This song has always evoked to me some sort of wicked exorcism that ends not in liberation but in the total annihilation of both the possessor and the possessed.
The "The Seer - To Be Kind - The Glowing Man" album trilogy is the most important musical run in rock of this decade. It is also a triptych in the sense that it is a work of art in three parts, coincidentally being among the most spiritual music I've ever heard, the most primal, the most soul-shaking, groovy, scary, blissful, ecstatic music I've ever heard, and had the absolute pleasure to experience live. A transcendental experience, this goes beyond music, this is a platform for a way of looking at life, of living life. If you know, you will know what I am referring to. This is essential listening. Swans is essential. This track, "Apostate", literally the renouncing of religiosity, is among the greatest album closers of any genre of music, ever. Supercedes genre and classification.
@@sidharthwarrier9001 He frequently posts on Instagram. One commenter asked him if he believed in god, to which he simply answered “Yes.” I think his music is more critical of religion than god as a concept.
A couple of weeks ago I had a mental breakdown and I listened to this in the process, it was so therapeutic I swear, I woke up with a sore throat and a bad headache, thank you Michael Gira for making this.
Every album is incredibly good there's your way! It's amazing how a band comes back from a Hiato of years, and creates works of this level... unbelievable! What a band! One of the best bands ever!
Best song on the album. Also I own a physical copy of The Seer thanks to hearing Swans albums on TH-cam, so technically uploading music to TH-cam can encourage someone to go out and buy it.
Skullkan6 Vinyl has a different track listing that I'm personally not fond of. It has The Apostate as the second track when it belongs at the end of the album as the closer, not at the beginning. Plus, due the album's length, the longer tracks had to be cut up into multiple parts over 3 records. This album was clearly not made for the vinyl format.
Sm0ker I see what you mean, I bought my first vinyl a little while ago, F#A#Infinity which I love and there's a clear difference between the CD and Vinyl Versions. The Vinyl version was pretty obviously intended first and has a small section at the end of side 1 which is cut from the CD, and the locked groove kind of helps the fact that the vinyl version feels a bit short for a godspeed album. The CD was pretty obviously made second for a reissue and has a lot more little things added in such as the now iconic "You think the end of the world is coming?" interview, the difference in the mix and a few small bits to Providence but it feels more atmospheric to be honest. Do you know if the CD copies of The Seer are signed by M.Gira as well? I remember seeing that all the vinyl copies have been signed.
+UntitledKirk Same, friend. caught on to the album late November of last year, through these exact videos, i believe! Then I purchased the vinyl and immediately forgot it was in my collection. Waiting for November 24th (1 year anniv) to give her the old inaugural spin. Enjoy, all! Hope to own more of their discography soon.
This track, along with the other 2 epics on The Seer, took soo long to fully appreciate. They really tested my patience on my first few listens but I always said after every listen that I knew it was going to grow on me. After years and years of having pop music shoved down my ears, the 3 epics on The Seer, as well as those on To Be Kind and The Glowing Man, have transcended my perception of music from being a quick 3 min blast of excitement to a 20min+ mind altering experience. Swans music is the gift that keeps on giving.
I love basically every 'epic' as you call them, but I have some trouble completely loving the whole half hour ones. The first half of Bring the Sun is phenomenal but the second half, though amusing, kinda drags for me. And with The Seer I think it's mostly a matter of listening to it couple more times, although I also find my thoughts straying during its more mellow moments.
@@sarang8585 I'll give The Seer some more time then, I absolutely love it every time the vocals kick in, so maybe I just need to pay more attention to the moments where it's only the instruments doing the talking. That being said with Apostate and Piece of the Sky, I love the ending of both, but the beginnings can drag a little (especially the latter, I don't think I can even discern an instrument in the first seven minutes. Apostate is honestly amazing throughout, it just requires real attention). Because of that To Be Kind is definitely my favourite because its a bit more straightforward rock I suppose. And this same thing for the same reason makes me think The Seer might be a better album experience overal, does that make any sense? Idk this band has honestly been perplexing me ever since I started going through their works but they've climbed up the ranks to be possibly my second favourite band.
