Shearwater is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas, led by multi-… Read Full Bio ↴Shearwater is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas, led by multi-instrumentalist and lead singer Jonathan Meiburg

The band was formed by two members of Okkervil River, back-up vocalist and accordion/keyboard player Jonathan Meiburg and singer and guitarist Will Sheff, so they could write quieter songs. Beginning in 2005, Sheff lessened his role in the band, leaving Meiburg as the band's songwriter from Palo Santo on.

Band members today include Jonathan Meiburg, Thor Harris, Kim Burke, Lucas Oswald, with many contributions from others. The touring band in 2012 featured producer/drummer Danny Reisch and guitarist/vocalist Mitch Billeaud of The Lemurs and Christiaan Mader of Brass Bed.

To date, Shearwater has released nine full-length albums The Dissolving Room, Everybody Makes Mistakes, Winged Life, Palo Santo, Rook, The Golden Archipelago, Animal Joy, and Jet Plane & Oxbow as well as EPs Thieves and The Snow Leopard, and a split LP with Okkervil River entitled Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral, as well as an album of covers of former touring partners, Fellow Travelers, released in November 2013.

As an ornithologist and writer, Meiburg has a unique perspective. The songs of Palo Santo were partly written at the Galápagos Islands in the footsteps of Charles Darwin. Rook was influenced by studies in the Falklands Islands and by the current mass extinction we are living through. The Golden Archipelago examined the destruction of island cultures in the 20th century and beyond. Animal Joy returned to more personal concerns; Meiburg stated repeatedly in interviews that the foundational idea is that life is most real when "the blood flows fastest and closest to the surface." Fellow Travelers started as a small home EP and expanded into a full album celebrating relationships with the other bands they've met along the way.

Century Eyes
Shearwater Lyrics

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You were not the first to arrive
Will not be the last to survive
The pigs and the oxen we bound to the wheel
Turn it off, turn it off

You are not the last of this house
Or the first to go over the side
Remember the wrecks of those elegant ships

Turn it off, turn it off
Look with century eyes, they make you go blind

Galloping into the void
You are rolling your eyes like a horse
All to turn form the beam
From the eye of that screen
Turn it off, turn it off

With our backs to the arch
And the wreck of our kind

We will stare straight ahead
For the rest of our lives

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Shearwater's song Century Eyes urge the listener to reject the constant stream of media and technology that can distract from the bigger picture. The refrain of "Turn it off, turn it off" is a plea to disengage from the screens and distractions that limit our ability to perceive the world with "century eyes" - a long-term perspective that sees beyond the immediacy of our current moment. The lyrics also mention the cycles of history, and the fact that while we may think that our current struggles are unique or unprecedented, they are actually part of a larger pattern that stretches across generations. The lines "You were not the first to arrive / Will not be the last to survive" convey a sense of continuity and the idea that life, death and renewal have been ongoing for centuries.

The second verse of the song references the hubris of humanity - the fact that, despite our technical achievements and societal progress, we are still bound to the cycles of nature and history. The image of wrecks of "elegant ships" is a reminder that even the most impressive human creations are temporary, and ultimately subject to decay or destruction. The injunction to "look with century eyes" is repeated, suggesting that only by taking a wider view can we truly understand our place in the grand scheme of things.

One interpretation of the final lines of the song is that they offer a stoic imperative: despite the chaos and destruction that surrounds us, we must keep moving forward, with our eyes fixed on the future. The phrase "the wreck of our kind" can be read as a reference to the damage that humanity has wrought on the environment, or the failure of our social and political systems to address the needs of all people. Yet even in the face of these challenges, the singer urges perseverance and determination, ending on the ominous but resolute note that "We will stare straight ahead / For the rest of our lives."

Overall, "Century Eyes" is a song that challenges the listener to confront their own relationship with technology, media and history, and to cultivate a more expansive, forward-thinking perspective. By placing our current struggles in a wider context of time and human experience, the song encourages us to move beyond our immediate concerns and consider our place in the broader sweep of history.

Line by Line Meaning

You were not the first to arrive
You are not the first one here

Will not be the last to survive
You will not be the last one to make it through

The pigs and the oxen we bound to the wheel
We have enslaved the animals to do our work for us

Turn it off, turn it off
Stop whatever it is that is happening

You are not the last of this house
You are not the last one from this family

Or the first to go over the side
You are not the first one to fall off the edge

Remember the wrecks of those elegant ships
Don't forget the destruction of those beautiful vessels

Turn it off, turn it off
Stop whatever it is that is happening

Look with century eyes, they make you go blind
If you look too far ahead, you might miss what is right in front of you

Galloping into the void
Running blindly into nothingness

You are rolling your eyes like a horse
You are behaving like an uncooperative animal