Scott Walker (Noel Scott Engel, January 9, 1943 - March 22, 2019) was an Am… Read Full Bio ↴Scott Walker (Noel Scott Engel, January 9, 1943 - March 22, 2019) was an American-born singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He is noted for his distinctive baritone voice and for the unorthodox career path which took him from 1960s pop icon to 21st century avant-garde musician.

Originally coming to fame in the mid-1960s singing orchestral pop ballads as the frontman of The Walker Brothers, Walker went on to a solo career balancing a light entertainment/MOR ballad approach with increasing artistic innovations in arrangement and writing. Despite a series of acclaimed albums, a disastrous drop in sales forced him back into straight Middle of the road recordings with little of his own artistic input. This in turn eventually led to a Walker Brothers reunion in the mid-1970s (although the latter eventually moved, by mutual consent, into more avant-garde areas).

From the mid-1980s, Walker revived his solo career while drastically reinventing his artistic and compositional methods, via a series of acclaimed and vividly avant-garde albums. These combined his iconic voice with an unsettling avant-garde approach which owed more to modernist and post-modernist classical composition than to his pop singer past. This change in approach has been compared to "Andy Williams reinventing himself as Stockhausen".

Walker has been a continuing influence on other artists, in particular The Last Shadow Puppets, Marc Almond, Goldfrapp, Douglas Pearce of the band Death in June, Billy MacKenzie of The Associates, David Sylvian, Julian Cope, Antony Hegarty, Thom Yorke, Steven Wilson, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Trey Spruance, Perry Blake, Radiohead, Noah Lennox, Mikael Åkerfeldt, and the Divine Comedy/Neil Hannon.

Walker continued to release solo material until his death, and was signed to 4AD Records. As a record producer or guest performer he worked with a number of artists including Pulp, Ute Lemper, Bat For Lashes and Sunn O))).

Face On Breast
Scott Walker Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Swan
You glide above the thrashing
Release the catches
Strain your wings behind your back
Paint his eyes
It'll never lick those eyes
Smear the mouth
All across the thready sky

I tried to show ya
But ya didn't want to go
Ya know how to whistle
Put ya lips together and blow

that's what it said
That's what it said
That's what it said

Pledging my love
Pledging my love
What if I'm only
If I am only pledging my love

Pledging my love
Pledging my love

What if I'm only
If I am only pledging my love

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Scott Walker's song "Face On Breast" are ambiguous and surreal, and lend themselves to varied interpretations. One possible reading is that the song is a metaphor for the struggle to break free from societal constraints and find one's identity. The opening lines suggest a bird soaring above the chaos, trying to escape its surroundings. The lines "release the catches/strain your wings behind your back" could be interpreted as a call to free oneself from restraints and fly towards an undefined goal.

The following lines seem to be describing an act of rebellion or defiance: "paint his eyes/it'll never lick those eyes/smear the mouth/all across the thready sky". The use of the words "paint", "lick", and "smear" suggest a messy, anarchic act that could symbolize the desire to overturn norms and expectations.

The chorus is more straightforward, with the singer pledging their love but questioning whether it is enough. The lines "what if I'm only/if I am only pledging my love" suggest doubt and uncertainty.

Overall, the song seems to be an exploration of the struggle to assert oneself in a world that can be hostile and oppressive. The bird imagery and surreal descriptions add to the sense of disorientation and confusion that can accompany this process.

Line by Line Meaning

Swan
Comparing a woman to a swan

You glide above the thrashing
You effortlessly move above the chaos and confusion

Release the catches
Let go of your inhibitions

Strain your wings behind your back
Push yourself beyond your limits

Paint his eyes
Make him fall for you

It'll never lick those eyes
He will never look at another woman

Smear the mouth
Kiss him deeply and passionately

All across the thready sky
Express your love in every moment and kiss

I tried to show ya
I attempted to demonstrate my love

But ya didn't want to go
But you rejected my advances

Ya know how to whistle
You know how to entice men