@@matthewmeachem2259 I've now essentially listened to every Swans album except for their first three records and their last two records. Though I have heard the first track, Cloud of Forgetting on The Glowing Man and I've already added it to my list of favourites. I think the post break up albums will always stand higher in the ranking for me in comparison to the those that came before them (I mean My Father alone is better than any pre-break up album imo), but that's really a matter of personal taste. The only album that might top My Father for me rn is Soundtracks for the Blind, which I'm currently going through and I think it just might (in any case there are certain tracks on there that are better than any track on My Father). I've heard that The Glowing Man is a more ethereal record with more drawn out build ups that don't necessarily reach the grand climaxes on To Be Kind and The Seer, and I think that is appealing in its own way. But for the same reason I think it won't top either of the two records that came before it for me, I just love some of the more straightforward rock on those (I'm calling two of the most inaccessible records I've come across straightforward, wth am I saying, but I hope you get it lol). Note of course that I'm basically assuming that most of The Glowing Man is similar to the vibe I got from its first track.
This is the heaviest song ever recorded. The soundtrack to the end of the world (physical or mental, whatever interpretation you care for) and finding one's drive within to press on. Wind howling; everything ripped away piece by piece. Sirens wailing as the tower of luxury lurches, sways, and breaks. The outer walls of comfort and daydream battered and beaten until they give way. From the broken bottom we choose to pick up the pieces. To push forward. We bark at the sky and announce that we are here! We are alive and breathing. Thinking, feeling, in motion. The catharsis by the end as Phil Puleo beats the everloving shit out of the drumset is so deeply primal and empowering. I feel like I can move mountains afterwards every time.
There is definitely heavier music than Swans. Like live they are entirely different beast, but otherwise even early nowave era is pretty easy to listen.
At first I only listened to this part of the album, advised by a friend. I enjoyed it, but not much and was kind of disapointed. Now, months later I'm listening to the whole album straight and Apostate, coming as a conclusion of this journey makes so much more sense! Loved it, Thank you.
The best section of any Swans song ever. Pure primal energy. When everything comes together around 19:00 it's one of the most energetic and terrifying pieces of music I've ever heard.
Yep, Swans is one of only a handful (seriously, 3 or 4) bands that make music that have put me in a trance-like mental state. Duster's "Stratosphere", several Godspeed You! records, Can (Tago Mago especially), maybe one or two others I can't think of right now. Closest thing to psychedelics without drugs.
After watching videos of Balinese ceremony like Melasti and Barong dance where people get into a state of trance while fast-paced polyrhythmic gamelan music is playing, the atmosphere of the ceremony somehow remind me of this song when everything breaks loose from 13:25 till the end.
i woke up and looked at my c.d. collection and could not find what I needed to start my day. death metal, no...Public Castration Is A Good Idea. ahhhhhh imagined taking a shower in blood ( I have a a red shop light for the tub area ) I was in bliss.
For the record I love both bands immensely, but you should be wary of saying GYBE in a Swans comments section, it will immediately summon the absolute worst mealy-mouthed sniveling music people on the fucking planet to sneer down their noses at you
I love you too Swans. I saw you live 5 times and they all eclipse any other live performances I have seen. Yours are the CDs that hold premier place on my shelf.
idk why but when gira is screaming "FUCK" over and over i always imagine a bunch of little demons trying to climb up a ladder from hell and some of them are getting pushed off and now i cant unsee it every time i listen to this masterpiece
Masterpiece. thanks for uploading it it Swans, I listened to the album on youtube and new i had to add buy it after hearing just the first 2 songs of the album. I cant wait for it through to come through the post.
Thanks Michael! sorry to miss you at the Chapel last night I hope it was a great show. Such a great album, look forward to the next Swans show in the bay area. I love you too :-).
"Apostate" means to denounce a religious or political belief. I definitely think the the word is used in a religious context here. This song feels like some kind of divine punishment, like some god or higher being is sending all the non believers or Apostates down into hell.
I see it as the ultimate conclusion to everything before it. The album feels like the story of a warrior, probably the one sung about, and this song is his last fight.
Definitely in a religious context. The song before this, "A piece of the sky" is about searching for God. I guess the appearance of this song afterwards may suggest that the search for god was fruitless and whoever is searching in these songs, has abandoned the possibility of a God.
