Swans - The Sound Lyrics






And wide are your delusions
Deep red is the space behind your eyes
Closed forever is the door to your room
But inside there lives the sound
You despise but I love
You despise but I love

You despise
I love
You despise
I love

Mother
I was wrong
I am wrong





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Swans The Sound Comments
  1. C.... N....

    Sounds like the intro to time by pink Floyd. A bit too much...

  2. M.... ....

    this is a powerful song

  3. N.... B....

    my favorite song of all time :)

  4. J.... G....

    Hundreds (if not thousands) of post-rock bands based their entire careers off of this one song.

  5. X.... ....

    The Sound... And the tears, too...

  6. S.... P....

    This and "Helpless Child" are still among my fav songs in SWANS entire discography.

  7. D.... R....

    Swans has always pushed the boundaries, expanded the spectrum of what music can achieve. Their comeback run is awe-inspiring, it's crazy that it even happened. This, however....Soundtracks for the Blind exists on a different plane altogether. THIS is the definitive Swans record, completely life-affirming in its incessant bleakness and soul-crushing weight. Life has roaring highs and it has cavernous lows, lows that test your mettle, lows that cause you to question identity, ego. I don't know how the fuck Gira / Swans do it, but they've synthesized the nihilistic confusion of existence into music, into this disturbing Sound, and it is glorious.

  8. A.... ....

    This has to be the best song that will ever exist

  9. A.... S....

    Eh estado danzando en el hoyo bastante rato ya.

    A.... S....

    Ah caray

  10. M.... C....

    This song is God.

  11. J.... G....

    Post-rock's Stairway to Heaven. The greatest song of all time next to Helpless Child.

  12. M.... C....

    I'm doomed to listen to this song for the rest of my life.

  13. x.... x....

    I listen to this when I lift.

  14. �.... v....

    I wanna be friends with everyone who listens to this song

  15. M.... C....

    if god himself made a song...

    M.... C....

    >Implying Michael Gira isn't god

  16. y.... R....

    One of the best songs in post rock history

  17. C.... ....

    4:05 :)

  18. U.... ....

    You despise... but I love.

  19. n.... ....

    I am wrong.

  20. A.... ....

    Song of the Day
    01-29-19: The Sound | Swans
    also on: www.onecuriousworld.com

  21. C.... ....

    I legit smiled and started laughing because i could not believe how fricking good this song was. I was blown away. I don't think any music has really done this to since i became a fan of Elliott Smith

  22. J.... G....

    Eddie vedder definitely listened to this song. His song Long nights from into the wild soundtrack sounds quite like this except a little fast paced.

  23. c.... ....

    and just like that, this is my favorite song of all time.

  24. �.... �....

    ΣΑΝ ΘΑ ΠΕΘΑΝΩ ΘΑΨΤΕ ΜΕ ΣΕ ΜΙΑ ΓΩΝΙΑ ΜΟΝΑΧΟ!!! ΤΡΙΣΜΕΓΙΣΤΕ GIRA!!! MAΓΙΣΣΑ JARBOE!!!

  25. i.... i....

    Esta canción es una puta obra maestra al igual que todo el disco

  26. A.... B....

    probably their magnum opus

  27. G.... L....

    All of a sudden, as if a surgical hand of destiny had operated on a long-standing blindness with immediate and sensational results, I lift my gaze from my anonymous life to the clear recognition of how I live. I see that everything I've done, thought or been is a species of delusion or madness [...] I look at my past life as at a field lit up by the sun when it breaks through the clouds and I noted with metaphysical astonishment how my most deliberate acts, my clearest ideas and most logical intentions were after all no more than congenital drunkenness, inherent madness and huge ignorance. I didn't act anything out. I was the role that got acted. At most, I was the actor's motions.

    G.... L....

    It seems like someone got sober :)

    G.... L....

    allegory of the cave nesting dolls in our true divinity

  28. �.... �....

    ΚΟΜΜΑΤΑΡΑ!!! HAIL GIRA & JARBOE !!!

  29. V.... D....

    What a journey for this band and for their fans! One of the greatest bands ever!

  30. N.... A....

    Got the remastered version of this on vinyl recently! This album is so moving and transcendent over so many others that I've experienced.

  31. A.... ....

    Song of the Day
    06-30-18: The Sound | Swans
    also on: www.onecuriousworld.com

  32. B.... L....

    Is only sound...

