Panda Bear is American musician Noah Lennox (born Noah Benjamin Lennox on 1… Read Full Bio ↴Panda Bear is American musician Noah Lennox (born Noah Benjamin Lennox on 17 July 1978), a founding member of experimental pop band Animal Collective and member of Jane.

Lennox grew up in the Roland Park section of Baltimore, Maryland. As a child, he played sports, and studied piano and cello. He later sang tenor in his high school chamber choir. After graduation, he attended Boston University but dropped out in 2000 and moved to New York where he dedicated himself to his music.

His first solo release was the self titled Panda Bear in 1998, which was released under Soccer Star Records, a label founded by fellow Animal Collective member, Deakin.

After its creation, Lennox focused on Animal Collective, putting his solo project aside. He picked it back up in 2004 and released Young Prayer that year. In 2007 he followed up with the critically acclaimed Person Pitch.

In Animal Collective, Noah was primarily responsible for percussion, although he has recently transitioned to working with samples in addition to contributing vocals and playing a variety of other instruments. He adopted the name Panda Bear from an early tape of his material, on which he drew a panda.

His more recent albums are Person Pitch (2007), Tomboy (2011), Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (2015), Buoys (2019) and Reset (2022), a collaborative album with the producer Peter Kember (as known as Sonic Boom). This album is formally credited to Panda Bear & Sonic Boom.

Acid Wash
Panda Bear Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

On a rope
Strung a crossing
The gulf
As a ship
On a sea
Cuts the froth
With a yell
As you've won against

The deep

Laugh, the chasm
Laugh, the chasm

From afar
For a frame changes course
As a flame
Gives a ruin a new name
With a yell
As you've won against
The dark

Graph the spasm
Graph the spasm

Graph the spasm
I'm past

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Acid Wash have a surreal and dream-like quality to them, and are open to interpretation. The first verse seems to be describing a perilous journey across a gulf, possibly a metaphor for a difficult situation in life. The image of a ship cutting through the froth of the sea with a yell suggests a sense of triumph and conquest, as the singer appears to have won against the deep. The repetition of 'Laugh, the chasm' at the end of the verse could be mocking the danger that has been overcome.

The second verse employs similar imagery, with a flame giving a ruin a new name, possibly linking this to the idea of renewal and reinvention. The yell again serves as an expression of triumph, as the singer has won against the dark. The repetition of 'Graph the spasm' at the end of the verse recalls the earlier 'Laugh, the chasm', and could be taken as a call to document or analyze the experience. The final line 'I'm past' seems to suggest a move forward or a sense of closure after the ordeal that has been described.

Overall, the lyrics of Acid Wash evoke a sense of the unknown, the dangerous, and the transformative. The use of repetition and vivid imagery adds to the hypnotic and dreamlike atmosphere.

Line by Line Meaning

On a rope
Hanging on a rope, suspended and immobile

Strung a crossing
The rope is used to cross a space or gap

The gulf
A large and seemingly impassable distance or gap

As a ship
The crossing is reminiscent of a ship on a choppy sea

On a sea
The space is vast and open like a calm, endless ocean

Cuts the froth
The ship or rope appears to slice through the whitecaps and waves

With a yell
A triumphant cry, possibly signaling victory over the challenge of crossing the gulf

As you've won against
The artist has successfully crossed the space and triumphed over the challenge

The deep
The artist has overcome something significant and daunting, possibly metaphorical

Laugh, the chasm
Taunting the obstacle or challenge that was just overcome

From afar
Observing something from a distance