To me, The Seer is the greatest piece of art ever made by human hands. It's perfect. Every second is so intricately crafted. This song being the best of all. Thank you Swans!
I recently discovered swans thanks to my script teacher, and I am grateful I did I began listening to all their music and when I reached the seer I knew they were my favorite band, I love everything of these album This song is perfect for a perfect album, I have listened to the whole album about 20 times just to hear this song as I like to experience it I love it. It is indescribable and perfect.
To me this song perfectly capture the progression of grief after losing someone very close to you. The beginning of the song does a remarkable job at making me feel lost and dazed as the choir continues their singing, half way through the song it becomes a distorted and chaotic mess. Its as if the song itself is aware of mortality and the fragility of it. Its absolutely soul crushing and devastatingly bleak. And then as the harrowing screeching comes to a crescendo, I am suddenly thrust into what i can only assume is auditory heaven. At times I can feel my soul marching along with the guitars, it fills me with such a cathartic state of joy that it pisses me off that i cant properly put it into words. And the final quarter of the song elegantly captures the acceptance of loss and change as a whole. That whole last part made me feel such peace, and despite that peace, i can still feel the cold nails of death, tapping along to the melody. Its like i can still feel my grandfather sitting with me, along with every single person who was abruptly taken away from me, are here sharing this tender, sorrowful moment. I'm going to be alright.
15:04 and onward is so tender and beautiful, especially after hearing the massive "The Seer" and the terrifying/bleak "93 Ave. B Blues" earlier on the album. The contrast is spectacular. I just recently bought CD copies of The Seer and To Be Kind and now all other music sounds less interesting in comparison.
Yes. There's a lot to take in on the three albums and every listen seems to reveal more, and I agree - when you go back to listening to most other stuff it just doesn't come up to the mark.
I would challenge you to include Scott Walker's "The Drift" and "Bish Bosh" in the "less interesting now" category. In my opinion, him and Gira not having worked together is one of music's missed opportunities.
this reminds me of LSD, the anxiety and the overwhelming feeling, like you are launching into the sky, but then you get into orbit and it becomes so unbelievably beautiful
Agreed, though this album, to me, more so evokes the base, primordial fears brought up by mushrooms. Maybe it’s just because of how earthy and elemental both the music and the drug feels, and obviously your experiences with LSD may feel much more relevant when listening.
The rest of the album is a nightmarish descent into madness as the seer loses more and more of himself, this song represents his last attempt to break free of whatever's consumed him. He is still in there somewhere despite everything after all.
What a masterpiece. Epitomizes what I love about this kind of winding post-rock; it's like a journey and it makes me feel so many different ways. When I finish this it's a similar feeling to the one I get from finishing a lengthy book that I've grown attached to.
This song resonated strongly in my mind when I spent a winter in Finland, everytime I visited a lake and saw swans swimming there... This has some kind of nothern forest/ making a fire in the cold/ being in a cottage surrounded by snow kind of vibe
I find it very hard to separate my favourite one from.. 2012 ~ The Seer. 2014 ~ To Be Kind. 2016 ~ Glowing Man. There's just too much to like. I occasionally play all three albums in chronological order, lasting for more than six hours in total, which can be tiring sometimes.
This one feels like you're grounding yourself (it's very human and emphatic), whereas helpless child is more akin to spiritual transcendance imo. One is an admiration of human identity, the other is breaking the chains of mortality
Many, many years of SWANS attention here.. from the first experience around 1990, I recognized the importance of this convergence of artists..Filth & Feel good now..and all the rest over the years..agony and extacy..please carry on
A Piece Of The Sky Swans Featuring Akron/Family & Jarboe Produced by Michael Gira Album: The Seer (c)
[Instrumental] [Verse 1] Through a door in the air On a crumbling stair In a clear and rushing vein In a tunnel full of rain In a piece of yellow light On the skin of my eye Are you there? [Verse 2] In the wind of my lung In methane and in love In petroleum plumes There's a floating slice of moon In your tooth and your claw And your unforgiving jaws Are you there? [Verse 3] In a burning white ship In the taste of her lips In the blood of the swans As the sun fucks the dawn In the mud of the lake In the drunk and the dazed Are you there? [Verse 4] In the now that is not On a ladder to God On a mountain stripped bare With your hand in my hair Behind the face of the sky On a disappearing line Are you there? [Verse 5] In the then that was now In the now that is not In our names we forgot In a thought we just lost We become what we choose We are stumbling fools Who are not there [Verse 6] There's some tangled dirty twine In some idiot's clouded mind There's some wires that won't unwind Around the ankles of the blind There's some walls lined with soft lead And in that room is your bed Is that really you? [Outro] Are you in there? On the moon? In the air? In my hand? Thrown in a fire? Written by: Michael Gira 2012 Copyright (p) - Michael Gira
I really can't decide if this or 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! ascend! (from GY!BE) was the best album of 2012. Both are great at what they are and both could be considered the band's best album by certain opinions.