This song has always evoked to me some sort of wicked exorcism that ends not in liberation but in the total annihilation of both the possessor and the possessed.
Total annihilation is a good summary of the effect Swans music has on the listener. A spiritual rebirth by way of sounds
The "The Seer - To Be Kind - The Glowing Man" album trilogy is the most important musical run in rock of this decade. It is also a triptych in the sense that it is a work of art in three parts, coincidentally being among the most spiritual music I've ever heard, the most primal, the most soul-shaking, groovy, scary, blissful, ecstatic music I've ever heard, and had the absolute pleasure to experience live. A transcendental experience, this goes beyond music, this is a platform for a way of looking at life, of living life. If you know, you will know what I am referring to. This is essential listening. Swans is essential. This track, "Apostate", literally the renouncing of religiosity, is among the greatest album closers of any genre of music, ever. Supercedes genre and classification.
I feel like I know someone who embodied all thee albums in himself
he was a seer, then aimed to be kind, and is becoming the glowing man
@nick yeah there's no way Gira is not atheist
@nick I hear you , but there's no way he is . Like , no way
@@sidharthwarrier9001 He frequently posts on Instagram. One commenter asked him if he believed in god, to which he simply answered “Yes.” I think his music is more critical of religion than god as a concept.
A couple of weeks ago I had a mental breakdown and I listened to this in the process, it was so therapeutic I swear, I woke up with a sore throat and a bad headache, thank you Michael Gira for making this.
This could very well be the best closer in the history of music
The last Incarnation of Swans is certainly one of the greatest moments in history of modern music
Ruben Ventura absolutely, but the seer is still the peak of the trilogy for me. Incredible album
Every album is incredibly good there's your way! It's amazing how a band comes back from a Hiato of years, and creates works of this level... unbelievable! What a band! One of the best bands ever!
agreed..
the only bad thing is that when you find and understand Swans, every other piece of music seem to be less interesting
Gira has channeled something otherworldly here. Such organised chaos. Worlds colliding.
Which worlds in your opinion
This and A Piece of the Sky are two of the best pieces ever put together.
I just wasted 23 minutes of my life.
But then I found this track. My 23 minutes are now back!
It's like listening to someone go insane... I love the incoherent rambling at the end that just melts into the oblivion of instrumentation.
Best song on the album. Also I own a physical copy of The Seer thanks to hearing Swans albums on TH-cam, so technically uploading music to TH-cam can encourage someone to go out and buy it.
UntitledKirk Would you say it's better to own on CD or Vinyl. I have both but I feel like I wouldn't be able to listen to it on Vinyl very often.
Skullkan6 Vinyl has a different track listing that I'm personally not fond of. It has The Apostate as the second track when it belongs at the end of the album as the closer, not at the beginning. Plus, due the album's length, the longer tracks had to be cut up into multiple parts over 3 records. This album was clearly not made for the vinyl format.
Sm0ker
I see what you mean, I bought my first vinyl a little while ago, F#A#Infinity which I love and there's a clear difference between the CD and Vinyl Versions. The Vinyl version was pretty obviously intended first and has a small section at the end of side 1 which is cut from the CD, and the locked groove kind of helps the fact that the vinyl version feels a bit short for a godspeed album. The CD was pretty obviously made second for a reissue and has a lot more little things added in such as the now iconic "You think the end of the world is coming?" interview, the difference in the mix and a few small bits to Providence but it feels more atmospheric to be honest.
Do you know if the CD copies of The Seer are signed by M.Gira as well? I remember seeing that all the vinyl copies have been signed.
UntitledKirk That's quite traditionnal, though, that a song expands on two sides of a vinyl, isn't ?
+UntitledKirk Same, friend. caught on to the album late November of last year, through these exact videos, i believe! Then I purchased the vinyl and immediately forgot it was in my collection. Waiting for November 24th (1 year anniv) to give her the old inaugural spin. Enjoy, all! Hope to own more of their discography soon.
