Marginally associated with the no wave scene at first, their original sound was slow and extremely heavy, with live performances that were often so brutal and physical that in a number of instances certain audience members were made ill, police were called and venues were shut down. This early physical sound is possibly best heard on the live album Public Castration Is A Good idea.
Their initial style shifted a little by the time Swans released seminal twin albums Greed and Holy Money. The music had sped up, at times being even more punishing than their earlier output. Drum machines and samples were slightly more prominent. Michael Gira was joined vocally by Jarboe which gave the band a broader sonic range. Tracks featuring Jarboe were often quieter, even pretty, acting as counterpoint to the more harrowing themes on the albums. Over time, this style would come to dominate Swans' output, although they somehow seem to have been able to make a strummed acoustic guitar seem as brutal as their earlier amped-up assaults. The lush instrumentation of their albums from the late 1980s and the 1990's anticipated the birth of post-rock.
Swans eventually broke up in 1997; Gira went on to release some solo work, later forming the band The Angels Of Light, who continue many of the themes and styles found in (later) Swans. Jarboe releases solo work and frequently works with other bands and artists; recently she released an album with Neurosis, a group clearly heavily influenced by Swans.
The influence of Swans upon the music world is profound. Across their 15 years of existence, the various styles they explored gave birth to grindcore (Napalm Death, Nasum) modern "cinematic" post-rock (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mono), and atmospheric sludge metal (Isis, Neurosis).
In January 2010, Michael Gira reactivated Swans and released a new album, My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky on September 2010, and the band simultaneously embarked on a world tour scheduled to last eighteen months. The band had been chosen by Portishead to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festivals that they curated in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace and in September 2011 in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
On August 28, 2012, Swans released The Seer, a double-album running almost 2 hours in length. Frontman Michael Gira described the album as taking "30 years to make. It's the culmination of every previous Swans album as well as any other music I've ever made, been involved in or imagined. But it's unfinished, like the songs themselves. It's one frame in a reel. The frames blur, blend and will eventually fade." Describing the songwriting process, Gira said, "The songs began on an acoustic guitar, then were fleshed out with (invaluable) help from my friends, then were further tortured and seduced in the studio, and now they await further cannibalism and force-feeding as we prepare to perform some of them live, at which point they'll mutate further, endlessly, or perhaps be discarded for a while."
On May 12, 2014, Swans released their thirteenth LP, To Be Kind. Produced by Michael Gira and recorded by John Congleton. It received positive reception from critics which made the group continue to make more albums that have also have received positive reviews.
It was announced on July 22, 2015, that the band was releasing their fourteenth studio album, titled The Glowing Man. The album was released on June 17, 2016.
After The Glowing Man released, the band took a hiatus lasting nearly a year in 2017 and ending in 2018. The band released their fifteenth studio LP Leaving Meaning the next year. The same year, a documentary about Swans was released titled “Where Does A Body End?”.
In March 2021, Michael Gira released a tracklist of an upcoming Swans album, titled The Beggar. It was released on June 23, 2023.
Beautiful Child
Swans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
These are the things I hold onto
These are the things I use to deceive myself
I line them up in front of me
I judge them carefully
Then I throw them all away
I throw them all away
I am a small man
I love a child
I love a beautiful child
I love a child
I love a beautiful child
I will hold this child in my arms
And caress his soft head
Listen to him cry
Listen to him cry
I can kill the child
The beautiful child
I will kill the child
The beautiful child
This is my life
This is my choice
This is my damnation
This is my only regret
This is my life
This is my life
This is my sacrifice
This is my life
This is my only regret
That I ever was born
This is my sacrifice
Get out of my head
The Swans's song Beautiful Child is a haunting and disturbing depiction of the destructive psychological patterns that can lead to abusive behavior. The lyrics describe a man who is tormented by his own thoughts and impulses, struggling with his own sense of inadequacy and self-loathing. He clings to a vision of himself as a loving and protective figure, but at the same time acknowledges his own capacity for violence and cruelty. The titular "beautiful child" is both a symbol of innocence and purity, and a target for the man's repressed rage and frustration.
The opening verse of the song sets the tone for the singer's conflicted psyche. He admits that he uses illusions and delusions to deceive himself, constructing a facade of righteousness to hide his darker motivations. He evaluates his own desires and fears, but ultimately rejects them, discarding them "all away." The chorus, which repeats the repeated phrase "I love a beautiful child," emphasizes the man's fixation on this idealized object, who represents both a source of comfort and a source of temptation.
As the song progresses, the singer's instability becomes more pronounced. He speaks of holding the child in his arms, but also threatens to kill him. He frames his choice to harm the child as a damning act of self-determination, a reflection of his own sense of hopelessness and inevitable failure. The closing lines, "This is my only regret / That I ever was born," capture the singer's despair at his own existence, suggesting that his own self-destructive tendencies are inherent to his being.
