Swans - Failure

Hello, thank you for listening to our music. I hope it gives you some joy and pleasure.

I am pleased that you have discovered our music through this medium. I view this experience as the equivalent of previewing a record in a record store in days of old. However, if you wish to experience the music in its' fullest form, I would strongly encourage you to acquire it in a physical format you can bring into your home. Not only will you then be able to experience the richest version of the music sonically, but you will also be afforded the opportunity to enjoy the tangible artwork, which was conceived in tandem with the music, and serves as a further portal to experiencing the total conceptual and spiritual and emotional content of the work we have labored, lovingly, to bring to you.

I love you,

- Michael Gira / Swans / Young God Records

[mischacarlberg]

"I can't even elegantly bleed" must be one of the most self-hating lyrics I've ever heard

[UntitledKirk]

"and they tempt me with violence, and they punish me with ideals. And they crush me with an image of my life that is nothing but unreal"

[erlineandrews]

Michael Gira wasn't on Rolling Stone magazine's list of greatest singers, which makes the list a failure.

[die-cry-hate]

This song has some of the most potent lyrics I've ever heard. Each line paints a vivid picture in my mind of a man below rock bottom.

[TimotheDoran]

Absolute classic. "I can't even elegantly bleed."

[el_mal_de_ojo]

Every facet of Swans is beautiful. Some are terrifying, some are jarring, some are uncomfortable, some are ethereal, some are ephemeral, some are lofty, some are dreamy, but they are all beautiful. An exploration of the human experience itself.

[atheng]

His voice is like some kind of magnet or witchcraft than doesn't allows me to stop listening until the song its over

[Helawlf]

This is what living on earth dancing to a corrupt system sounds like. All generations will find something relatable here.

[Vinavil]

''I'm the fuel that fires the engines of failure''
Beautiful line to describe the money

[Starless-and-Bible-Black]

probably one of the greatest feel-bad songs i’ve ever heard. the lyricism is masterful and really illustrates the morbid nature of humanity, and i get goosebumps every time I hear the (sort-of) chorus. for a six-minute track which alternates between two short musical segments the whole time, i’m surprised that i don’t get bored listening to this song, and it’s easily one which is in the Swans’s top ten tracks of all time.

[hectorsalamanca]

It is kind of a relief when you realize you are never leaving the hole.

I have accepted it.

[justelilly]

"Failure"
I, I've been lonely
And I, I've been blind
And I, I've learned nothing
So my hands are firmly tied
To the sinking leadweight of failure

I've worked hard all my life
Money slips through my hands
My face in the mirror tells me it's no surprise
That I'm pushing the stone up the hill of failure

They tempt me with violence
They punish me with ideals
And they crush me with an image of my life that's nothing but unreal
Except on the goddamned slaveship of failure

I'll drown here trying to get up for some air
But each time I think I breathe
I'm laid on with a double share
Of the punishing burden of failure

I don't deserve to be down here
But I'll never leave
And I've learned one thing
You can't escape the beast
In the null and void pit of failure

When I get my hands on some money
I'll kiss its green skin
And I'll ask its dirty face
"Where the hell have you been?"
"I am the fuel that fires the engine of failure"

I'll be old and broken down
I'll forget who and where I am
I'll be senile or forgotten
But I'll remember and understand
You can bank your hard-earned money on failure

I saw my father crying
I saw my mother break her hand on a wall that wouldn't weep
But that certainly held in
The mechanical moans of a dying man who was a failure

My back hurts me when I bend because I carry a load
My brain hurts me like a knife-hole
Because I've yet to be shown
How to pull myself out from the sucking quicksand of failure

Some people lie in Hell
Many bastards succeed
But I, I've learned nothing
I can't even elegantly bleed
Out the poison blood of failure

[matt-tpww]

This song describes how i felt after I graduated high school.

[Neonseasnake]

"my back hurts me when I bend"
Me too, Michael, me too....

[nobody]

Yep, It's about that fucking time again.

[wndr]

I'm getting back to this song from time to time. When I'm in public transport (bus, tram), and listening to this song, I'm looking at the faces of the passengers. Their faces are sad. And I'm thinking of their lives, thinking of my own. Been listening to Swans for 10 years or so. This song is special for me.

[mymorningzion]

I can't listen to SWANS on anything but top volume

[TheOceanBearer]

I relate to every word of this song. It hit me straight in the chest when I first heard it over a decade ago when I was still in high school.

[Ryanska_u]

This song is so negative to the point it hilarious, yet at the same time extremely relatable and scary. I do not wanna end up like this man

[BernieClemenz]

The song that most exactly describes my life...
Next to Love Will Save You. Shit happens.
How can one pull oneself out
FAILURE