This feels like the person in this song is trying to be patient and trying to find hope in religion and is trying to look from different perspectives to help. However, in apostate, the person becomes spiteful and angry with religion and resents it. This song and the last are very sad and dramatic , yet both tell a very real story that many I’m sure can relate to and or give perspectives to those who don’t relate to it such as myself. Swans really did an amazing job writing this album
3:44 It's more dischordant, but anyone else hearing Coil - Moon's Milk in this? Great minds clearly think alike. If you haven't heard it, do yourself a favour, it's on youtube. ;)
There is something about the music that reminds me of GY!BE..... And Not just this track. I discovered them with the release of Lift up your skinny fists like antennas to heaven. But, only discovered Swans with the release of The Glowing Man, at the same time as seeing the appropriate live gig on TH-cam. I bough the double CD with live concert DVD bonus, which I absorbed. Then it was the To Be Kind double CD with live concert DVD Bonus. Then it was The Seer, just a double CD. So kinda backwards originally! Also got very familiar with a lot of the other albums and Gira's solo albums that I also listen too lots, of which I have some favourites that I bought. There's some music, since the first EP and album in the early Eighties onwards.. with the different periods/styles that I'm not so fond of, but occasionally I do listen to them. Their periods that I'm not so keen on, are very over compensated by the awesome ones!
Also, the end of she lives (from swans - the great annihilator) sounds a lot like the end of blaise baley finnegan iii (from gybe - slow riot for new zero kanada).
@@j.prt.979 I don't find it disorganized at all. I think it all fits together so well but maybe that's because I've listened to it at least a hundred times.
+Doom predictions it means vegans are the way and that the sacrificial rituals of animals to our orifices will be looked upon as cruel in times to come oh the times to come and we will all raise our hands holding hands hoofs claws fangs paws into heaven
Best song in the album...everything you could want in a swans song. The end is so mellow, like peace emerging out of chaos.
hell yeah
To me, The Seer is the greatest piece of art ever made by human hands. It's perfect. Every second is so intricately crafted. This song being the best of all. Thank you Swans!
I recently discovered swans thanks to my script teacher, and I am grateful I did
I began listening to all their music and when I reached the seer I knew they were my favorite band, I love everything of these album
This song is perfect for a perfect album, I have listened to the whole album about 20 times just to hear this song as I like to experience it
I love it. It is indescribable and perfect.
I love this because you can listen to it when you're pissed of and by the end you feel better.
❤
Yup
The masterpiece of Swans' entire career in my opinion
Glowing man?
@@buried4430 I think glowing man is good, but I think cloud of unknowing is better
I feel like this is the top comment on every Swans' song
@@FeathersMcGraw_ Ah, no bad thing! 👍🏼
@@FeathersMcGraw_ that is a very good sign
Micheal Gira is a master of repetition
To me this song perfectly capture the progression of grief after losing someone very close to you. The beginning of the song does a remarkable job at making me feel lost and dazed as the choir continues their singing, half way through the song it becomes a distorted and chaotic mess. Its as if the song itself is aware of mortality and the fragility of it. Its absolutely soul crushing and devastatingly bleak. And then as the harrowing screeching comes to a crescendo, I am suddenly thrust into what i can only assume is auditory heaven. At times I can feel my soul marching along with the guitars, it fills me with such a cathartic state of joy that it pisses me off that i cant properly put it into words. And the final quarter of the song elegantly captures the acceptance of loss and change as a whole. That whole last part made me feel such peace, and despite that peace, i can still feel the cold nails of death, tapping along to the melody. Its like i can still feel my grandfather sitting with me, along with every single person who was abruptly taken away from me, are here sharing this tender, sorrowful moment. I'm going to be alright.
