Deakin met Anima… Read Full Bio ↴Deakin (born Josh Dibb) is a psychedelic pop musician.
Deakin met Animal Collective's Avey Tare (Dave Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) and Geologist (Brian Weitz) in high school. For years, the four of them had swapped homemade recordings, shared musical ideas and performed in different group configurations.
After high school Panda Bear and Deakin went to Boston, where Deakin attended Brandeis University. Avey Tare and Geologist moved to New York City to attend NYU and Columbia University respectively when they were finished with high school. After months of playing the band finally settled on the name "Animal Collective". After touring with the group from 2004 to the end of 2006 and recording two albums, Feels and Strawberry Jam, he decided to temporarily leave the group for various creative and personal reasons.
In 2009, Deakin did remixes for songs Zero by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Mirando by Ratatat.
On New Years Day 2010 he performed his first set of solo material at the Ottobar in Baltimore
After years of recording, Deakin released his first solo album "Sleep Cycle" on April 6, 2016.
Albums (with Animal Collective)
* Campfire Songs (March, 2003) - Catsup Plate
* Here Comes the Indian (June 17, 2003) - Paw Tracks
* Feels (October 18, 2005) - FatCat
* Strawberry Jam (September 10, 2007) - Domino Records - US #72, UK Indie #13
* ODDSAC (August 10, 2010) - Swiss Dots
* Centipede HZ (September 4, 2012) - Domino Records
* Tangerine Reef (August 17, 2018) - Domino Records
Page One
Deakin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nothing, very few people are able to imagine such a thing, to have nothing at all.
Well let us, you and I, try to imagine something a hundred times harder.
Not just to have nothing at all, but when there was nothing at all.
The very beginning of time.
The dawn of history.
Page one.
The earth itself with out form, and void.
Only an emptiness, formless, a dark endless waste of water.
No living thing, no plant or tree, no bird or animal.
Nothing.
This is before people.
Before anything at all.
A void.
Sitting silent.
Still.
And then
Nothing.
Deakin's song Page One is a reflection on the concept of nothingness or void. The opening lines of the song invite the listener to imagine what it would be like to have absolutely nothing, an experience that few people can actually fathom. The song then challenges the listener to go even further and imagine what it was like at the very beginning of time when there was nothing at all, not even a hint of existence. The song describes the earth as being "without form, and void", an emptiness that is formless, dark, and vast. There were no living things on earth, no animals or plants, just silence and stillness.
Deakin then leaves the listener with a sense of mystery and wonder as he concludes the song with the word "nothing". This final word brings home the idea that everything we experience today, from the beautiful natural world to the complexities of human civilization, had to come from nothingness, from the void that existed in the beginning.
The song is a haunting reflection on the concept of nothingness and the power of imagination to take us to places beyond our immediate experience. It also serves as a reminder of the constant cycle of creation and destruction that governs our universe, a process that is ongoing and eternal.
Line by Line Meaning
Imagine if you can what it is like to have no possessions at all.
Reflect on the idea of having absolutely nothing, which is nearly impossible for most individuals to fathom.
Nothing, very few people are able to imagine such a thing, to have nothing at all.
Most people cannot truly conceive the concept of having absolutely nothing to their name.
Well let us, you and I, try to imagine something a hundred times harder.
Let's attempt to imagine something that's a hundred times more difficult than having nothing at all.
Not just to have nothing at all, but when there was nothing at all.
Trying to picture a time when nothing existed at all, before anything came into being.
The very beginning of time.
Describing the earliest of times, at the dawn of history.
The dawn of history.
Referring to the beginning of recorded history, when writing and documentation first emerged.
Page one.
Comparing the beginning of history to the first page of a book, where nothing has been written yet.
Nothing at all.
Emphasizing the absence of anything or anyone, allowing for the purest form of emptiness and nothingness.
The earth itself with out form, and void.
Depicting how the earth was shapeless and lacking substance or content, essentially formless and empty.
Only an emptiness, formless, a dark endless waste of water.
Describing the world's state before creation, where it was just a dark and empty expanse with an endless ocean-like quality.
No living thing, no plant or tree, no bird or animal.
Describing how there was no life at all at the beginning, and nothing that was considered alive existed whatsoever.
Nothing.
Concluding the song by emphasizing the notion of nothingness, and the presence of true emptiness and stillness preceding creation itself.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: FRED DEAKIN, NICK FRANGLEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind