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.
God Damn the Sun
Swans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We had no history
So nothing to lose
Meant we could choose
Choose what we wanted then
Without any fear
Or thought of revenge
But then you grew old
So I gained an addiction
To drink and depression
(they are mine
My only true friends
And I'll keep them with me
Until the very end)
I'd choose not to remember
But I miss your arrogance
And I need your intelligence
And your hate for authority
But now you're gone
I read it today
They found you in spain
Face down in the street
With a bottle in your hand
And a wild smile on your face
And a knife in your back
You died in a foreign land
And they found my letter
Rolled up in your pocket
Where I said I'd kill myself
If she left me again
So now she's gone
And you're both in my mind
I've got one thing to say
Before I am drunk again:
God damn the sun
God damn the sun
God damn anyone
That says a kind word
God damn the sun
God damn the sun
God damn the light it shines
And this world it shows
God damn the sun
"God Damn the Sun" by Swans is a poignant and melancholic song that explores the complexities of life, love, and loss. The first verse speaks of the freedom one has in their youth, when life is open and full of possibilities. The singer contrasts this with the later stages of life when ambition fades, and addiction takes hold. With drink and depression as their only friends, the singer yearns for what he lost in his youth: his friend's arrogance and intelligence, and their mutual hatred of authority.
The second verse takes a darker turn as the singer laments the loss of his friend, who was found dead in Spain with a knife in his back and a wild smile on his face. The lyrics suggest that the friend's death was a result of living a life of excess, but the singer is still consumed by grief and plagued by thoughts of suicide if his partner were to leave him again. The song ends with a powerful refrain: "God damn the sun, God damn anyone that says a kind word, God damn the light it shines and this world it shows."
The song is a meditation on the complexities of human emotion, the power of addiction, the fragility of life, and the search for meaning and purpose in a world full of pain and loss. It is a hauntingly beautiful song that speaks to the human experience in a profound and moving way.
Line by Line Meaning
When, when we were young
Back when we were young
We had no history
We had no past to hold us back
So nothing to lose
We had no attachments, nothing to worry about losing
Meant we could choose
We had the freedom to choose what we wanted
Choose what we wanted then
We could pursue our desires without any hesitation
Without any fear
We didn't have to worry about the consequences of our choices
Or thought of revenge
We didn't have any grudges or negative feelings towards others
But then you grew old
With time, you became older and changed
And I lost my ambition
I lost my drive and purpose in life
So I gained an addiction
I turned to addiction to fill the void
(they are mine
Alcohol and depression are the only things I have left
My only true friends
They are the only ones I can rely on
And I'll keep them with me
I will hold onto them until the end
Until the very end)
Until I die
I'd choose not to remember
I try to forget
But I miss your arrogance
I miss your confidence and boldness
And I need your intelligence
I need your knowledge and insight
And your hate for authority
I appreciate your rebellious spirit against authority
But now you're gone
You're no longer here with me
I read it today
I just found out today
They found you in spain
You were discovered in Spain
Face down in the street
You were lying flat on the ground
With a bottle in your hand
You were holding a bottle
And a wild smile on your face
You had a crazy grin on your face
And a knife in your back
You were stabbed in the back
You died in a foreign land
You passed away in a different country
And they found my letter
They found a letter I wrote to you
Rolled up in your pocket
It was tucked inside your pocket
Where I said I'd kill myself
Where I wrote that I would end my own life
If she left me again
If my love interest were to leave me again
So now she's gone
My love interest has left me
And you're both in my mind
Both you and my love interest are still on my mind
I've got one thing to say
I want to express one thing
Before I am drunk again:
Before I get intoxicated once more
God damn the sun
I curse the sun
God damn the sun
I curse the sun
God damn anyone
I condemn anyone
That says a kind word
Whoever says something nice
God damn the sun
I curse the sun
God damn the sun
I curse the sun
God damn the light it shines
I curse the light that it beams
And this world it shows
And the world that it illuminates
God damn the sun
I curse the sun
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MICHAEL ROLFE GIRA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@farhabuh886
When, when we were young
We had no history
So nothing to lose
Meant we could choose
Choose what we wanted then
Without any fear
Or thought of revenge
But then you grew old
And I lost my ambition
So I gained an addiction
To drink and depression
(they are mine
My only true friends
And I'll keep them with me
Until the very end)
I'd choose not to remember
But I miss your arrogance
And I need your intelligence
And your hate for authority
But now you're gone
I read it today
They found you in spain
Face down in the street
With a bottle in your hand
And a wild smile on your face
And a knife in your back
You died in a foreign land
And they found my letter
Rolled up in your pocket
Where I said I'd kill myself
If she left me again
So now she's gone
And you're both in my mind
I've got one thing to say
Before I am drunk again:
God damn the sun
God damn the sun
God damn anyone
That says a kind word
God damn the sun
God damn the sun
God damn the light it shines
And this world it shows
God damn the sun
@nathanmaye2920
I don't think I've ever heard a song that better describes the resentment one feels towards the world while grieving. The sun still rises and life goes on all around you even though it feels like it shouldn't and it feels like the world is trying to spite you with its indifference.
@wierdnun708
I could school you on grief
@morebasheder
Beautifully put sir. Amazing song 👍🏼
@matthewsolina4920
After my brother died I remember thinking about how everything is just a distraction. All the things people do. Jobs and hobbies and games. Even the way people interact with each other. It all seemed so trivial. It seemed so fake.
@zachmckeever5925
It actually does evoke The Sun Also Rises on a level. As a fan of both, I'm happy to discover that.
@kiryuchan860
Why should the light shed on your world when mine is completely dark?
@jacknoir4289
Man, cant believe ultrakill became so popular they created deserts as a tribute
@hitoshura7
Cant believe they recreated big ben from ultrakill
@Killjoyed95
Getting bad reviews was actually the artistic completion of this album.
@lauraeiriarte
" god damn the light it shines and this world it shows.." for me this is the most powerful piece of lyric I have ever read/listen, plus the voice of gira... one of the most soul breaking songs in this album... perfect song to listen in my balcony with a smoke and a glass of whiskey and the bittersweet resignation that humans are emptier beings every second it pass...