Overall, Beautiful Child is a chilling portrayal of mental illness and the toll it can take on relationships and well-being. The lyrics push the listener to consider the dark side of human nature, and the ways that individuals can become trapped in self-destructive patterns of thought and behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
These are the things I hold onto
I cling to certain things to avoid facing the truth about myself.
These are the things I use to deceive myself
I use these things to hide from the reality of my life and actions.
I line them up in front of me
I rationalize and arrange these things in a way that excuses my behavior.
I judge them carefully
I evaluate these excuses to make sure they make sense.
Then I throw them all away
Despite my attempts to justify my actions, I know deep down they are wrong and hold no value.
I am a small man
I recognize my own insignificance and weakness in the face of greater truths and morality.
I am not a dangerous man
Despite my potential to do harm, I do not see myself as a threat to others.
I love a child
I feel affection and warmth towards a young person.
I love a beautiful child
Specifically, I have strong feelings of admiration for this child's physical appearance.
I will hold this child in my arms
I will embrace and comfort this child, further deepening my attachment to them.
And caress his soft head
I will touch and stroke the child's hair in a display of affection.
Listen to him cry
I am aware of and attentive to the child's emotions and distress.
I can kill the child
Despite my positive feelings towards the child, I acknowledge that I have the capability to harm them.
The beautiful child
This phrase emphasizes the child's physical attractiveness and my fixation on it.
I will kill the child
I recognize that my feelings and actions towards the child are destructive and dangerous.
This is my life
These thoughts and behaviors are central to who I am as a person.
This is my choice
Despite feeling a lack of control, I acknowledge that my actions are ultimately a decision I have made.
This is my damnation
I recognize that my harmful behavior will lead to punishment or negative consequences.
This is my only regret
I feel deep remorse for the negative effects of my actions.
That I ever was born
My existence and the potential for me to cause harm is a source of pain and regret.
This is my sacrifice
My negative behavior is a self-imposed challenge or burden.
Get out of my head
I am struggling to control these thoughts and impulses and want them to stop.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ваня Филимонова
[Verse 1]
These are the things I hold onto
These are the things I use to deceive myself
I line them up in front of me
I judge them carefully
Then I throw them all away
I throw them all away
I am a small man
I am not a dangerous man
[Refrain 1]
I love a child, I love a beautiful child
I love a beautiful idea
[Verse 2]
I will hold this child in my arms
I will caress his soft head
Listen to him cry, listen to him cry
[Refrain 2]
I could kill the child, I could kill the child
The beautiful child, the beautiful child
The beautiful child
[Verse 3]
This is my life
This is my choice
This is my damnation
This is my only regret
This is my life
This is my life
This is my sacrifice
This is my sacrifice
This is my life
This is my damnation
This is my only regret
That I ever was born
This is my only regret
That I ever was born
This is my sacrifice
This is my life
What a beautiful idea
This is my regret
Get out of my head
Derek Escalante
My favorite Christian song😍
Pablo García
One of the best things they have ever composed, and that's a lot.
Taeronai
Early Swans is so cathartic to listen to, it's amazing how they convey all that desperation and rage.
CryCry 乂.
YOOO GARGAMEL PFP!!
Ваня Филимонова
[Verse 1]
These are the things I hold onto
These are the things I use to deceive myself
I line them up in front of me
I judge them carefully
Then I throw them all away
I throw them all away
I am a small man
I am not a dangerous man
[Refrain 1]
I love a child, I love a beautiful child
I love a beautiful idea
[Verse 2]
I will hold this child in my arms
I will caress his soft head
Listen to him cry, listen to him cry
[Refrain 2]
I could kill the child, I could kill the child
The beautiful child, the beautiful child
The beautiful child
[Verse 3]
This is my life
This is my choice
This is my damnation
This is my only regret
This is my life
This is my life
This is my sacrifice
This is my sacrifice
This is my life
This is my damnation
This is my only regret
That I ever was born
This is my only regret
That I ever was born
This is my sacrifice
This is my life
What a beautiful idea
This is my regret
Get out of my head
Oryan Goat
How do you come up with a sound like this? It’s fucking amazing
o0LanternLight0o
well, it depends on what you see heavy as in the first place, because in some respects i don't think it gets much heavier than swans. the feeling, so deeply tormented, so nihilistic, so low, so hopeless. the sound of bones being crushed under the massive weight of the crule world. dude this is heavy stuff right here... i get what you mean too, but do you get what i mean? this just digs a deeper level in my opinion.
royercrafter
Really intense album.
holysilver1616
late night delight pfp
Jennifer Boaro
It's so nice to rediscover this band!