15:04 and onward is so tender and beautiful, especially after hearing the massive "The Seer" and the terrifying/bleak "93 Ave. B Blues" earlier on the album. The contrast is spectacular. I just recently bought CD copies of The Seer and To Be Kind and now all other music sounds less interesting in comparison.
"now all other music sounds less interesting in comparison"
most true thing i've read in all year
Yes. There's a lot to take in on the three albums and every listen seems to reveal more, and I agree - when you go back to listening to most other stuff it just doesn't come up to the mark.
I would challenge you to include Scott Walker's "The Drift" and "Bish Bosh" in the "less interesting now" category. In my opinion, him and Gira not having worked together is one of music's missed opportunities.
This is not just a song, this is a spiritual journey.
that slow jam around 9:30 minutes. eargasm
beautiful
this and apostate are perfect.
The end is like the feeling after a thunderstorm.. You can practically hear the dewdrops. It's chillingly beautiful
"Are you in there?
On the moon?
In the air?
Crushed in my hand?
Thrown in a fire?"
great, guys!
Part of me wishes this was the last song on the album. The other parts of me are too scared to tell Gira how I feel.
You could switch Apostate and this song just by making a playlist.
I believe it is on the vinyl! they're changed on streaming, idk why tho. Apostate I think goes second
I would agree if Apostate didn’t go so hard in the end.
@@CatalinaKelempan nope, they put it in as the second song there to fit the restraints of vynil. They're both two part songs there.
this reminds me of LSD, the anxiety and the overwhelming feeling, like you are launching into the sky, but then you get into orbit and it becomes so unbelievably beautiful
Agreed, though this album, to me, more so evokes the base, primordial fears brought up by mushrooms. Maybe it’s just because of how earthy and elemental both the music and the drug feels, and obviously your experiences with LSD may feel much more relevant when listening.
Reminds me of my first shroom trip. Started out with me feeling super uncomfortable and confused, then halfway everything became crystal clear.
Swans is one of the best complements to any LSD trip.
@@el_mal_de_ojo LSD is one of the best compliments to any Swans trip*
The rest of the album is a nightmarish descent into madness as the seer loses more and more of himself, this song represents his last attempt to break free of whatever's consumed him. He is still in there somewhere despite everything after all.
What a masterpiece. Epitomizes what I love about this kind of winding post-rock; it's like a journey and it makes me feel so many different ways. When I finish this it's a similar feeling to the one I get from finishing a lengthy book that I've grown attached to.
I always play this part 6:55 really loud and just get lost in the chaos.
9:37 Always gets me.
My favorite part of the trip.
Yep probably the vest moment in the whole album
The shade transition always gets me into shiver
I straight up jumped in my seat when i first heard it
This song feels like meeting god and then decide to stay in heaven with him
For me kind of the opposite. Meeting God and deciding that you're content in Earth.
@@youtubeuserdan4017 That's perfect
thats such an ethereal thought to picture
@@youtubeuserdan4017 "I've still got things left to do."
I have not ever known another song that could so easily take me to such a sad place. 🥺
This song is perfect for hitting that teary-eyed euphoria.
Hollywood by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is great to get this feeling.
The last 4 minutes of this makes me feel like I’m in Alaska and it’s cold and snowy outside but I’m nice and warm in a cosy log cabin
This song resonated strongly in my mind when I spent a winter in Finland, everytime I visited a lake and saw swans swimming there... This has some kind of nothern forest/ making a fire in the cold/ being in a cottage surrounded by snow kind of vibe
this chord progression is crazy...
Truly one of the best albums this century, in my humble opinion, and I'd put To Be Kind right there with it.
agree.
I find it very hard to separate my favourite one from..
2012 ~ The Seer.
2014 ~ To Be Kind.
2016 ~ Glowing Man.
There's just too much to like.
I occasionally play all three albums in chronological order, lasting for more than six hours in total, which can be tiring sometimes.
This one is as glorious as Helpless Child, yet It is more enigmatic to me...
Helpless child but the opposite. Breathtakingly beautiful instead of soul crushingly haunting
This one feels like you're grounding yourself (it's very human and emphatic), whereas helpless child is more akin to spiritual transcendance imo. One is an admiration of human identity, the other is breaking the chains of mortality
I remember the first time I heard it. it was like suddenly falling into heaven
14:40 to the end is ohhhh some wonderful music to be heard.
