The Kings of Independence: Swans, Like A Drug

[FractalBolt]

I want to see this whole video. This festival had Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Swans and Crime and the City Solution... god damn!, what a lineup!

[TheKnifeWon]

@FractalBolt I'm pretty sure you can find all the videos on youtube. There's "Saint Huck" and "Stranger Than Kindness" from the Bad Seeds, and "Steal To the Sea", "All Must Be Love" and "Grain Will Bear Grain" from Crime (all of which I just looked up--they're there!) I was going to upload them, then saw they were already there so, why bother?

[sclapione]

The butthole surers were also part of this but one can't find their performance on the official video ?

[TheKnifeWon]

@sclapione This particular video was only Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Crime and the City Solution and Swans. I had the whole thing and just pulled this song out of it to upload.

[methadrone]

the ultimate in sonic eroticism.... nothing comes close in sound...

[steinber]

nothing before or since...

[andreiionut87]

It sounds like it was very loud in there :))

[deathtrapdeath]

This is simply put difficult. SWANS demand obedience and self-destruction of comprehension. It is like your soul is being pushed out of your body and it is scrambling to hold to your flesh. SWANS is a reversed salvation.

[BlackHoleUser]

When only I hear them I changed my aesthetics forever

[bajsmannen418]

So violent

[xoen6]

ONE AND ONLY.

[ral1334]

There is nothing at all like Swans...gothic, industrial, metal, or otherwise.

[mhofkp]

epic x 1000000000

[naffanyaaa]

God bless Michael Gira - his music saves me from depression.

[naffanyaaa]

Out of our head

Out of our mind

Into your hands

Into your eye

Warm in your mouth

Warm in your mind

Warm in your belly

Just like a drug

Sha la la la

[greedholymoney]

Incidentally, my mother first turned me on to this band. She was a big fan growing up in the eighties. This was one of her favorite songs.

[0jucifer0]

You have an awesome mother!  :)

[LokiFreign]

@greedholymoney Sooooo... your mom.... is she hot?

[greedholymoney]

@LokiFreign Don't talk that way about my momma! She my momma! She not a sex object!!!

[LokiFreign]

@greedholymoney ..... I meant it in the most respectful possible way.... =) Growing up in the 80s and liking SWANS are attractive qualities to dusty OGs (original goths)

[LokiFreign]

@greedholymoney ………… so I'm thinking "yes" :) tell her I've got a lot of signed tour discs and I cook a lot

[prgvidiot]

@greedholymoney You have One Cool Mother

[tomcornhole]

ted parsons on drums.

[polistyrenejassband]

sha la la la

[greedholymoney]

Can't underestimate the drumming in this one. You could set your watch to it.

Very ritualistic sound. Would make a great wedding song.

[thenewhumandesign]

Amen to that.

[jackkoffin1]

Anyone know if The Kings of Independence is available on DVD anywhere? My Google yielded two entries, this and a Yahoo! Movies blurb with no info.

[FleshofSwans]

Unfortunately i did not get to see the Swans live....i didn't discover them until i was about 22. But i've heard alot of stories about how intense the shows were.....I've always been into brutal, sick, fucked up music (Eyehategod, Today is the Day, Crowbar, Godflesh, etc). To me the Swans had the talent of being subversive and offensive without resorting to cliqued shock tactics.

[BurningSpear213]

Ass wiggle at 3:50: Priceless

[mzfiguer]

I agree. Oooh.

[Putyourknifinme]

gira's face at the beginning sends chills through me everytime, the horns in the studio version are blood curdling, great song, amazing if emotionally draining performance.

[TheKnifeWon]

It's not the only one, "Beautiful Child" is on, too, but it's already uploaded.

[TheIkaraCult]

thanks for sticking this one up, i recall it was on here a while back but i guess it got deleted.

Probably the most definitive summation of what Swans were about, throbbing is the word i think comes to mind.

[AJtheory]

Thank You, Kings of Independence!

This song is the brutal sledge...

[Sasparilla2006]

hamburg 89

[drkam6]

absolutely powerful

nothing else compares to this might

[thenewhumandesign]

And this is almost mild compared to some of their other stuff, like off A Long Slow Screw.

[thenewhumandesign]

This video is fantastic.  I love the drums...and everything else.

[larsskou]

this is so cool it´s like a drug

[SinNanna]

Children of God is a masterpiece.

[drido]

CHILDREN OF GOD may be my favorite album. By anyone.

Glad this is back up. Thank you.

[pinholedstars]

THANK YOU!

missed this song since the other live version of it went off youtube.

[TheKnifeWon]

I think I was actually the one who put it up (as NodmiTheSellout), but they deleted that account for some reason. I think I had a Nick Cave appearance on Conan O'Brien that was deleted but I never deleted from my list, so they deleted it months after disabling the video. . .? Pff. I have the whole Kings of Independence video hanging around by the way, I don't know if the Nick Cave and Crime and the City Solution ones are up (or if anyone cares).

[ponynugget]

i don't think they are, at least not the CCS ones. post em!

[TheKnifeWon]

I just thought to read through my comments now. I'll post it. I didn't really like the Crime performance but it should be around anyway!

[findelburz]

Hello The KnifeWon,

Was this the gig in hamburg or the one in bonn?

I was at the one in Bonn when I was 16. CCS were cancelled.

Buttholesurfers and The Fall were playing also. bargeld was wearing some sort of a spiked hair-do and cave looked 2 heads smaller next to him. after the gig there was a some sort of a brawl with the security (they used dogs to get us out of the hall) ... I remember that sound was incredible, Laibach was touring, Jim Foetus/Wiseblood or Coil good old times ...

[fatmanosman]

And this is why Michael Gira is a God!

[olenspeter]

nice nice this is so cool

[sonictrasher]

Now that's how you play bass.

Thank you for uploading.

[jardix]

Impressive performance...

[xxoxxsmash]

The Swans did rule the world at one time...

[drido]

Even after their death they still rule all.