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.

Visiting Friends
Animal Collective Lyrics

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We were visiting friends and saying hello
Then getting stoned and not saying much
Watching the people on TV who talk faster than us
I'm still holding the cup ignoring the sound of the ice cream truck
She had visiting moods, what it wants to be
We were visiting friends, wanted words too muddy

[?] got stuck, I walked a [?]

I heard a bird in the windowpane, you rolled up your grass
[?] but the cop couldn't tell, [?] visiting his, we're visiting [?]
Marking the difference in the way that they smell
The light hits them differently, the sheets do get cold
The windows are cracked, do you recognize the room
The posters that tilt, furniture spread around, we were visiting mine

We were visiting mine, we were visiting mine
We were visiting mine, we were visiting mine

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Animal Collective's song Visiting Friends describe a visit to some friends' place where the singer and their companion get high and spend time watching TV without much to say to each other. Although they visit friends, they are not very talkative and seem to be in a contemplative mood. The singer is still holding a cup while ignoring the sound of an ice cream truck passing by. They observe that their friend "had visiting moods" but didn't know how to express them.

The lyrics also hint at some confusion and disorientation as the singer narrates, "[?] got stuck, I walked a [?]" which might refer to a situation where something unexpected happened, but the singer didn't know what to do about it. There is also a mention of a bird singing outside and rolling up grass, which further emphasizes the relaxed, carefree mood. The lyrics end with a repetition of the phrase, "We were visiting mine," which brings home the fact that the visits to friends' places are, in a way, a form of escapism from one's own reality.

Overall, the song Visiting Friends has a dream-like quality to it, with abstract, introspective lyrics that evoke a sense of nostalgia and wistfulness. The minimalistic, repetitive structure of the song adds to its hypnotic feel, and when mixed with ambient sounds, it creates an atmosphere of calm that is perfect for losing oneself in thought.

Line by Line Meaning

We were visiting friends and saying hello
We went to see our friends to say hi

Then getting stoned and not saying much
We got high and didn't talk much

Watching the people on TV who talk faster than us
We watched TV and saw people talk faster than us

I'm still holding the cup ignoring the sound of the ice cream truck
I'm still holding my cup and ignoring the sound of the ice cream truck

She had visiting moods, what it wants to be
She had different moods about visiting and what she wanted it to be

We were visiting friends, wanted words too muddy
We were visiting our friends and didn't want to be too clear about our words

[?] got stuck, I walked a [?]
Unknown

I heard a bird in the windowpane, you rolled up your grass
I heard a bird on the window and you rolled up your weed

[?] but the cop couldn't tell, [?] visiting his, we're visiting [?]
Unknown

Marking the difference in the way that they smell
Noticing the difference in how things smell

The light hits them differently, the sheets do get cold
The lighting affects them differently and the sheets feel cold