The current lineup of Dirty Projectors is Dave Longstreth (vocals, guitar, other instruments), Nat Baldwin (bass), Mike Johnson (drums), Maia Friedman (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Felicia Douglass (percussion, keyboards, vocals), and Kristin Slipp (keyboards, vocals).
Based in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with connections to the Portland, OR music scene, the group has produced a distinctive sound of electronic experimentation, melded with traditional instruments and harmonically complex vocals. Their recordings range from Prince-style one-man-recording-studio productions (The Glad Fact), to arranged orchestrations (the "Slaves' Graves" half of Slaves' Graves & Ballads), to basic voice over nylon-string guitar (the "Ballads" half of the aforementioned) to an amalgamation of all these tactics (the 'glitch opera' of The Getty Address and the mixed nature of New Attitude EP). Throughout, Longstreth's aggressively melodic vocals provide a consistent identity for otherwise widely divergent approaches to pop music. Longstreth claims influences ranging from Don Henley to Mariah Carey. The former's influence is most easily seen in The Getty Address album, which is a conceptual opera written from the point of view of Henley as a Spanish Conquistador, though the latter's vocal gymnastics clearly provide a clue to Longstreth's approach. Rise Above is an attempt to re-imagine the lyrics of Black Flag's DamagedDamaged album from memory over complex music that sees influence from the contemporary African blues and funk of such artists as Ali Farka Toure and Konono No. 1.
Members of Dirty Projectors collaborated with Björk to perform an original composition by Longstreth, written for five voices and acoustic guitar, as part of a charity concert to benefit Housing Works, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing shelter for homeless men, women, and children suffering from AIDS.
Swing Lo Magellan
Dirty Projectors Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Squinting westward at the sunset
With a map and a compass
When a man reached up said something
There
Against the sky
A point of light
Invisible
To give itself
To the naked eye
On the shore people yellin'
In their eyes a great reflection
In the grid oh where their position
Unconcerned with intuition
There
Could never be
No sympathy
From
That wilderness
So let it be
Arrested
Swing low oh Magellan
Nine by six or eight by seven
Post a sentinel at the border
Of what what you attend
What you ignore
I saw my friend
In a pool of light
Oh drown
In doubt and shame
But I knew that I
Had lost my sight
The lyrics to Dirty Projectors' song, Swing Lo Magellan, suggest themes of exploration, wilderness, intuition, and uncertainty. The opening lines describe a scene where the singer is watching the sunset and studying a map and compass when a man suddenly appears and says something. The next lines describe a point of light against the sky that is too invisible to be seen by the naked eye. The contrast between man-made tools like maps and compasses and the vagaries of the natural world is apparent in this stanza.
In the second stanza, the scene shifts to the shore, where people are yelling and looking at a great reflection. The use of the word "grid" implies a sense of order and structure, but the people are "unconcerned with intuition." This suggests that they are more concerned with the practicalities of navigation and measurement than the ineffable qualities of the natural world. The stanza concludes with the lines, "There could never be/No sympathy/From that wilderness/So let it be arrested." These lines suggest the idea that the wilderness cannot be tamed or fully understood.
The song's chorus is, "Swing low oh Magellan/Nine by six or eight by seven/Post a sentinel at the border/Of what what you attend/What you ignore." These lines are difficult to interpret, but they suggest a sense of exploration and a desire to map the unknown. The final stanza describes the singer's friend being overwhelmed by doubt and shame, but the singer knows that they have lost their own sight. This may suggest a loss of intuition or a disconnection from the natural world.
Line by Line Meaning
Last night all my attention
I paid undivided attention last night
Squinting westward at the sunset
I was trying hard to look at the sunset towards the west
With a map and a compass
I had a map and compass with me
When a man reached up said something
Suddenly, a man caught my attention and said something to me
There
At that place
Against the sky
Up the sky
A point of light
A bright spot
Too
However
Invisible
Not clearly visible
To give itself
To reveal itself
To the naked eye
That can be seen without any device
On the shore people yellin'
People on the shore were yelling
In their eyes a great reflection
Their eyes showed a great reflection
In the grid oh where their position
Their position on the grid could be determined
Unconcerned with intuition
They were not concerned with intuition
There
In that place
Could never be
Was not possible to
No sympathy
Feelings of pity or sorrow
From
Towards
That wilderness
The wilderness of that place
So let it be
Leave it as it is
Arrested
Stopped or halted
Swing low oh Magellan
Magellan, guide me
Nine by six or eight by seven
Dimensions of something
Post a sentinel at the border
Put a guard at the border
Of what what you attend
Of what you are aware of
What you ignore
What you are unaware of
I saw my friend
I noticed my friend
In a pool of light
In a bright light
Oh drown
Submerged or overwhelmed by
In doubt and shame
Feeling of uncertainty and guilt
But I knew that I
But I was aware that I
Had lost my sight
Was not able to see clearly anymore
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Written by: David Donnell Longstreth
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tanim Tayo Tv
this song deserves 10 million views!!!! dirty projector songs are the best. its like a memory everytime you hear it again
Ariëlle Dawn
This song has been in my head all week and I don't even mind.
Colin Drayer
This song has been in my mind all week and I don't even head.
Gustavo Ferreira
Everytime i get a new earphone i come here to test it out
Soryanmesmo
Me too!
Erick Rodríguez
Today I bought some earphones, and doing the same and enjoying this gem. A greatly recorded and mixed song.
Chubby BlackBoi
That's Amazing
KP Delaney
Listening to this right now with my Koss KSC75 headphones. It's amazing. The mixing is so good! Feels like I'm there with them playing around me. Can't recommend these headphones enough. They're crazy good open-back headphones for their price.
renato araújo
Wow, thats pretty cool, I will test it next time.
Dark Night of the Soul
I simply adore this man and his voice. This is an all-time favorite song of mine and now, seeing the official video, just makes me want to know more. I wish the camera could have taken a closer look at this handsome, talented man. Bless you for this music.