Sacrifice 1:34:16-1:35:24
'Zinzkaro' plays again as Count Dracula sucks the life out of Lucy, hand on her breast, with vampire bat cut.
IMHO, the 'Hello Earth' chorus is so like the Werner film soundtrack as to be considered the same. Hence, KaTe's "Special Thanks to... Werner Herzog..."
Indeed, Kate and Hickox's remarkable recreation of the orthodox singing/chanting that makes such a contribution to Herzog's 'Nosferatu' is an uncanny quote. Moreover, Kate Bush follows Herzog's 'Nosferatu' by using two sections of the "Zinzkaro" chorus. It must therefore be concluded that Kate was deliberately seeking symbolic associations between 'Nosferatu' and The Ninth Wave's 'Hello Earth' chorus.
Kate Bush's "Zinzkaro" quotes and signifies Nosferatu's "Zinzkaro", which in turn means that Kate is incorporating vampiric and plague myth, legend and lore into the ('Greek') Tragic Chorus on 'Hello Earth'. The cross-media cultural allusions thematically expand the idea that The Ninth Wave Suite addresses the social anxiety surrounding HIV/AIDS (and see the further comparison made above between 'Waking The Witch' ("Red, red roses, Go down") and the plague sea shanty "Blood Red Roses").
After seeing Herzog's 'Nosferatu the Vampyre', one cannot help but see La Danse Macabre and vampiric blood lust when listening to the 'Hello Earth' sections of "Zinzkaro". 'Waking The Witch' becomes more defined as a 'trial of conscience,' a 'Salem witch trial,' a crucible brought about by sex, sin, danger and mass hysteria. And The Ninth Wave Suite takes on board the edge of a modern morality play.