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.
Mind/Body/Light/Sound
Swans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fall into the sea
There's nothing solid here
Dissolve your body today
There's a sun in the sky.
We're in the atmosphere
Throw yourself in the sea
There's nothing solid down here
Mindless, bodyless, soundless light
This ordinary night
This ordinary day
They're twisted out of shape
Then they disintegrate
Cool water runs through the ground
The ocean blends with the air
Throw yourself in the fire
There's nothing solid around here
Mind/body/light/sound
Mindless, bodyless, soundless light
The world was over today
The time is already gone
Throw your mind in the sea
Eternity doesn't last very long
There's some people on earth
They live in separate minds
Dissolve your body today,
There is no more outside
Mind/body/light/sound
Mindless, bodyless, soundless light
Swans' song "Mind/Body/Light/Sound" is a melancholic, introspective meditation on the dissolution of the self and the transience of reality. The song begins with the powerful directive to "throw your mind away" and "fall into the sea," suggesting a rejection of traditional notions of the mind-body dichotomy and a desire to transcend the boundaries of the self. The lyrics continue to emphasize the transitory nature of our existence, with references to the ephemerality of light, sound, and the passing of time.
The imagery throughout the song is powerful and evocative, with references to the sea and fire representing the depths of the human experience and the transformative power of destruction. The repetition of the phrase "mind/body/light/sound" serves to reinforce this theme of dissolution, suggesting that all aspects of our being are ultimately impermanent and subject to change or destruction.
Ultimately, "Mind/Body/Light/Sound" is a deeply philosophical and introspective song that encourages listeners to embrace the transience of existence and to let go of the need for material attachments or a fixed sense of self.
Line by Line Meaning
Throw your mind away
Let go of all your preconceived notions and biases
Fall into the sea
Immerse yourself in the vast unknown
There's nothing solid here
Nothing is permanent or certain
Dissolve your body today
Let go of your physical limitations
There's a sun in the sky.
A reminder of the constant change and energy of the universe
We're in the atmosphere
We exist in a fragile and interconnected environment
Throw yourself in the sea
Embrace the vulnerability and uncertainty of life
Mind/body/light/sound
The essence of existence
Mindless, bodyless, soundless light
The purest form of being
This ordinary night
Even the mundane can be transcendent
This ordinary day
Even the ordinary can hold beauty and meaning
They're twisted out of shape
Our perceptions can be warped and limited
Then they disintegrate
All things are impermanent in the end
Cool water runs through the ground
The flow of life and vitality
The ocean blends with the air
All things are interconnected
Throw yourself in the fire
Confront the challenges and difficulties of life
There's nothing solid around here
Everything is in a constant state of flux and uncertainty
The world was over today
The end of one era can mark the beginning of another
The time is already gone
Time is fleeting and precious
Throw your mind in the sea
Let go of your mental constraints and limitations
Eternity doesn't last very long
Even the infinite is finite in the grand scheme of things
There's some people on earth
We are all unique and individual
They live in separate minds
Our experiences and perceptions are subjective
Dissolve your body today
Release yourself from the physical world
There is no more outside
The self and the universe are inseparable
Mindless, bodyless, soundless light
The ultimate form of existence and consciousness
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Petru Marginean
Hmm... I'm trying to place the tracks on the records... Assuming that each side can carry 22 minutes. Let's see:
SIDE A: red velvet wound, i was a prisoner in your skull, helpless child "first 7 minutes, the lyrical part"
SIDE B: helpless child "the rest 8 minutes", live through me, yum yab killers, the beautiful days "only 5 minutes of the track"
SIDE C: volcano, mellothumb, all lined up, surrogate 2, how they suffer
SIDE D: animus, red velvet wound, the sound "the first 8 minutes, there's a noisy part that could be faded out and then faded in on the next side"
SIDE E: the sound "the last 5 minutes", her mouth is filled with honey, blood section, hypogirl, minus something
SIDE F: empathy, i love you this much, yrp "the first 3 1/2 minutes until jarboe's singing"
SIDE G: yrp "the last 4 minutes", fan's lament, secret friends, the final sacrifice
SIDE H: yrp 2, surrogate drone
Well, I didn't structure the tracks before typing this very comment but, looks like the last side, h, would only contain 4 minutes of audio. I guess there would be a better structure of the record but... In case it's getting remastered, I would really get mad if the track order will be messed. I adore every single second of this album so don't get me wrong... but looks like the major bangers on the album "helpless child, the sound, yrp" are getting sliced. I really wouldn't want this to happen as on the vinyl version of "The Seer"...
Chris P.
This whole album was the beginning of my personal journey on the SWANS train, I think I picked a copy of this album in 1995. Since then, I went back in the discography record by record, station by station in almost no time and the journey continued... and I'm still a passenger on that train. Love from Berlin.
James Smoot
Definitely one of the better mid-period Swans records, and with the reduced reverb there's a sense of muscle and drive that wasn't there before. Beautiful chiming melodies, clearer vocals, full-voiced guitars. It sounds very different from the original issue. Feels like there's more space and emphasis as well.
Charmicarmi Cat
James Smoot I couldn't have said it better myself
James Smoot
Hey nothing wrong with that! The original mix vocal is pretty different and there's a more mysterious, buried sound in that version.
Arno Burtner
Die Tur ist zu opened up the gates
Arno Burtner
the original version is 'more there'
MattB
Michael is one of those rare musicians who manages to walk the line between sticking to his artistic guns yet also remaining in touch with his fans and what they want. He really hit the nail on the head with these reissues. I wish more noisy/experimental bands would revisit their back catalogs and clean them up so it's clearer noise from the actual amps and less "red zone" audio clipping burying everything.
Gambarizing
This song helped me cope with the passing of my eldest brother.
Isabela Suplicy
I'll be destroyed someday if I lose my eldest brother
peace to you
Charmicarmi Cat
This is so.... oh my god this mix is fucking perfect. I have no words