BUH-BUH-BUH-BLESSED
LADATAGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
ALALALALALLALLALALLALALLALLALALLALALLALLALALLAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEOEOOEOOAOAEEEOOEOEOEOOEOEOEOEOOEOEOAOPFOAI{F)UE)(W (*F (*W$*(*W$#*(FW$*(FWF EOAOWOOEOEOOEOEOEOOEWFWEKL OIFKLIO(WELKIOMFPW(I:LOEFIP:L(OKW IP(OL:KEKIFMLOWIKMEO
This is art without compromise. Beautiful!
that’s a good way to put it!
so few people are brave enough to do stuff like this. John Zorn and Yamantaka Eye are two dudes who come to mind though
This track, along with the other 2 epics on The Seer, took soo long to fully appreciate. They really tested my patience on my first few listens but I always said after every listen that I knew it was going to grow on me. After years and years of having pop music shoved down my ears, the 3 epics on The Seer, as well as those on To Be Kind and The Glowing Man, have transcended my perception of music from being a quick 3 min blast of excitement to a 20min+ mind altering experience. Swans music is the gift that keeps on giving.
I love basically every 'epic' as you call them, but I have some trouble completely loving the whole half hour ones. The first half of Bring the Sun is phenomenal but the second half, though amusing, kinda drags for me. And with The Seer I think it's mostly a matter of listening to it couple more times, although I also find my thoughts straying during its more mellow moments.
@@sarang8585 I'll give The Seer some more time then, I absolutely love it every time the vocals kick in, so maybe I just need to pay more attention to the moments where it's only the instruments doing the talking. That being said with Apostate and Piece of the Sky, I love the ending of both, but the beginnings can drag a little (especially the latter, I don't think I can even discern an instrument in the first seven minutes. Apostate is honestly amazing throughout, it just requires real attention). Because of that To Be Kind is definitely my favourite because its a bit more straightforward rock I suppose. And this same thing for the same reason makes me think The Seer might be a better album experience overal, does that make any sense? Idk this band has honestly been perplexing me ever since I started going through their works but they've climbed up the ranks to be possibly my second favourite band.
@@jossecoupe446 What about The Glowing Man or have you not heard that yet?
@@matthewmeachem2259 I've now essentially listened to every Swans album except for their first three records and their last two records. Though I have heard the first track, Cloud of Forgetting on The Glowing Man and I've already added it to my list of favourites. I think the post break up albums will always stand higher in the ranking for me in comparison to the those that came before them (I mean My Father alone is better than any pre-break up album imo), but that's really a matter of personal taste. The only album that might top My Father for me rn is Soundtracks for the Blind, which I'm currently going through and I think it just might (in any case there are certain tracks on there that are better than any track on My Father). I've heard that The Glowing Man is a more ethereal record with more drawn out build ups that don't necessarily reach the grand climaxes on To Be Kind and The Seer, and I think that is appealing in its own way. But for the same reason I think it won't top either of the two records that came before it for me, I just love some of the more straightforward rock on those (I'm calling two of the most inaccessible records I've come across straightforward, wth am I saying, but I hope you get it lol). Note of course that I'm basically assuming that most of The Glowing Man is similar to the vibe I got from its first track.
My year book picture will simply read: I cant believe I listened to the whole thing...
Sinstar Ridley Why?
you havent listened to the knot my man
@@agsrf64794 words: Look At Me Go
This is the heaviest song ever recorded. The soundtrack to the end of the world (physical or mental, whatever interpretation you care for) and finding one's drive within to press on. Wind howling; everything ripped away piece by piece. Sirens wailing as the tower of luxury lurches, sways, and breaks. The outer walls of comfort and daydream battered and beaten until they give way.
From the broken bottom we choose to pick up the pieces. To push forward. We bark at the sky and announce that we are here! We are alive and breathing. Thinking, feeling, in motion. The catharsis by the end as Phil Puleo beats the everloving shit out of the drumset is so deeply primal and empowering. I feel like I can move mountains afterwards every time.
There is definitely heavier music than Swans. Like live they are entirely different beast, but otherwise even early nowave era is pretty easy to listen.
@@MrGrizzzlik What part of my comment talks about "Swans" as a whole?
@@MrGrizzzlikok
I honestly cannot believe the last 5 minutes of this even exist... beyond words!
Swans, a band with such a diverse and amazing sound that you can listen to them at anytime, any place, happy, mad, sad; Swans are amazing.
True!