That fucking bassline at 15:04 is so good holy shit
This is the song of my life.
It's a struggle. An endless struggles. But in the end..
>endless
>But in the end..
o_O
Many, many years of SWANS attention here.. from the first experience around 1990, I recognized the importance of this convergence of artists..Filth & Feel good now..and all the rest over the years..agony and extacy..please carry on
A long elevator to heaven
one of the top ten albums of all time imo
A Piece Of The Sky
Swans
Featuring Akron/Family & Jarboe
Produced by Michael Gira
Album: The Seer
(c)
[Instrumental]
[Verse 1]
Through a door in the air
On a crumbling stair
In a clear and rushing vein
In a tunnel full of rain
In a piece of yellow light
On the skin of my eye
Are you there?
[Verse 2]
In the wind of my lung
In methane and in love
In petroleum plumes
There's a floating slice of moon
In your tooth and your claw
And your unforgiving jaws
Are you there?
[Verse 3]
In a burning white ship
In the taste of her lips
In the blood of the swans
As the sun fucks the dawn
In the mud of the lake
In the drunk and the dazed
Are you there?
[Verse 4]
In the now that is not
On a ladder to God
On a mountain stripped bare
With your hand in my hair
Behind the face of the sky
On a disappearing line
Are you there?
[Verse 5]
In the then that was now
In the now that is not
In our names we forgot
In a thought we just lost
We become what we choose
We are stumbling fools
Who are not there
[Verse 6]
There's some tangled dirty twine
In some idiot's clouded mind
There's some wires that won't unwind
Around the ankles of the blind
There's some walls lined with soft lead
And in that room is your bed
Is that really you?
[Outro]
Are you in there?
On the moon?
In the air?
In my hand?
Thrown in a fire?
Written by: Michael Gira
2012 Copyright (p) - Michael Gira
The most amazing piece of music ever made. I love you too, Mr. Gira. Thank you.
the chord change at 10:46 is magical
Thank you swans for this
Swans are just on a whole other level
now i see why people say swans is post-rock
My favourite Swans song.
It's like ascending to the Heavens in an ocean of glass and chaos.
I think we share the same dealer
And the same appreciation for Swans, I hope.
absolutely, old and new and not so old etc ...
The satori. The sudden crystalization of a disorganized mind, the shrug and deep breath right after. Damn, Gira.
In contex of the trilogy, Finally, Peace is ascending to the heavens.
Life-affirming music
Man. I love Akron Family, and I love Swans. I love you all. This song is special, to all the fans, and artists.
2:43 is the most beautiful thing, hearing that low g-note come in completes the insane vocal drones
This is incredible
One of the best songs of all time
Beautiful, the best from the album.
This song is fear and uncertainty, it is so tranquil.
This is one of the best songs ever created
This track is soooooo slow even for Swans standards, but it's soooo rewarding and good aswell 10/10
this whole album is slow but every minute you wait gets rewarded eventuall
I really can't decide if this or 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! ascend! (from GY!BE) was the best album of 2012. Both are great at what they are and both could be considered the band's best album by certain opinions.
Absolutely amazing
This is not a song, this is an experience
"We become what we choose
We are stumbling fools who are not there."
Beautiful album and song.
The hammered dulcimer at 17:50 hits hard
If Swans is gonna sound like the 2nd half of this masterpiece of a track, After birthing, then it's gonna be an incredible new journey
The first 9 minutes feels like I am experiencing something I couldn't feel as an alive being
Gira sounding uncannily like Iggy at times on this.
Who tf is iggy you don’t mean iggy from jojo do you
Iggy Pop
I knew it sounded familiar, he also sounds like Lou Reed (For me at least)
@@SuperKoMa-gir8Long i love the vu and swans so much they are so different and alike at the same time
I'd also say on the part at the tail end of the seer as well
Genius and art...a sublime masterpiece!!!!!
Sounds like the angels of light, the second part that is.
This feels like the person in this song is trying to be patient and trying to find hope in religion and is trying to look from different perspectives to help. However, in apostate, the person becomes spiteful and angry with religion and resents it. This song and the last are very sad and dramatic , yet both tell a very real story that many I’m sure can relate to and or give perspectives to those who don’t relate to it such as myself. Swans really did an amazing job writing this album
that 15 minute intro is something!