  33. L.... K....

    eVERY SONG IS A MASTERPIECE !!

  34. H.... ....

    I envision a serial killer listening to this album while cruising around looking for prey.

    H.... ....

    Would be a pretty unsuccessful serial killer. Most killers listen to happy, good time music to put their victims at ease.

  35. J.... M....

    the only song that exists on all planes of reality in every single universe at once

    J.... M....

    Hopefully wtv reality we are stuck in after death has this on a loop

  36. T.... ....

    I came here from the reissue announcement

    T.... ....

    I came from you removing a video because it got put on a cringe thread.

  37. B.... ....

    greatest song ever made.

    B.... ....

    you're spot on dude

  38. B.... ....

    The Sound > Helpless Child

    B.... ....

    The Sound is happier.

    B.... ....

    The Sound = Helpless Child

    B.... ....

    Aw I love Killing for Company

    B.... ....

    A Little God In My Hands is also really strong.

    B.... ....

    @Garjo so basically listening to porn is the greatest sound for you. Nice!

  39. Y.... K....

    If the human race disappears forever, and we are but a mere infinitesimal whisper in the memory of the undulating and unending universe; I want this to be the last thing left behind.

    Y.... K....

    bitter sweet  burning forever or freezing forever locked in crystal isotopes

    Y.... K....

    Then try to make it so somehow.

  40. D.... P....

    This song eclipses the Horizon and brakes those barriers of the conventional and blows a hole leaving us changed.... great Swans Dirge

  41. L.... b....

    Sounds like a rip off of Time by Pink Floyd

    L.... b....

    I would agree that "lil bitch" just hasn't really listened to enough music.

    L.... b....

    Your just embarrassing yourself with this comparison...

    L.... b....

    Pink Floyd is pretentious, cheesy dogshit and so are you.

    L.... b....

    james guillory Pink Floyd is great are you crazy? Don’t agree with OP’s assertion either, but the early Floyd stuff is incredible, and so is a lot of their later catalog.

    L.... b....

    Lol.. Okay. This song is great but it's no time by Pink Floyd and sounds nothing like it. Eddie vedder definitely ripped this off in Into the wild soundtrack titled 'Long nights'.

  42. M.... ....

    Just plain amazing

  43. B.... B....

    classic.

  44. S.... B....

    Any song or work that opens with "and wide are your delusions" is bound to be moving, but this song goes way beyond that. I will die loving Michael's insistence on severity. It's the only fucking thing that matters in any art form, or life form

    S.... B....

    I owe a lot of my emotional and intellectual growth to Mr Gira. I'm a classically trained pianist (tho it isnt my profession) and for the longest time I've wanted to form a group with heavy Swans/Arafna influence...but nothing Id ever do would ever come even close so I shoved it.

    I wish more "artists" would understand this concept, tho...

    S.... B....

    @Tatiana Nikolaevna Shouldn't stop you from trying.

    S.... B....

    What do you mean by severity?

  45. P.... ....

    I wonder if Ian Curtis influenced Michael Gira's vocal delivery at all. Sounds a  like it. His long, drawn-out, depressive baritone really reminds me of Curtis.

    P.... ....

    @***** it's my understanding that they were more coerced into it by their controlling record label (whom they had a bad relationship with in the first place)

    P.... ....

    @***** Never heard it. I really should delve into their discography more, but like Pitchfork once said about Fuck Buttons, they're about as accessible as an Egyptian tomb.

    P.... ....

    +Pepper3961 Yeah but you can't take anything P4k says seriously

    P.... ....

    Some people really love The Burning World, though it is the only Swans album that really gets derided.

    "God Damn the Sun" has been a live standard for solo Gira and Angels of Light so at least he doesn't hate that one.

    P.... ....

    Pepper3961 I would say a cross between Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd with Ian Curtis style vocals could come close.

  46. a.... ....

    this is so epic

  47. 7.... ....

    Hush everyone, i wanna hear the song!

    7.... ....

    don't you mean the sound?

    7.... ....

    @TheCandyHole exactly.

  48. C.... ....

    Am I the only one who hears Time by Pink Floyd in this a little?

    C.... ....

    Everyone hears Pink Floyd in everything, so no, I don't think you're alone. But I'm not with you.

    C.... ....

    totally

    C.... ....