Sucks that Michael Gira is a boomer
@@MD-tp5zy gtfo with your cringe
@@thememoriesof4892 sorry but it would have been a lot better if Gira was a Gen Xer, Boomers can gosuck a dick
@@MD-tp5zy Fucking redditor.
Reminds of Can. Tago Mago is a masterpiece.
hahah, why the hell can´t I thumb up your comment ? wtf
Not Crazy Yeah, early on, SWANS got really into krautrock, and it still shows.
meh, the seer is still better
Probably
@@harrylamont6007 actually not
I love you too
Nice profile pic my guy
b-b-b-blessed
20:40 It's so cool that they got Zoidberg to cameo on this song
At first I only listened to this part of the album, advised by a friend. I enjoyed it, but not much and was kind of disapointed. Now, months later I'm listening to the whole album straight and Apostate, coming as a conclusion of this journey makes so much more sense!
Loved it, Thank you.
i love the final act of the song that starts at around 13:20
Fuck yes, everything before is looming dread before the amazing groove comes in
That groove kicks so much ass. It just gets better as it goes on. One of my favorite bits of music ever
The best section of any Swans song ever. Pure primal energy. When everything comes together around 19:00 it's one of the most energetic and terrifying pieces of music I've ever heard.
The change at 8:30 is killer
Don't scratch your nuts at 21:49
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Such a amazing closer and to make it the second song on the vinyl is so insane
Imagine if this would've come out in the 90s man
People would've probably hate it cause it would be ahead of its time.
@@buried4430 it is ahead of its time now, so imagine 30 years ago...
SFTB had that effect
I reached the point where I was sitting in front of the screen with a thousand yard stare and watering eyes. Shit fucking took me out of my body man.
Drachenjager Nu-Swans will do that to you
Some of the most transcendental music I've ever heard
Yep, Swans is one of only a handful (seriously, 3 or 4) bands that make music that have put me in a trance-like mental state. Duster's "Stratosphere", several Godspeed You! records, Can (Tago Mago especially), maybe one or two others I can't think of right now. Closest thing to psychedelics without drugs.
Yes, I have joy and pleasure listening to your music.
Very CAN ish.. lve it!
i just picked up this album on cd and vinyl, and i absolutely love it. it's probably my favourite album of the year.
of the year 2012
i know when it was released
19:29, Gira transforms into the creature on the cover. Atavistic, bestial glossolalia
exactly my thoughts
After watching videos of Balinese ceremony like Melasti and Barong dance where people get into a state of trance while fast-paced polyrhythmic gamelan music is playing, the atmosphere of the ceremony somehow remind me of this song when everything breaks loose from 13:25 till the end.
Knowing this leads to To Be Kind makes a lot of sense weirdly
Fav moments
8:30
10:47
13:21
16:31 (I love how Gira sings on this verse)
19:27
21:49
Devastating.
soundtrack to my insanity for sure. gotta get my Swans fix every morning.
i woke up and looked at my c.d. collection and could not find what I needed to start my day. death metal, no...Public Castration Is A Good Idea. ahhhhhh imagined taking a shower in blood ( I have a a red shop light for the tub area ) I was in bliss.
Was told to listen to this in the dark.
How did it go?
good advice
awesome
:)
but sad, because I no longer speak to the person who gave me that advice
@@zoedarc783 lol
God bless this music, channeled insanity that applies to both a good & bad mood, as Cybot noted
Weird to ask the God who in the song is very specifically being confronted and rejected for his indifference and silence for a blessing but you do you
@@orbitalbutt6757 maybe so, I'm just happy musicians like him exist.
Sounds like a pissed off Godspeed you Black Emperor
possessed*
For the record I love both bands immensely, but you should be wary of saying GYBE in a Swans comments section, it will immediately summon the absolute worst mealy-mouthed sniveling music people on the fucking planet to sneer down their noses at you
Tbh i've listened to GYBE and it just sounds like bad post rock to me. This sounds more like a person going insane
@@juanvazquez5836 Yes, because every song has to be about insanity...
@@juanvazquez5836 GYBE are like one of the best pioneers of post rock
This stuff is fkn incredible. Cheers.
08:55 this chord change fucking goes through me, every time
Sure is cool that they got a Zoidberg cameo toward the end of the song.
Don’t steal replies you raggedy bitch
man the first half of the song sounds like a nuclear attack
unbelievable. genius.
