Steven Wilson - Song of Unborn

Song of Unborn
Directed by Jess Cope

"I took Carl Sagan”s quote, "We are all made of star stuff” and based the film around that idea for Song of Unborn. Using abstract imagery and different styles of animation, the video represents the human form developing from the inside of its body instead of inside the womb. This is the first film that I have made with next to no narrative. I focused more on using the evolution of animation as a way to represent the evolving foetus in utero. The combination of space, sky, sea and fish just seemed to be the direction I wanted to take it. The paper cut out fish at the start represent sperm, the string rays are red blood cells through veins and the jellyfish are nerves. The whales represent the transition from gill-bearing aquatic fish that can only survive underwater to air breathing mammals that give birth to live young. It depicts the transition from a baby inside the mother's womb to the birth and its first breath.

I enjoyed exploring new animation techniques and I am pretty pleased with the way this video turned out, but after experiencing the process of working with CGI I would undoubtedly stick to traditional, old school, hand made, in camera effects. My favourite scene is the space scene. I created it on a multiplane and poked millions of tiny holes in a piece of black wrap that sat at the back of the set. The space dust was created with talcum power on different layers of glass and the planet/egg was made out of a gel ball that florists use. The fish were made out of card and painted with metallic paint to catch the natural light. By using a real camera zoom it gave the magical illusion of depth and space." - Jess Cope

[_MrPink_]

So many musicians. So many. And yet so few can do what Steven does. He reaches right into us, takes our souls out, and then gently puts them back. If only he could know how many of us he makes life worth living for. I cannot express in words how this man affects me. I can only thank him.

[DeborahEdelen]

Years ago I'd been walking in solitude through a beautiful wooded path amid falling autumn leaves, when suddenly a shaft of sunlight poured down on me, and I stopped in my tracks. A deep sense of grace visited me as I realized that although my belief in the beauty of the universe had left me unafraid of death, I feared the pain of life terribly, and a tear rolled down my cheeks. But the light warmed me and seemed to say, "Your path is safe and beautiful. Don't be afraid". I always think back on that wooded path as the country lane decked with the time to come, and the last lyrics never fail to bring that feeling, that mist back into my eyes.

[chetnolan]

Another masterpiece, it really surprises me that this talented artist doesn't get the recognition that he deserves !!

[sukkelsmurf]

For me the best lyrics of all songs written by Steven and regularly moved my into tears.

[PabloSaavedra]

I saw this live, and I couldn’t take my sight out of the screen, it was amazing, emotional, stunning and perfect for a Song of Unborn. Long live to Jess Cope!

[RajdeepBorgohainRajdeep]

Steve Wilson means:
1) Quality Music
2) Quality Lyrics
3) Quality animation
I imagine how can someone be so creatively synchronize animation with the lyrics. The perspective of this song is picturized very precisely.
Much respect Sir !

[lucasbellesi]

Since I've listened to this song for the first time, it touched my soul and I knew it would dwell in my heart over the years. At the beginning, I used to read the lyrics in an external perspective, like some human or entity was providing wise advice on living for an unborn, as the title suggests. Nowadays, it became something so internal and intimate, by listening to this section:

Now the world is exhausted
And the wreckage is all around
But the arc of your life
Will still be profound

It's not a warning for an unborn that will experience suffering. It's a message for someone who has already experienced an excruciating pain. The kind of pain that suffocates you, weighs in your chest and seems that never is going to relieve. It's for someone who has lived and suffered. It hits me so deep I can't even describe... it gives me strength. It helped me to keep going in a phase of my life where my traumas were unveiled and pain was almost everything, while my scars were bleeding.

Now I see the lyrics as something that comes from the inside. It is a message that our inner voice teaches ourselves as we live and mature... as we strive to carry on through grief. That voice is trying to remember us what is truly important: express our essence, the things we learn, the love that we feel, what we will reveal, the memories that last forever in us... And is remembering us what is not essencial too. That voice is remembering us that we can overcome our pain and traumas, the wreckage that is all around, and still have a profound life. That voice makes me believe that, one day, I'll be truly born for a life of fullness, in peace with my essence.

Don't be afraid!

[chahataggarwal]

Steven Wilson keeps giving us masterpieces after masterpieces. We are not worthy.

[akshaybhardwaj]

Steven is just perfect. I have been to about 25 concerts total and none of them compare to Steven's Hand. Cannot. Erase. performance. It still give me chills as to how beautiful and haunting his performance was at the same time. I wish he had visited India as part of the To The Bone tour as well as all the other comments are so positive about it.

[philipmazonson]

It's not what you'll possess
It's how you will express
The essence of you
It's not the wage you earn
It's about the things you learn
And the love that you feel
It's not what you'll conceal
It's all that you'll reveal
That will make you be you
The perfection of you
Now the shadows are long
And the cities are lost [to rain/terrain?]
When you wake up every day
To find nothing's changed
But before you can speak
You will learn that it's all the same
And the dreams that you will have
Are public domain
And the country lanes are dead
With the time to come
It's not the years you pass
It's about the moments that last
Forever in you
Now the shadows are long
And the cities are lost [to rain/terrain?]
When you wake up every day
To find nothing's changed
But before you can speak
You will learn that it's all the same
And the dreams that you will have
Are public domain
Now the time that has gone
Doesn't matter to anyone
When the country lanes are dead
With the time yet to come
Now the world is exhausted
And the wreckage is all around
But the arc of your life
Will still be profound
Don't be afraid to die
Don't be afraid to be alive
Don't be afraid to die
Don't be afraid to be alive
Don't be afraid

[Necroman]

Thank you for this beautiful gift, Steven.

[harshalbahekar]

This is my favorite out of the album, the solo at end just wow, cheers from India

[alannicolle]

For some decades now I have waited for a song that affects me as much or more than Rush - Mission. Mission has always inspired me...this one does the same, but on some other level. Two songs I listen to when I want to really FEEL something.

[TedRoodmortgageguy]

"Don't be afraid". Words of wisdom to live by!

[LauraMongeArce]

I flew over 10 hours just to see Steven live and I cried when he played this song. Both the video and the song are beautiful!

[TheEvilBere]

I love this song so much. It is spot on, not only for unborn babies.

[skarrx]

4:31 Those Gojira boys have talked to Steven about whales

[deadweight]

One can not deny that this song wakes the soul up.

[nourosama]

Steven Wilson is an example of a man who leaves a part of his soul in each work of art he creates!

[murenorocha]

While watching this video my stillborn child came to my mind. This song gave me some sort of soothing feeling. Steven Wilson is a fantastic musician, second to none, and the animation blends in perfectly with the song. Thank you, Steven and Jess.