Swans - Cloud of Unknowing 

The author was anonymous so it is unknown whether they were a monk.

Cloud of Unknowing is a classic within apophatic theology en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophatic_theology Pseudo Dionysius the Areopagite is an essential character in this tradition of theology: According to Corrigan and Harrington, "Dionysius' central concern is how a triune God, ... who is utterly unknowable, unrestricted being, beyond individual substances, beyond even goodness, can become manifest to, in, and through the whole of creation in order to bring back all things to the hidden darkness of their source."

Furthermore, I am I is the definition God gives to Moses as the the burning bush about what or who he is. A=A is also a central definition in Fichte and when in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, spirit reaches the absolute it can finally with full honestly posit itself as self identical.

This dude is trash. Ads.

Yeah Gira has an interest in such works, he gave me personal recommendations and encouraged me to look into mysticism so this is very likely

Yeah that's an incredible way to think. To imagine people used to lock their music behind iTunes

Well said! 👌

For me it was opposite. To Be Kind took me a few listens to get into whilst The Glowing Man got me instantly.

@@slateman118 Same

I agree. I didn't get these two 'cloud' tracks to start with but now finding them very deep.

@@slateman118 same

not an incorrect assumption

you know nothing

Just as if you entered the cloud of unknowing the book talks about

Listening to this makes me feel I don't need to try to understand everything. This and the way it makes me feel are all that matters.

Listen to it in acid. You won't regret it.

Haha, listening to this under the effects of cannabis as well. My sentiments also. This album resonates with me in a personal way. Feels like a soundtrack to a very painful and rich story.

Nice pfp lol

Sober and still pretty much the same. Absolutely Epic

I listened to this on 300 ug in the woods with a friend and also with my brother some years ago and oh fuck, I felt I was Gandalf the Grey, it was so amazing and beautiful, those words fall short for what this song means to me.

yeahhhh sematary

Those Swans moments that open up into infinity

Killer! Beautiful!

I think he knows

Of course he knows, he *sees it all*.

Ha Ha Ha Ha. Nice!

hihi

The desert seems to be a reoccurring piece of imagery when I listen to Swans. Especially on this album, To Be Kind, and certain tracks of Soundtracks for the Blind.

For me its wandering through a forest at night.

That’s what I picture during Bring the Sun, right after the intense beginning.

@@kevingroholski1485 Agreed, there is a very eastern "Man in search of a soul" vibe on these records. Although the seer makes me think more so of a medieval forest in new England or something

Actually I always saw the trilogy as somewhat a sonic equivalent of a western movie, written both by tarantino who brought in the violent aspects and Tim Burton who brought in the creepy ideas. It's just like a journey, every time. The Seer, To be Kind and The Glowing man...it just feels like a lone cowboy riding through the desert and getting into fights and trouble every now and then, but his only goal actually is finding peace... The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. That always comes to my mind when I start with one of those albums, may it be The Seer, To Be Kind, or this one...

Twin peaks?

that song you like is going to come back in style

I can't explain how this music makes me feel

I see it as an ascension or the path towards enlightenment, the bit at 14 minutes feels like opening up the doors to the heavens and going blind.

AAghhhhhh!! Someone had to write that! How can you say it's underrated when it's almost universally highly rated?!

@@Gy0952 take it from someone who speaks it, it is not that elegant and sensual language and learning it is more trouble than it's worth

Really cool visualization. I have a different one but yours is also insane

doo doo doo DOOoOOO

can i come?

Based god

Do you still have the playlist? I'd love to give it a listen, it sounds cool.

@@abdullaalsaleh I deleted it but I think I remember everything. I’ll make it again and send it to you

@@abdullaalsaleh I may’ve left out a song or two at the beginning, but this is it. More or less ru-vid.com/group/PLZbnO3-tQjmzU1993lYX0fR5h4OZUAeN7

If you haven’t read it already, I would recommend soundtracks for the blind or some GY!BE to compliment The Road.

im not sure how to decode "space cunt"

@@jennbaker6964 Ha! Maybe some things just weren't meant to be.

