Animal Collective is a musical group which formed in Baltimore, Maryland, U… Read Full Bio ↴Animal Collective is a musical group which formed in Baltimore, Maryland, United States in 1999. The band consists of Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Avey Tare (David Portner), Deakin (Josh Dibb) and Geologist (Brian Weitz). Records released under the name Animal Collective may include contributions from any or all of these members; the lineup is not uniform.

The band has released fourteen albums: "Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished" (2000), "Danse Manatee" (2001), "Campfire Songs" (2003), "Here Comes the Indian" (2003), "Sung Tongs" (2004), "Feels" (2005), "Strawberry Jam" (2007), "Merriweather Post Pavilion" (2009), "Centipede Hz" (2012), "Painting With" (2016), "Tangerine Reef" (2018), "Crestone" (2021), "Time Skiffs" (2022), and "Isn't It Now?" (2023). They also composed and performed the soundtrack for the 2022 film, The Inspection, directed by Elegance Bratton and produced by A24.

Prior to "Here Comes the Indian", the group's albums were not credited to the band name "Animal Collective" but instead to "Avey Tare & Panda Bear" (for "Spirit"), "Avey Tare, Panda Bear & Geologist" (for "Danse") and "Campfire Songs" (for "Campfire Songs").

The band members met in school and started recording together in various forms of collaboration from a young age. Although the band is often classified as psych folk or noise rock, it is hard to define the Animal Collective sound as they often experiment with diverse styles and ideas from album to album. The group also runs the record label Paw Tracks on which they have released their own material as well as material by artists such as Ariel Pink, Terrestrial Tones, and The Peppermints. Paw Tracks' latest signee is Tickley Feather, with whom the band recently toured.

Spirit They've Vanished
Animal Collective Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

(Shh, do you want to hear a secret?
(I know one)

In this place
There's a bone in thigh
Felt a change
Where the links bent right
Find a name

In the placeless age
Girls and pain
And your windowpane
Isolate
From a hundred friends
Wave them on
As the childhood ends
Turn it fast
As one mild day steals
Turn one's soul
Into twenty years
In spirit they've vanished
And they'll show you why
I'll make 'em pay elder
Lift my spite in time
If we were just dolphins
In the sea air fly
It's hard to just kiss our
Child games goodbye

It's hard to just kiss our
Child games goodbye

(You just messed the whole thing up!)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Animal Collective's "Spirit They've Vanished" are open to interpretation, but there are a few possible perspectives one could take. One potential interpretation is that the song is about the difficulty of growing up and leaving childhood behind. The opening lines, "Shh, do you want to hear a secret? (I know one) In this place, there's a bone in thigh," create a sense of secrecy and mystery. The singer then describes feeling a change where "the links bent right," which could be a metaphor for a sudden and irreversible shift in perspective. The next few lines add to this sense of confusion and disorientation, with references to a "placeless age" and "girls and pain."

The singer also describes feeling isolated from friends and waving them on as childhood comes to an end. The lines "Turn it fast as one mild day steals, turn one's soul into twenty years" convey a sense of time passing quickly and the weight of growing older. The repetition of the title phrase "In spirit they've vanished" throughout the song drives home the idea of a loss of innocence and a longing to recapture it. The final lines, "If we were just dolphins In the sea air fly, it's hard to just kiss our child games goodbye," suggest a desire to return to a simpler, more carefree time.

Overall, "Spirit They've Vanished" is a haunting and introspective song that captures the bittersweet feeling of growing up and leaving childhood behind. The lyrics are open to interpretation, but the sense of longing and nostalgia is universal.

Line by Line Meaning

Shh, do you want to hear a secret?
Can I trust you with a secret?

I know one
I have a secret to tell you

In this place
In this world

There's a bone in thigh
There is something fundamental and unchangeable in our nature

Felt a change
Something has shifted

Where the links bent right
Where things took a turn

Find a name
Define yourself

In the placeless age
In a time where there is no clear path

Girls and pain
Love and despair

And your windowpane
And your view of the world

Isolate
Withdraw from others