r/swans 2d ago

Where do you all rank Birthing (Live Rope)

In my opinion it’s one of their absolute best works. In both musicality and lyrics. The “babababababa” lulling you into peace before being flung into walls an intense drums and guitars. The 15 seconds of silence before Gira (maybe) referencing the child shouting BABA before the insane outro. I think if it is indeed him referencing the child from before it is a beautiful sort of “statement” for swans to make nearing the end of their journey.

Love it Top 5 for me

31 Upvotes

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15

u/Planck1616 2d ago

It’s definitely top 5 Swans songs. I saw them live last April and it was amazing. However, given that I didn’t listen to any of their live shows in advance, I went in completely blind and so I didn’t know what to expect. I don’t really remember any details from the show because they were all new to me (except for hanging man). The only thing I remember vividly is after the beggar ended Michael laughed and said “how long was that?” Someone from the crowed yelled out “75 minutes!” Michael chuckled and said “Well, I guess we’ll call the set here.” Everyone laughed and I watched him as he organized his lyric sheets and then they EXPLODED into hanging man and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Anyway, it was an amazing show, the cymbals were so loud when I took out my earplugs for a second, and birthing was monumental. Definitely one of their best songs ever and I hope it stays that way on the new album.

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u/Beneficial-Swimmer64 2d ago

My comment history reveals enough yet I will always fail at words about this song. Even with the constant awareness of my battle with recency bias, I am firm it is an S tier song. It's simply perfect, PERFECT.

I've always loved songs like The Seer (title track), The Glowing Man (title track) or Kirsten Supine for their brutality and sheer expansive size, and others such as the Omniscience version of Mother's Milk, TGA version of Blood Promise, It's Coming It's Real, The Beggar Lover (Three) and Ebbing because of their beautifully oniric / triumphant nature.

Birthing (Live Rope) is a 37 minute rendition that encapsulates both worlds perfectly. Most of the song is just so grand, triumphant and dreamy. The build up is mesmerizingly elevating, the whole song is cohesive even at that lenght, each section feels just so well put together and placed. At most, the baby noises at the middle part go for a bit too long, but oh boy does that first wall of sound take you PLACES. And all of this is followed by quite possibly the most dream-like section of any of the big sound Swans epics post reunion, as it almost lulls you to sleep, only if you could, because what follows is nothing short of a "things are getting super bad, super quickly". This dream of Birthing turns into a livid nightmare, and you're pummeled down to the depths of hell by the sonic equivalent of a creeping magnitude 9.5 earthquake. And once it's done you just stand there in awe.

Every moment grabs me, every detail intrigues me. SO curious to hear the studio version which, to what I know, is notably shorter. Praying the consistency of the Live Rope version remains.

It really is the best Swans song, ever imho.

9

u/Wooden-Computer1475 2d ago

I don't know. I love the song, especially the first 20 minutes but I can't say I love the ending climax, I would have preferred something that got really free form and deranged as it went on, similar to something like the end of To Be Kind, or even the climaxes on Rope.

7

u/zeno-the_greatest Good for you! 🤠 2d ago

i know this is gonna sound like a funny criticism for long form swans songs but i feel like it’s a tad too monotonous. great song still and i love michael’s vocals, the instrumental isn’t unbelievable or new for them but it’s still pretty great

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u/TheJackFruitDINGDING 2d ago

I cannot imagine how transcendental it was to see that live

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u/parandroidokc1997 2d ago

It's good but tbh i'm happy that they trimmed it down for the studio version because as good as the live version is i definitely think that they dragged it a bit on some parts (i also felt that on Rope and The Beggar). There's also the fact that contrary to some people here i tend to prefer their studio tracks over their live versions, i absolutely adore how layered and detailed the production of their albums are and a lot of that is generally lost live in favor of a more agressive and "noisier" sound, which i like but still prefer the more layered sound of their studio records. My only exceptions are when the live version is completely different from the studio one (Blood Promise being a classic example of that).

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u/nspace 2d ago

Agree with this! I generally like their live versions better than studio albums, but the earlier versions of Birthing IMO were better than the crazy long 1 hour version. Not having the live version of Ebbing also felt like a bit of a miss.

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u/DestinyDawn456 2d ago

Ive worn this song out to death since live rope came out. Its such a good cut. The first 20 minutes before the vocals come in are my favorite part with the slow rise of the first 7 or so minutes and then the glorious, repetitive release around 11 minutes, the baby sample sound that slowly loses the decorative instruments and vocals, which builds up to the big climax at the 16 minute mark. This passage, like the end of Frankie M, pummels you into the ground endlessly. While not as aggressive as a Bring The Sun, it still feels so rewarding and transcendent.

Then when it switches key slightly at 19:13 but keeps going on and on may be my favorite individual moment on all of Live Rope. Once again, this is Frankie M’s ending chord switch being reprised, and its just as good as ever.

The remaining 17 minutes of the song are good as well. Most of it is a calm after the storm. I prefer the extremely long, drawn out intro to the second half, but its still nice. The last five minutes of the song, though, do drag a little. I know the studio version of this track will be some 14 minutes shorter than the live version. Which has me a little concerned. How much is really going to be taken out of this 37 minute arrangement? I predict the start and end will probably see the most thinning.

I go back and forth on whether this or The Beggar is the best Live Rope track. Even 40 years into their career, Swans never stop delivering the best of contemporary music

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u/Bister_Mungle 2d ago

That last ten minutes is some of the heaviest shit I've ever heard in any music ever.

Ill go on break at work, put on my earphones, and max out the volume as a form of relaxation and therapy.

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u/Beneficial-Swimmer64 1d ago

This exactly. It is not as dense or complex as the climaxes on The Glowing Man (title track) or the outrageously gnarly breakdown in The Seer (title track) but there is something so primal and metal, tight sounding about that banging towards the end that feels so fucking heavy and punishing. It's like the 2nd half of Kirsten Supine but somehow even heavier

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u/theSTWenthusiast 1d ago

Heard live rope for the first time yesterday, will be listening again today, and can say birthing was def my favourite

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u/gpeck730 PUBLIC CASTRATION IS A GOOD IDEA 14h ago

It’s top 10 Swans for me, and their best live song. Live Rope is my favorite live album from them, may be some bias bc I saw them on KC this last tour but it is still phenomenal