    I hear a little of “At Least That’s What You Said” by Wilco in it

    C.... ....

    Except this came out before that song, John. Lol.
    But yeah, a lot of the Swans has a Floydian influence. Especially in their more folky and atmospheric bits.
    In general, Gira sounds a bit like Waters at times. Especially on the later records.

  49. P.... W....

    I cried to this song at work on Thursday, it was the first time I'd heard anything off of Soundtracks for the Blind. I actually had to close the door for 15 mins or so to prevent anyone from seeing me (they would've been like "wtf...send him to HR!")

    P.... W....

    I love it when music does that to me. That's how you know it's pure.

    P.... W....

    Good luck Peter. I discovered Swans through the Skin cd  at a party in a small town village  in 1989 .

    P.... W....

    I would have said “I see the sickness that’s in your soul, I have the same sickness.”

    P.... W....

    I always cry listening to this one...actually it's the rare SWANS song that doesnt reduce me to tears.

    P.... W....

    first time I heard this album it was subdued into my sub concsciousness before I dosed blodder acid 3rd time tripping a vivid mystical trip that cant be repeated ego death before I knew what it was until as of recent with the info age and internet

  50. s.... h....

    i'd be surprised if mount eerie wasn't influenced by songs like this by swans.
    if he'd made this song, it'd be called "the Sound"

    s.... h....

    Phil Elverum and Micheal Gira definitely have a similar interest in overloading their songs.

  51. g.... ....

    This song got me into Swans

    g.... ....

    same bey

    g.... ....

    My first song too.. it's damn good.

    g.... ....

    this album really annihilated my ego subversively injected right before I dosed 3 hits of strong blodder acid 3rd trip out  ego disillusioned for sure  still remember vividly in the shulgin rating def a number 4 on rare but mystic exp haven't had a trip yet compared to it my one friend who was more exp wanted or said one more hit would've be perfect lol next I'm going to go 5DGISD for ANSWERS

  52. S.... S....

    Fucking fantastic, already listened to this 3 times

  53. F.... D....

    And wide are your delusions,
    Deep red is the space behind your eyes,
    Closed forever is the door to your room,
    But inside there lives the sound,
    You despise,
    But I love...
    Mother, I was wrong.
    I am wrong.

  54. D.... P....

    Great intense powerfull Swans from that period.I don't think the recording lessons the impact or intent though I do like tribal drums up in the mix.

  55. T.... P....

    Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
    Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
    Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
    Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

    T.... P....

    Not even close to being similar.

    T.... P....

    This is a superior version of Time.

    T.... P....

    @Skullkan6 lol..its alright. It's no time though. Doesn't even come close. Such a pretentious fan base.

    T.... P....

    So now someone is pretentious for liking one song more than another? Lol ok buddy. Seems like you’re the one with your head up your ass.

  56. C.... L....

    you know nothing

  57. C.... T....

    Needs more cowbell.

  58. K.... ....

    I know what you mean by that. ;) I'm a Portishead Fan! A lack of quality is their quality! lol! But in a live situation, the Drums should always protrude above everything else, because they are so brief; it's what makes them punchy & powerful. If they are compressed down to the guitars, & the bass is in turn pushed up, the whole thing sounds more dead than alive. When metal first came about, it was fairy intact, & it made you turn a great track up! It's why Live sounds better. Everything's free!

    K.... ....

    I hope you look back at these comments you made as a (I'm guessing) 19 year old that read his first book on audio engineering and just absolutely cringe.

  59. J.... N....

    Seeing Swans live & experiencing their extremely loud performance also taught me that loudness can bring music to a whole new level. There are pros & cons. With a better leveled/equalized sound you get cleaner details & better volume contrast between "silence" and noise, With louder sound you can still sense the details but the experience gets more dirty, droning & meditative. IMO this fits Swans well, although in compared to their live performances, their recorded songs don't fully reach out.

