Faun is one of the first artists that I came across while listening to YouTube while spending more time at home during lockdown in 2020 and this video for Federkleid (Plumage/Feathers) was my first experience of Faun and their wonderful music.
Founded in 1998 by Oliver S. Tyr (commonly known as Oliver Satyr), the band has gone through a number of lineup changes over the years, significantly since this video was released in 2016 and the song is from their 9th studio album Midgard. Federkleid in English means plumage or feathers.
Many of Faun’s songs, like this one are sung in German, but I have added the lyrics in both German and English below if you want to learn what the song is about.
Faun come from Germany and their style is pagan/folk, modern but with a lot of medieval instruments, which include bouzouki, nyckelharpa, Celtic harp, hurdy-gurdy, flutes, framedrum, mandola, bagpipes, pandora and also various sequencers & synthesizers, combining to give Faun a fairly unique sound.
While I love this song and many of the others from this period, the current lineup and songs from their last two albums, Pagan released in 2022 and Hex released in 2025 are my favourite.
Over the years Faun have collaborated with other artists fron Europe, including Einar Selvik of Wardruna (Odin), Patty Gurdy (The Longing) and Eluveitie (Gwydion).
You can learn more about Faun on their Official Site and also on Wikipedia. They have a lot of great videos on YouTube, both official videos and live performances. The quality of their videos is excellent, I love watching them almost as much as enjoying the music.
You can be sure that I will be adding more posts that feature music from Faun, as well as from some of the other artists mentioned above.
Very sadly I missed seeing Faun in concert in London in September 2025 as the week before I ruptured my achilles tendon and was unable to get to London, let alone stand for the concert. Having waited for 5 years to see them live, this was a major blow this year, but I hope to see them the next time they come to the UK.
Now for those of you who are interested, here are the lyrics to Federkleid to help you to understand what the song is about.
German: Federkleid
Über die Heide, im ersten morgendlichen Schein
Ziehen die Vögel, wo mögen sie wohl morgen sein
Ich folge dem Rauschen der Schwingen in das stille Moor
Uralte Lieder dringen aus den Nebeln vor
Komm und fliege mit uns fort!
Lass den Wind dich tragen
Weit fort von diesem Ort!
Komm und flieg so hoch du kannst
Lass uns die Himmel jagen
Im Tanz!
Nebel wie Seide streifen meine Haut so kühl
Weiter und weiter, wo find ich meiner Sehnsucht Ziel
Ich schließe die Augen und mir sprießt ein Federkleid
Schon spür ich den Wind und mache meine Flügel weit
Komm und fliege mit uns fort!
Lass den Wind dich tragen
Weit fort von diesem Ort!
Komm und flieg so hoch du kannst
Lass uns die Himmel jagen
Im Tanz!
Die Himmel in dir, wie kann ich sie wissen, kann sie sehn
Wir tanzen im Fluge wie Sterne, die ihrer Wege zieh`n
Komm und fliege mit uns fort!
Lass den Wind dich tragen
Weit fort von diesem Ort!
Komm und flieg so hoch du kannst
Lass uns die Himmel jagen
Im Tanz!
English: Plumage / Feathers
Across the heath, in the early morning glow
Birds pass on by, where may they be tomorrow
I follow the sizzling of the wings into the somber moor
Age-old songs resound from the haze
Come and fly away with us
Let the wind carry you
Far away from this place
Come and fly as high as you can
Let us chase the skies
In our dance
Silken Haze, so chilly, brushing my skin
Further and further, where shall I find my yearning’s goal
I close my eyes and grow a plumage
I feel the wind already and spread my wings to fly
Come and fly away with us
Let the wind carry you
Far away from this place
Come and fly as high as you can
Let us chase the skies
In our dance
The heavens in you, how can I know them, can I see them
In flight we dance like the stars, moving on their paths
Come and fly away with us
Let the wind carry you
Far away from this place
Come and fly as high as you can
Let us chase the skies
In our dance
I thought my musical journey had ended years ago as I really don’t (or didn’t) like modern music (pop, hip hop, rap etc) and there is nothing that I like on mainstream radio. My love since my teenage years has been Classic Rock and Prog Rock, although I had added to that some World Music, Latin and New Country through living in the USA and working in Central/South America in the 1990’s.
Nothing really changed until Covid hit in 2019 and I ended up working from home. While working (Analyst/Programmer) I would listen to YouTube to help me focus and once YouTube started suggesting new artists to me, I soon went down a lot of rabbit holes on a musical discovery journey that is still ongoing.
Faun is one of the first artists that I discovered due to YouTube recommending videos for me to watch and this is the video that was recommended to me.
I am now a huge fan of a number of bands in genres that I didn’t know existed, including Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, Nordic/Viking, Japanese Metal, European Pagan Folk and more.
In this suite of posts I am hoping to help enlighten more people who are only aware of the artists that they hear on mainstream radio, as there are so many other amazing artists out there that they have never heard of.
I have some live videos from concerts that I have been to on my YouTube Channel. You are invited to take a look and if you like what you see, please do subscribe to my channel.
If you would like to leave me a comment to let me know what you think of Faun or to suggest an artist that I might like, I would appreciate that.
