I know you good folks in the Northern hemisphere are welcoming Autumn right now, but hopefully you can join me in the Spring vibes while sipping on your pumpkin spice lattes.
Once upon a time, my bandmate Little Onion (a.k.a. Paul) e-mailed me a beat for a song about springtime. We’ve been working like this for about 4.5 years, e-mailing files back and forth from different sides of the Atlantic. He is based in England, and I live in Brazil.
I call him DJ Pan sometimes, because working together is like Aphrodite being in a band with the horned god of the wild. (Yes, I am fully aware that I am a huge dork.)
The beat he sent made me want to dance.
That beat also made me want to do something else…
…honor and weave with one of my favorite ancient poems, The Vigil of Venus.
Originally called Pervigilium Veneris, the Vigil is a Latin poem of unknown author and date sometimes attributed to Tiberianus which describes an all-night celebration of the arrival of springtime.
The poem focuses on the sensuality and fertility of the season. It depicts this highly erotic party as having Venus, or Aphrodite, as its hostess.
In Overdrive, we took this lyrical, romantic, masterpiece of an ancient poem… and went DJ Pan all over it.
Before we get to the poem, I’d like to point out the obvious and say that sex isn’t inherently shameful, dirty, or wrong as we’ve been conditioned to believe. That’s just a lie perpetuated by the proverbial "Man" so that we’ll be miserable, ashamed of getting to know ourselves, and easier to control.
Aphrodite & Pan are all about freedom, liberty and unapologetically hedonistic behavior.
To welcome Spring, we released a new song called Cruel Love, that deals with the shadow aspects of Eros.
In the interest of prolonging the party, here’s the lyrics to
Overdrive (The Vigil of Venus):
On the eve of Spring we must hold the vigil of beauty
Keep watch till the star of dawn arrives
And the flower queen spreads her thighs
Come Persephone, don't be shy
We all wanna see that water lily
The pansies, those are for thoughts
And the orchids for the money shot
Spring now is fresh and full of singing
In spring, the world was born
In spring, loves join hearts
In spring, Venus joins Mars
The nymphs are having a ball
And the satyrs are showing off theirs
Let the wood be unstained by the blood of wild creatures
All night must we watch and sing
Tomorrow love comes to the loveless, tomorrow lovers love again
Tomorrow love comes to the loveless, tomorrow lovers love again
Springtime is on
The blossoms buzz and drip
The fields quicken with joy
Go, nymphs, he has dropped his arms at last:
Love is on a holiday
And yet be careful, for Love is fair;
But Love is fully armed when Love is bare
All the gods are hot and bothered
They all want a piece of Dione's daughter
As for me, I never felt so alive
Let's make an orgy of this orchard
Fertility in overdrive
By my side will be the Graces
We're skinny dipping in the stream
Our cups? They overflow
The heart races
Lets Venus reign supreme
The nymphs are having a ball
and the satyrs are showing off theirs
let the wood be unstained by the blood of wild creatures
All night must we watch and sing
Tomorrow love comes to the loveless, tomorrow lovers love again
Tomorrow love comes to the loveless, tomorrow lovers love again.
Thank you so much for reading!
Have a great Spring or Fall, depending on where you are.
Love,
VA ♀
This is an amazing poem. Love reading this ❤️
Eu tinha um livro quando era criança chamado "Tem um Cabelo na Minha Terra" que tinha a seguinte quote (que acho um comentário apropriado) "Oh, mãe natureza! Que maníaca sexual você é!"