SWANS - I Am a Tower (from upcoming LP "Birthing")

Swans officially announced a new studio album titled Birthing, confirming that “I Am a Tower” is the first song released from it. The band’s label Young God Records revealed that Birthing will be Swans’ 17th studio album, scheduled for May 30, 2025

  Quote

 

[Intro]
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it

[Verse 1]
With thin boneless fingers and pink polished nails
I am searching for truth in the fat folds of your blunder
Speak up, Dick! Bring wonder, bring plunder
Bring your fish-headed fixer to whisper my ear
Please worry me here, tongue that victim in there
Revenge me a jagged course deep, deep, inside
Climb stairs through coarse hairs, now ride, now ride
Then exit and jet it spraying foam through the air
Over concrete islands and neon green palms
Over fields of shining neonicotinoid lawns
Over upturned faces searching fading, lost stars
Over smashed pipelines of sewage flooding polished new cars
Over crossed lines in jungles buried thousands of years
Over mountains collapsing, ravaged, and speared
Over rivers of salt feeding open-mouthed me
Here I come, here I come, here I weep, here I bleed
Wash my blood-blubbered scum with gritted, black oil
Just show me an ocean and I'll fart as it boils
I am gathering souls, I am gathering your scabs
I am the best fucking fuck that you never will have

[Bridge]
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it
I, alone, will fix it

[Chorus]
I am a tower, I am a tower, I am a tower, I am a tower
I am a tower, I am a tower, I am a tower, I am a tower

[Verse 2]
I see the dawned light rise, up round the edge of skies
I reach up into the night, I grab my sword to fight
And all you millions of fools, down in your swimming pools
I am collecting heads, I am the last man left

[Chorus]
I am a tower, I am a tower, I am a tower, I am a tower
I am a tower, I am a tower, I am a tower, I am a tower

[Verse 3]
I am the power of mind, and if I think it it’s mine
I am a kingdom of one, behold what I have become
Down in the belly of earth, I hereby nullify your birth
Now everything is mine, I am the end of time

[Chorus 2]
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower
I am a tower, tower

[Outro]
I am a lamb
I am a kitten
I am a kitten
I am a tiny pink bubble
Drifting on the wind

 

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It could just be me, but it just feels like SWANS is running on fumes after the golden period from the reformation up to about 2016. It feels like diminishing returns since then. I mean the song is good, but yeah.

The press release also feels like a copy and paste from the previous few albums.

  On 2/28/2025 at 8:56 AM, d-a-m-o said:

 

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wtfLOL

  On 2/28/2025 at 10:05 AM, jaderpansen said:

wtfLOL

https://www.discogs.com/master/381386-Lou-Reed-Metallica-Lulu?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2oW-BhC2ARIsADSIAWqK73I66VEqFk-PjM4NOE0soA_b39jVuKaXAPrnuqz1B2y5QdqCqQsaArUKEALw_wcB

we can be towers, just for one day

  On 2/28/2025 at 8:52 AM, gnarlybog said:

It could just be me, but it just feels like SWANS is running on fumes after the golden period from the reformation up to about 2016. It feels like diminishing returns since then. I mean the song is good, but yeah.

The press release also feels like a copy and paste from the previous few albums.

I agree, the last 2 records didn't leave much impression on me, it feels like some momentum has slowed. Leaving Meaning was very subdued and low key, and The Beggar felt like a retread of the Seer/To Be Kind/Glowing Man ideas but just not done quite as well. I think the same will probably be the case with this one. It doesn't help that Gira keeps threatening that each record will be his last, then he plops out another.

I like the song. The album should be good. Still amazing live.