TTT: Subway to Sally: German Folk-Metal

It is time for another #ThreeTuneTuesday. For those not familiar with it, here's an explanation.

About 90 Weeks ago @ablaze started this incredible movement:

Every Tuesday I'm going to share 3 songs which I like to listen to and I invite your feedback in the comments below. Or why not have a blast of your own Three Tune Tuesday and mention me in the post and I'll come and find the post and hopefully upvote it. It'll be a sweet way for us all to discover new music.

The origins of Subway to Sally lie way back in times when Germany was still divided. They started as a folk band and had heavy fluctuation of band members in their early days.

But when Erik-Uwe Hecht (aka Eric Fish) joined them as lead singer in 1992/93 they finally found their voice and sound.

With a mix of medieval and folk lyrics, combined with modern instruments leaning towards heavy rock/metal they decided to explore the darker sides of life (and death).

In Grabrade (Funeral Oration) they proclaim that all the worldly possessions we accumulate during our time on earth are worth nothing once we leave this world. And where we will end up after this life (is there heaven/hell/anything?) is still unknown to us.

Today is February 14th, Valentines day. I was tempted to give you love songs but then I decided for this band.

I learned of this band in 2003 when I met my wife. She was and is a huge fan of Subway to Sally and the first song I ever heard of this band was Kleid aus Rosen (Dress of roses).

A young woman runs away from home and her future husband, only to stumble upon a tattoo artist (the master) from whom she wants to get a dress of roses.

This song is full of metaphors and hidden meanings that would fill a post on its own. I was so fascinated by the deep thought out lyrics in combination with that music, I found a new band to follow.

And on a plus side, I knew the woman I just met shares my taste of music apparently. 😉

We are married now and have an adorable five year old son, so in a way this is my Valentines day mix after all.

One of their "evergreens" is Arche (Ark). They just commandeer the biblical ark of Noah and wrack hammock on board. The main chorus line "Das Wasser steht uns bis zum Hals und wird immer mehr" (The waterline is up to our throats and gets higher even more) is finished with "Bald teilt ein leeres Schiff die Wogen" (Soon an empty ship is going through the waves) and "Der letzte macht die Lichter aus" (Last one turns off the lights).

On the surface some harsh lyrics (as is common with this band) but digging deeper you can find so many hidden meanings again which turn the page so to speak on what is really said (or sung).

Arche is usually either the last song at their concerts and if you are lucky enough so that song was not on their set list, you can be sure they reserved it as the encore.

So to bend the "rule of three" on this day a little bit here is an accoustic version of "Arche" how they performed it as an encore many years ago.

Another reason why this band was on my mind is the fact that in about a month their new album will finally be released and for now they bring little sneak peaks every few days on their youtube channel including the first single release.

After a deviation from their original style during the last few years, they seem to finally have found back to their original sound. So I'm very excited for that release in March.

Thank you for reading and keep on rocking 🤘

---

_{The embedded videos and songs are not mine, nor do I own any rights to them. They are embedded from youtube and serve an illustrative purpose for this article}

_{Header image created with Canva
Divider created with Canva}