Swans is one the best bands ever. No question
I LOVE YOU TOO MICHAEL GIRA
So incredible! :) Thank you! Love Swans and M Gira.
3:44 It's more dischordant, but anyone else hearing Coil - Moon's Milk in this? Great minds clearly think alike.
If you haven't heard it, do yourself a favour, it's on youtube. ;)
Now that you mention it, I do hear the similarities. Even if a coincidence, two phenomenal bands in their respective genres.
Idk why but for me, 9:37 and onward just feels extremely sad
We love you!
Man, I fucking love this band.
There is something about the music that reminds me of
GY!BE..... And Not just this track.
I discovered them with the release of Lift up your skinny fists like antennas to heaven.
But, only discovered Swans with the release of The Glowing Man, at the same time as seeing the appropriate live gig on TH-cam.
I bough the double CD with live concert DVD bonus, which I absorbed.
Then it was the To Be Kind double CD with live concert DVD Bonus.
Then it was The Seer, just a double CD.
So kinda backwards originally!
Also got very familiar with a lot of the other albums and Gira's solo albums that I also listen too lots, of which I have some favourites that I bought.
There's some music, since the first EP and album in the early Eighties onwards.. with the different periods/styles that I'm not so fond of, but occasionally I do listen to them.
Their periods that I'm not so keen on,
are very over compensated by the awesome ones!
Also, the end of she lives (from swans - the great annihilator) sounds a lot like the end of blaise baley finnegan iii (from gybe - slow riot for new zero kanada).
Very Dark side of the rainbow.
The rainbow has been suffocated by the devouring maw of entropy, leaving behind only black tendrils.
This is so beautiful wth
This might be my new favorite Swans song...
Does anyone else know any artist or band that does transcendental music? I really love this stuff and please recommend me this type of music.
what exactly do you mean by "transcendental" music?
@@qkoo1297 like droning music, I've listened to GYBE and they're amazing.
Derek Escalante Sun 0))), although they’re the terrifying type of drony music
@@mrbenoit5018 thanks for the recommendation
Check out the album Delìrivm Còrdia by Fantomas.
I want to be as free as this man
Reminds me of the There Will Be Blood soundtrack.
+jonanjello You called?
@@danielplainview2584 I HAVE ABANDONED MY CHILD!!! I HAVE ABANDONED MY BOY!!!
What a film
so it reminds you of radiohead. Since jonny from radiohead wrote that track
way better album than To be Kind, more compact and pure.
n
It depends on your mood, really ... two masterpieces!
Nothing comes closer to Bring The Sun
More compact? I would say it’s the exact opposite. To Be Kind is unrelentingly structured, whilst The Seer is very disorganized (on purpose).
@@j.prt.979 I don't find it disorganized at all. I think it all fits together so well but maybe that's because I've listened to it at least a hundred times.
Yet another Swans album to order through my local record store.
When I first heard that scratching part I thought my record player was broken
ARE YOU THERE!?
Is this anyone else's favorite Swans song?
holy shit this album on mushrooms yes
Amazing
Awesome!!
the last part of this song sounds like it would play over the credits of a Wes Anderson movie
Maybe their best work
Ηχητικός οργασμός!
δεν περιμενα να βρω ελληνα εδω wow
anyone know what kind of instrument is the one starting at 6.58???
Sounds like a bunch of bells
i believe it is actually hammered dulcimer
shit's hella dope fam
16:26 is that a mother_fathering swans reference!?!?!?!?!?!
Starts off like The Body Haters / Body Lovers
Call me crazy, but is there a bit of Brian Wilson in the last 5mins or so of this song?
A Westie .....with human teeth.What's not to FEAR ?
9:36
I love this song so much but the audio clips every 5 to 10 seconds and it’s so annoying
It's like I'm witnessing such a terrible event unfold, but in the end there is hope. Bleak but hopeful.
ARE YOU THERE
soundtrack to Blood Meridian
What is the meaning behind this lyrics?
+Doom predictions it means vegans are the way and that the sacrificial rituals of animals to our orifices will be looked upon as cruel in times to come oh the times to come and we will all raise our hands holding hands hoofs claws fangs paws into heaven
+valhalla homebound It all makes sense now
+valhalla homebound oh my god you're so stupid, vegans are all self-righteous pieces of shit and meat is yummy as heck
it is about searching for god and finding nothing
Its about my septic tank
Why is there someone pissing at the beginning of the song
bro