Vision for 2020 by Luka Bloom

Vision for 2020.
First, the song……
I wrote it one year ago in mid 2019.
I was becoming increasingly aware of my carbon footprint, touring around the world, and was looking at ways of simplifying life.
So I imagined a 2020 with less travel, more simple life at home in North Clare.
Little did I know that 2020 would become literally a year of ‘tealeaves and daydreams’.
I love how this song ends. We were playing it live in Windmill Lane, and when the song was ending I just kept going, and the lads kept following me. I thought we would edit it later, but we left every last note in the song.
Recording and mixing this song was a magical ending to a magical recording experience with Steve, Robbie and Jon; and later with Niamh and Adam.

The video…..
This is the 3rd video from Bittersweet Crimson, all filmed by Matthew Kelly.
I suggested the cycle around Black Head, and the mugs of tea.
Then I just asked Matthew to reflect on the song, and use his own imagination, as well as his AMAZING footage of night skies over the West of Ireland.
Matthew perfectly captures the dreamy feeling of the song, especially towards the end, when the night sky is literally the star!!

I asked Matthew to explain the star imagery used in the video.
Here is what he shared with me:

Some info on the stars photos, Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula and The Pleiades -

The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light years away and 220,000 light years in diameter, it contains 1 trillion stars.
Andromeda is named after a beautiful Ethiopian princess in Greek mythology. Edwin Hubble was the first to discover that Andromeda was a galaxy in 1923. Andromeda and the Milky Way are speeding towards each other at 250,000 mph. When they do collide the stars in each galaxy are too far apart to hit each other but our solar system will be pushed further from the core of the Milky Way, this won’t happen for another 4 billion years.
Andromeda is actually 6 times bigger in the sky than the moon if it could be seen by the naked eye.

The Orion Nebula was first discovered by French astronomer Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc in 1610 (although there is speculation it was discovered by the Mayans). Stars are born here, as clouds of hydrogen contract under their own gravity and when hot enough nuclear fission ignites to form a protostar. Containing around 700 stars, the nebula is near the second star in the sword of Orion's Belt, it rises above the horizon to the east around 1am. The Nebula is around 1400 light years away, you would have to travel at the speed of light for 1400 years to get there . Light takes 24 years to get from one side of the Nebula to the other, (it takes 8 min for light to reach us from the sun). The red colour is hydrogen, the blue is reflected radiation from the huge stars in the centre of the nebula

The Pleiades, a star cluster also known as the Seven Sisters are 450 light years away. The blue colour is from light scattering through a cloud of gas, the streaks in the clouds are caused by the gas particles which have been aligned by the magnetic fields between the stars. They have been used as a calendar for different civilisations - the Greek name Pleiades comes from the name 'to sail' as the sight of the cluster before sunrise signalled sailing season. The Zuni of New Mexico call the Pleiades the “Seed Stars,” because the cluster’s disappearance in the evening sky each spring signals the seed planting season. The Druids knew it was Halloween when the Pleiades reached the highest point in the sky at midnight.

Finally, a mention and a thank you to Tara, and her canine companion Sophie, who allowed matthew to film and share their sunset in Clahane.

Bittersweet crimson is for sale at www.lukabloom.com