  60. J.... N....

    Ah, now you're making sense. NOW I understand what you mean. I agree with you on some level. In a studio recording I can see how it "destroys" part of the original sounds. Compression seems inevitable but can be limited. However, sometimes bad audio quality can also add to the atmosphere of a song. I'm thinking about underground bands; a lot of them are "too" compressed or badly mastered. Sometimes, this adds to their charm. Many black metal bands would IMO fall flat without the bad quality. :P

  61. K.... ....

    True! I'm not disputing that at all. In fact, I encourage artists to try & experiment as much as their hearts content! But after the artists perfect their art, some big time hot shot sound engineer from the Record Label flattens all the drums & peeks, & pushes up all the quiet sounds via compression/limiters. This in turn destroys much of the live sound & makes it all 1 uniform volume; to keep it all as loud as possible. This is what's known as The Loudness War. Please.. have a care.. :(

  62. J.... N....

    "protect art"... There are few insults to art as big as the elitists who try to "protect art". No one wants someone else to tell them what is true art and not true art; it's clearly not for you to decide. Sure, you're free to observe and express your opinion, as is everyone else. You owe the douchebag jar some money.

  63. l.... ....

    "Soundtracks" was my first Swans album. I stole my brother's copy when I was about 13 simply because the cover art/weird paper bag-like texture of the packaging caught my eye.

    I haven't looked at music the same way ever since. Swans showed me that not all art has to be shiny and pretty.

    l.... ....

    mine too with the astral sleeve of stellar nursery

    l.... ....

    Although this song is really pretty in a way

    l.... ....

    Enrique Vazquez a lot of their music has a lot of beauty juxtaposed with the dissonance or “ugliness” which is purely subjective anyways but still.

  64. m.... c....

    You are protector of nothing .. except your own closed minded sycophantic, dilettantism.. let us all hear your new music, if you have some to share with us ? Cheers! ..

  65. p.... t....

    Please give me the link to that interview you read where Michael Gira says that Swans are a prog band. LOL. The next thing you're gonna complain about is the lack of bass drop. Go on, show us your deep understanding of genres.

  66. K.... ....

    I understand it takes one to know one.

  67. H.... P....

    Pompous douche.

  68. H.... S....

    oh god keep going, this is hilarious

    (what a fucking moron)

  69. b.... ....

    Well. I guess I'll never be the same again....

  70. F.... J....

    Also, judging from your last sentence, hate is your middle name. I'm done here. Bye! *

  71. F.... J....

    I hope you're kidding when you metioned the accounts remark. I understoond from the beginning that Dynamic Range Meter (lol) rules your life and the way you hear music. That's where my indifference begins: I prefer to use my own ears, and thankfully Swans are one of the bands that see music as an art, and not as math, or as a label generated by some software. Who cares? You do, I don't. (and I just can't believe that you're putting this song into the Loudness War thing, ffs).

  72. K.... ....

    I understand that repetition is what they were going for. I am expressing my indifference & it is my right to compare & make observations; a technique affirmed for daily living. It doesn't matter how many accounts you use; This track will always be in the RED as per the official Dynamic Range Meter. I think its sad that you resort to troll tactics, vacuity & splenetic insults even upon hearing the facts, when all I'm trying to do is protect art. You're a feeble callow reprobate with hate inside.

  73. F.... J....

    Music doesn't have to necessarily be always too technical, nor complex. If you are too narrow to understand that Swans are repetitive because they want to, than you certainly live with a fence around you. I agree with @URGHism, this has nothing to do with the Loudness War. You can do something great with only one chord for half an hour, so if you only appreciate lots of dynamics and shifts in the structure, go back to your cave listen to Dream Theater & 70s progressive bands and shut up.

  74. K.... ....

    Yes, they always say that upon submission. The fact is, this track scores 7 out of 20 on the Dynamic Range Meter. In the RED. Be grateful I even bothered doing an analysis. This may be a good track, but the fact is all I hear (On a pair of Shure 840 Studio Surgical Monitors) is flat wimpy loud noise from 6 minutes in. I do not want art destroyed so morons like you get to hear it on a pair of cheap arse earphones, a laptop, smartphone, & other pithy drivers bereft of bass & balance. FUCK the LW.

    K.... ....

    can you please die and make us all happy you simple waste of oxygen? Thank you!

  75. R.... ....

    you know what, I'm done here; if you're too lazy to actually respond to the points I made, then why the fuck should I continue with this? Don't bother replying; whatever you have to say isn't worth hearing.

  76. K.... ....

    Yeh keep it to 1 box wil'ya? I return to my original comment. 14 minutes is long for the same 2 chords. I want more from artists now, who can't live up to past talent. That's my point. It's easier to repeat into crescendo, than to tell a story or add contours.
    The Loudness War is about killing Dynamics (Contrast between quiet & Loud) & Sonic Range. Dynamics vanish half way in. If LIVE; it wud hav no ceiling. Instead of being pugnacious, maybe you could help fight the Loudness War & Protect art?

