Bright Eyes by swandog

(Edit: Oh wow!! Thank you so much for the DD feature, `savagebinn! And thanks to all the rest of you for your faves and comments; I deeply appreciate every one of them! )

My finished submission to the "Symphonies in Fur Minor" Music Portfolio, in which various artists get to illustrate songs using anthro characters. Many awesome artists participated in this folio; 33 of them in total! The CDs have a really neat and fun way of viewing all the artwork as well. There were only 300 of these CDs printed, and all my copies have been spoken for, but perhaps some of the other artists involved may still have a few for sale. My chosen song was "Bright Eyes", sung by Art Garfunkel (written by Mike Batt), which was featured in the Watership Down movie, and is among my top 5 favorite songs. The movie is likewise among my top 5 favorite animated movies and the book IS my all-time fave book, so I figured it was time to pay it the homage it deserves.

This image features the rabbit deity triptych, with the central char being the Black Rabbit of Inlé, patiently waiting to harvest the souls of the warren rabbits; he is not evil, but like the Angel of Death, is only doing his job. He wears a necklace of both predators' teeth and claws and a rabbit's skull and vertebræ, and has markings resembling moon phases. The stylized sun with the rabbit's eye is Frith, giving life and warmth to all creatures; his rays are made to resemble both tree roots and flames. And the rabbit hero El-ahrairah is the star constellation, guarding and inspiring his beloved progeny. The stylized clouds are creeping fog, and the hill in background is the real Watership Down hill. The dying rabbit (in the movie, it was Hazel-rah, but here it's just a generic rabbit) is in a yin-yang symbol because it's hovering between life and death, light and darkness, like the sky surrounding the scene. The other rabbits are watchful of what they can see and hear, feeling relatively safe and content as long as they have each other (like the little one dreaming), and fearful of the death and darkness they know they all must face. They ready themselves for that long journey and yet never lose hope or faith in life, which they ever struggle to cling to.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

"Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?

There's a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky.
And nobody seems to know where you go.
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?

Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen?
Or is it a dream?

There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air.
And nobody ever knows when you go.
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark?

Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes."

You can listen to it (and watch clips of the movie) here: [link] or [link]

Refs: [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] and [link]