If there is a code to 'crack', it is that there is no code to crack. Knowing is unknowing. The title of the track is a big clue, as it relates to the written piece of the same name from the 14th century, with no credited author. The main theme of the piece of writing is that the only way to truly know God is to abandon the search for his/her/its identity and dive into the idea that not knowing opens up a world of possibility. To abandon the idea of 'knowing' God, or divinity, and to surrender to the truth that the only certainty you can have is that you don't know anything really. Socrates is believed to have thought that he was only wiser than others because he was the only one who seemed to recognise his own ignorance. The Glowing Man as an album I think perfectly captures this idea. Surrender all preconceived notions. Surrender thinking. Surrender knowledge. Just experience.

@@el_mal_de_ojo Thank you for your wonderful reply. I think there's complete truth in what you say and I'm sure that's a lot of what Michael Gira is going for here. Even if he doesn't believe in an anthropomorphic deity (and last I knew, he doesn't), he understands the phenomenon and power of spirituality. The code I'm talking about though is more like the LAYERS in art. And in truth, I never wish to completely crack the code. To me, that code is like the mysteries of existence. If one were to crack them all open, one would lose all sense of wonder and awe at the world. The reason one can stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon and be dumbfounded by the view is that we can't fully fathom the scale of what we're viewing. Man is but tiny to the Universe, or perhaps God (as some would say), and will always remain so. The mystery in art is something which retains its potency over time as something to repeatedly witness or engage. Scale and complexity are what keep that code from being cracked. When there are merely a couple/few simple layers in a song, one can easily pick them apart and look at that song rationally and see what makes it tick. This is all I mean by "cracking the code." And when the code is cracked, one is no longer excited by it. This is why many people's favorite films are the ones they can watch repeatedly and find different things in each and every time they watch it. Kubrick films are of course notorious for this. All said, this is by far my favorite of the post-hiatus Swans albums. I love what you say - it's like Michael has surrendered himself to the greatness of it all, something he may understand as a musical visionary but more importantly, something he deeply respects as a human who has been through a lot. Much like an honest reporter who is committed to reporting the truth as it is, I believe MG feels beholden to his work as if it were sacred and not something he forges to pat his own back or ego but rather exists to play its own role in the understanding of the greater universe - whether or not one is religious, spiritual or neither.

@@sex6cult9revolution Sorry for the delay in replying, and thank you for your comment / reply. I'm replying on a separate account. I agree with everything you have written, and thanks for elaborating on what you mean about 'cracking the code'. I fully agree with the sentiment - art that resonates with me the most is when I know deep down that I don't fully understand it. There are layers upon layers to decipher...and even if I had it in me to fully decipher it, I am not sure I would choose to do so. There is a beauty in the unknown. I echo what you wrote - part of what appeals to me the most about Gira's approach to his music / art is the honesty. My favourite musicians share this - they may not be stylistically similar, but they are all trying to make tangible something intangible within themselves. Most likely, it's their attempt to understand themselves and the world around them, and give us a glimpse into their world so that we may glean something personal ourselves through the experience. TGM is also my favourite post-reunion Swans release, exactly because of how nebulous and dense it is. Without exaggerating I have heard it at least 300 times in its entirety and I always find something new to enjoy, or rediscover something that doesn't lose potency. Even when fully deciphering the musical codas, the subject matter of what Gira speaks about is so intensely personal and complex that it can only be approached from a position of subjectivity and emotion. What you say about the sacredness of his approach resonates, also - having seen Swans and Gira solo, there is always a reverential quality to it. He seems to understand that the music is bigger than him, bigger than the individual sum of it parts. It also explains why he rarely goes to the back catalog - things are always moving forward, old ideas are left alone in order to search for something new.

woah, that's deep

Wow so deep

ClandestineOstrich the algorithm is blasphemous

Look into the book "Cloud of Unknowing" it's a Christian guide to mystical prayer that Gira used as inspiration for this song.

Perhaps the search for meaning is, in itself, a fools errand. Perhaps meaninglessness is more valuable.

'sit down, meditate and don't be evil'

It's conscious awareness in eternity learning that eternity is in awareness

Actually remember me a part of She loves us when the drums and the bass start to kick in

more like one half of an experience.