  77. R.... ....

    btw, the drums sound like that because the production is lo-fi, not because it's a "victim of the loudness war" - if it were a victim of the loudness war, don't you think it'd be, y'know... loud? Swans usually had lo-fi production jobs; it makes the music sound more raw, punishing and claustrophobic, which is what Swans are infamous for (even on their softer albums).

  78. R.... ....

    I never said that artists had to abide by typical genre tropes (which Swans never did at any point in their career). What I said, in essence, is that Swans are approaching their music from a different angle than prog bands, so acting as if Swans are bad because they don't resemble prog is stupid.

    R.... ....

    RobotPolarBear It is prog in the real sense of the word.

  79. K.... ....

    Another person laying the blame on to "Genre-specifics".. The same old tune. Is an artist allowed to just make music anymore? Or does he have to select & abide himself to that genre? The definition of art is "The Freedom of Expression through Creative & introspective self discipline". Sounds like you don't want to admit that music has more to offer. 8:40 - the Drums are struggling to break through the mix. Seriously if you can't tell this has been compressed I think you need to listen to Prog!!

  80. R.... ....

    I was pointing out that comparing this to prog is useless because they're different genres with different compositional approaches; you only think it's "structurally palsied" because you're not used to this style of music (or anything made after the 70's, apparently). Oh, and you think this suffers from the "loudness war"? Have you even heard what a properly brickwalled production job sounds like? This is nowhere near that, you're just trying to find faults where there aren't any.

  81. K.... ....

    So they just expect the same amount of attention as a Prog Band with a constant monotonous repetition of the same phrase over & over? Yeh.. you're not half right. They're not Genesis. They're no where near Genesis. The mere mention of them during this protracted elongated structurally palsied piece is an utter insult to them. Bands back then could also capture the live sound too, because they didn't let the Loudness War dictate to them. This song is squashed. An utter mess of compression.

  82. R.... ....

    wow, are you really that horrified by the concept of people listening to music that was made before they were born? I'd love to see your reaction to people who listen to Mozart or Beethoven.

  83. R.... ....

    Swans aren't trying to be "progressive". They're not fucking Genesis.

  84. K.... ....

    14 minutes of the same 2 chords. It's not bad but give 14 minutes to a Prog band in the 70's & they would have kept your attention by changing speed, going for solos, playing a vast array of riffs, changing time signatures, using different sounds, etc. All these bands think that progressive means "A protracted crescendo" drone now.

  85. M.... F....

    are you angry because people werent liking this before they were born?

  86. M.... ....

    God, I hate millennials - you should have been aborted. How many of you idiots are just here because of fucking pitchfork or some beard blog online? YOU ARE ALMOST 20 YEARS TOO LATE TO THIS, and you pat each other on the fucking back for being Youtube music tourists. Swans did exist, made music, and had devoted fans well before most of you were fucking born.

  87. S.... P....

    it doesn't get better than this. Ever.

  88. M.... N....

    Wow! I think my brain just melted...

  89. E.... ....

    why the hell is everyone babbling about pink Floyd here? swans and PF are completely different animals...

    you just gotta shut up and sit in the moment and absorb

  90. M.... V....

    This is from a different dimension.

    Beautiful.

  91. V.... P....

    the whole world isn't

  92. O.... t....

    Most of this track sounds like a watered-down version of the beginning of Time by Pink Floyd. Kinda reminds me of the Doopliss level of Paper Mario TTYD but otherwise 2deep4me.

    O.... t....

    jesus.. erase the stupid ones

    O.... t....

    This song is more dynamic, intense and layered than Time by Pink Floyd.

  93. B.... ....

    This is Sound.

  94. K.... ....

    genius work!

  95. E.... D....

    Look up "catharsis"

  96. B.... F....

    I do miss Atom Heart Mother Suite...(P.F.)

  97. p.... ....

    how is 'draining; a good thing

  98. K.... ....

    I was born for this music!

  99. D.... E....

    Slow building and draining. Love it, nice change of pace from their other abrasive material.

  100. M.... ....

    Remind me Time, by the Pink Floyd. But not a copy, it's amazing.