In my youth, in the early 80's, I was blown away by Swans. They were utterly unlike anything else out there. Today, I'm 52, and Michael Gira hasn't sold out: he's still making the most awesome music I've ever heard.
Everytime I listen to this I'm deeply touched .There's no one better than Swans in exploring the dark side of human existence with such beauty. Swans were life changing to me when I first discovered them in my teenage years. Their music is above that of most "post-rock" bands because it's not about making beautiful soundscapes or showing off, they truly dig deep into human emotions. What they do is pure art.
Agreed, this song can easily reduce a grown man to a sobbing pile of misery. It's incredibly powerful. Which is exactly why it's never gonna be mainstream. Most people just lack the emotional maturity to deal with something as deep and intense as this. Hollywood sadness is all they can take. This would overtax them.
I recently started to get into GY!BE and pretty much loving it, but every time I re-spin "Soundtracks" I feel like GY!BE are only toying around with a few elements of this giant mind-boggling monster of a record and can only do so much. "SftB" is probably the most incredible audio experience I've ever had with a band.
Kirk Landau I've listened to the album countless times. It's just good, not amazing, just good. And that's in my own opinion, according to my own tastes.
One of the only songs I'll openly and proudly say I cry to; whether it's the instrumental or Gira giving one of his most raw, vulnerable vocal performances, or that goddamn organ at the latter part of the song, it's so achingly beautiful that I couldn't keep my composure if I wanted to. I'm wholeheartedly happy they've been finding success with their newer albums, both masterful in their own right, but I just hope their fandom continues to grow and they give their earlier material, specifically THIS, the album that began all the spectacle of TBK and grandiosity of The Seer, their wholehearted attention. Please.
This is what really got me into the band. The organ later on in the song is beautiful. And the vocals paint such vivid imagery. I'm not certified to label this as art, and I'm not willing to get into how "deprived" the modern audience may be, but I will say this: It's gotten me through *a lot* of homework.
Now you be the mother, and I'll be your fool, I'll hide myself deep inside, your crimson pool. The muddy water runs, beneath your folds, you won't let me breathe, you won't let me go. Now you be the stranger, and I'll be the white-skinned son, you'll blacken my innocence, with sugar and opium... The children were suffocating, down in your damp cave, and you were the mother,and I was the sleeping slave. Protect me from violence, hold me in your cool lips, you drug me with kindness, so I can pretend I exist. Now you be the only child, I'll suck on your breast, you'll feed me with gasoline, I'll burn my name in your head.
To think that we live in a world where Adele's "Someone Like You" is considered the mother of all tearjerkers... I'm not saying it's a bad song, but it doesn't have the slightest effect on me. Swans, however, could make me bawl like a bitch like 20 times per album if they wanted. And this particular song is the worst offender. Absolutely breathtaking. Seriously, if this is not one of the greatest pieces of music in human history, then there is no such thing as music.
I agree so much. It's simply such a powerful song, really all of SWANS is. I can't wait until the new tracks this month (hopefully). March 2019 there's supposed to be some new recordings released. Totally pumped!
I wonder about the one single dislike... Maybe it is just for fun. Soundtracks for the Blind is evidently one of the most important AND beautiful music in the 20th century.
When feelings and emotions cause everyone to fight here.... this song is jarring and everyone here is midway through the process of this song and letter out their bad sides... stop it! We all enjoy music diferrently and that must be respected to keep a good balance
Sorry, but you've been using your mind wrong, because you can't listen to anything wrong. Swans' songs are not tearjerkers, for the Swans are post-punk, and tearjerkers are more lighter and sad, not dark and depressing. Swans is melancholy, not sudden sadness.
Oh Christ, the only reason you cry is because you have the feeling of sadness. Even when you cry of happiness, the emotion of sadness pours out and that's what makes you cry. Melancholy does not make you cry.