I love you too Swans. I saw you live 5 times and they all eclipse any other live performances I have seen. Yours are the CDs that hold premier place on my shelf.
idk why but when gira is screaming "FUCK" over and over i always imagine a bunch of little demons trying to climb up a ladder from hell and some of them are getting pushed off and now i cant unsee it every time i listen to this masterpiece
14:27 really hits when it finally comes
When do they stop tuning their instruments and play the music?
That is the music!!
Har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har
k m is that the lyrics to the song
try to visualize the music as a wall of sound, forget the conventional ideas of how music must be done, maybe it will help you to get into it easily
@@meagan4605 wooooooosh
Around the six minute mark it feels like the universe is falling out from under me
I love you to Micheal Gira/ Swans / Young God Records
Aww what a cute yorkie...
I love you Gira!
Album as a whole is incredible, but this song is just absolutely fucking bonkers.
reminds me a bit of Glen Branca's work
He was definitely an influence. I believe Gira even played with him back in the 80s.
Absolutely! You can hear Branca’s work all over the Swans, “The Ascension” in particular. Both works of staggering genius, in my humble opinion.
god damn this is so good.
Masterpiece. thanks for uploading it it Swans, I listened to the album on youtube and new i had to add buy it after hearing just the first 2 songs of the album. I cant wait for it through to come through the post.
props to this band , such beautiful sounds
Swans makes you feel emotions that don't exist
swans brought me here and swans will take me away from here. vicious cirlce :)
A divine masterpiece!!!
Excellent!!! Art, music and genius...Swans!!!
best song of this decade
Thanks Michael! sorry to miss you at the Chapel last night I hope it was a great show. Such a great album, look forward to the next Swans show in the bay area. I love you too :-).
I'm glad you like it Charles Keatts
Cette musique est magnifique merci youtube pour la découverte
I will always come back to this album
Blelehlehlehlehleh leh leh, bluhluhluhluhluhluh, bluhluhluhluhluhluhluh, lalalalala ya ya ya hwuh! Ruh! Ruh! Ruh! - Michael Gira
Miranda Sings should cover this.
this comment is fucking hilarious in our modern climate
holy shiiiiit, what a great song
Gira is a legit psycho and no one can convince me that he is not
Great music!! the best i heard in a long time. Saludos desde Argentina!
that ending man.
I think he can see me
I love this track so much
My God.
Unbelievable.
the second half is "survival of the fittest" in music form
Dude is spittin tho
Yes.....I heart this song.
I would like to think Philip Glass would say "wow!"
John Mueller insightful. I can totally see the connection. Glass is a master in minimalism and this song is a fuckin genius
9:25 onward sounds like a fuckin warzone
The sublime cacophany that is Swans
"Apostate" means to denounce a religious or political belief. I definitely think the the word is used in a religious context here.
This song feels like some kind of divine punishment, like some god or higher being is sending all the non believers or Apostates down into hell.
I see it as the ultimate conclusion to everything before it. The album feels like the story of a warrior, probably the one sung about, and this song is his last fight.
Definitely in a religious context. The song before this, "A piece of the sky" is about searching for God. I guess the appearance of this song afterwards may suggest that the search for god was fruitless and whoever is searching in these songs, has abandoned the possibility of a God.
He (the seer) has finally confronted and rejected God for his callous silence and total indifference
Maybe my favorite song from them
You just headbutted a nun!!!!
BLISS
20:42 Doctor Zoidberg it's you?
P.S. From Russia with love)))
19:11 i can taste his guts
nice
I love the middle 10 minute part
this song breaks my teeth! mmmmmmmm
El futuro.
blessed!
Same intro to evangeline by Angels of Light
Mr. Narrator
This is Bob Dylan to me
D. Boon lives!
Anyone know what the metallic clanging sound is that starts at 9:23? Not the china cymbal, but the other one? Sounds like some kind of bell?
No se, espero haberto ayudado
This song sounds like evil... And I like it
Freedom encapsulated
Swans is my spirit animal
EatPieYes Power symbol perhaps? 🤔
One does not simply listen to a Swans album 🤨👌
That slide guitar sound through the song, what type is it? Is it like a lap steel guitar?
Or feedback maybe?