Steven Wilson has launched a video for a live version of Song Of Unborn, originally the opening track to his 2017 album To The Bone. The video was animated by Jess Cope, who previously worked with Wilson on videos including People Who Eat Darkness, Routine, and The Raven That Refused to Sing, as well as the Last Day Of June video game.
"I took Carl Sagan”s quote, 'We are all made of star stuff' and based the film around that idea for Song of Unborn," says Cope. "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."
In 2017, Wilson said of Song Of Unborn, "At one point, I was worried that it was falling back to one of my typical epic piano ballads like Routine or The Raven that Refused to Sing. But the difference here is that actually this song has a very positive message. Song of Unborn is about recognising the world is a wreck, but that every life is unique and can be turned into something really special.
"The arc of your life can really be profound if you embrace it. I thought that was a beautiful message for an unborn child. The other important element in this song is the choir arrangement. I’ve never done anything quite like that section. It’s almost pagan in its beauty and optimism. In the end, I think it’s come out is very unique and distinct from any of those other songs."
Steven Wilson's Home Invasion: In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall is available now.
