Swans - Killing For Company

[thetwilightgarden]

Incredible track. It makes me want to turn the volume up loud enough to shake the house. I love the brutality & intensity in this track... AMAZING.

[FractalBolt]

Part of this song's lyrcs remind me a lot of the paranoid and chaotic last years of the 20th century; UFO suicide cults, Y2K, end of the world nuts, Conspirancy Theories, terrorism on the rise, etc.

[RipGarrido]

"Though it's just a feeling

I know we'll never end

I'll keep you company"

So sad..

It seems everybody wants to see me dead.

I already feel dead, please love...leave me alone!

[RipGarrido]

I'm not a serial killer but I see myself in the lyrics of this song.

[abortionrock]

That photo reminds me of the publicity photo for Mazzy Star's Among My Swan album...but seeing as this album came out first it almost seems like a parody. Hope and David were sitting on a single bench not 2 separate chairs...damn...all the juxtaposition makes me chuckle hahaha...

[auxemoron87]

@MrRapistman While I agree with you and bloodyrockfire may we not forget The Burning World.... ugh. Although, it was better than MOST music from that time, it was a hard listen for me. And Melvins were particularly influenced by Swans and FLIPPER for their slow post punk sludge a thons

[lambchop660]

The best fucking song ever

[auxemoron87]

The first Swans album I ever bought. Noone ever brought it like the Swans. How they inspired bands like Tool, Godflesh, Melvins, NIN and never made it as big as they shpuld have is beyond me

[MrRapistman]

@auxemoron87 probably due to Gira's anti-consumerist views and disdain for the structured, mainstream natures of all of those bands.

[bloodyrockfire]

@MrRapistman not all of those bands are particularly mainstream.Godflesh for instance They also had an experimental edge very similar to Swans As for Tool and NIN, I agree.

[swans1997]

4 buttrockers dislike this song.

[Madmoizelsan]

PASSION AND GRACE = BEAUTY? yes Jarboe, you were all that

[err0r]

@Madmoizelsan were = are

[slavegirltogod]

my alltime favorite michael gira song... ever!

[sveikasveta]

Swans es uno de los mejores grupos que han pisado y pisan la faz de la tierra. que intensidad!!

[Trgr66]

this makes the hairs on my back - of which i don't have - stand stright out. Great album, The Great Annihilator. ----they all are - obviously. Ciao from oslo;)))

[Trgr66]

this makes the hairs on my back - of which i don't have - stand stright out. Maybe The Great Annihilator is a little underestimated? Like i thinl 'The Burning World' is to, unfortunately. Great album. ---they all are. Obviously. Ciao from Oslo;))

[DeadWhiteButterflies]

The only kind of comparison I can make is possibly The Jesus And The Mary Chain on a mountain of crack. :D

[killingforcompanyx]

this is NOTHING to do with Stuart Cable's band KILLING FOR COMPANY...

just so you know x

[sexyEmma4u]

Its only bands like KILLING FOR COMPANY and EARTH CULTURE that know how to kick ass!!!!

[welshlegend09]

RIP stuart :'(

[purplekittybun]

The swans are soooo great!!!

I don't think that there is another band that compares in my book.

[urckrecords]

I like what Robert Anton Wilson said. the character Bloom from James Joyce's Ulysses is the perfect symbol for the first half of the 20th Century: the eternal "nice guy" even though everyone treats him like shit. The perfect symbol for the second half of the 20th Century: Hannibal Lecter

[neworder36]

hmmmm loving this too!!

[dying8]

fenderstratguy - Are you new to Swans? This is pretty much what they are known for. Very repetitive and to the point. They drill there songs in your mind and make it very clear. That's what I love about them. Enjoy!

[fenderstratguy]

Is this a little repetitive or am I off base? Another change or two could make it better, but that's just my $0.02

[paintingtasters]

@fenderstratguy

The Swans music is often repetitive.. slow.. trudges along relentlessly using few chords.. it's what they do... and they do it well.

[urckrecords]

well put

[swans1997]

@fenderstratguy I think a change would damper the hypnotic quality they have going here, and there is change here with the melody, while the rythm save the mid section, stays at the same tempo ,any time change would lessen the hypnotic feel of the song for me. Kinda subtle, like a good Floyd tune.

[binnertdebeaufort]

I could not agree more. The great annihilator is by far their best album though I still can not explain why it is so mindblowing. Every song speaks for itself but together they fuse into an album that is out of this world

[hawinden]

god lives ....gira

[ants4rocket]

I feel stupid, I read the lyrics a few times, but can't understand their meaning. Can anyone give a clue as to what this song is about?

[kilian]

in video i saw before this one the singer say that its about one british homosexual mass murderer who used to look for young guys, take them home and kill them. But he always keeped the body, he was dressing him, washing him, making him up, watching TV with him. Killing for not to be so lonely. Kinda perverted lovesong

[rresmini]

The killer in question is Dennis Nilsen. A book by Brian Masters - "Killing for Company: the story of a man addicted to murder" details his life, crimes, trial and time in prison.

[andinoble]

@rresmini Yeah, Killing for Company is an excellent book - everyone calls him the British Jeffrey Dahmer - surely some mistake - surely it is the other way around - Jeffrey Dahmer is the American Dennis Nilsen? He killed for company in the late 70's and early 80's. Dahmer a decade later.

[swans1997]

check out the swans documentary here at youtube. Gira tells you all about it.

[Doc4orUgs]

its a song about this killer michael gira read about, that used to kil peolpe and take them home to sit with them. i guess he meant, i read that in an interview, that that is what it would feel like, yknow. gira is kinda weird and cool.

[bajsmannen418]

Kind of depressing song, but in a good, Swans-ish way.

[sveikasveta]

Gua, que cancion. se me pone la piel de gallina. Swans no es musica que se deba escuchar solo con los oidos sino con todo el cuerpo. Eran perfectos.

[jesterheadflame666]

This band is incredible - I have missed out on a lot! I must get this album and their others

[fuckscum]

This song is about Dennis Neilsen, who targeted primarily gay men to kill. My Dad used to own a pub in South Kesington which is famous for 3 serial killers finding victims in their, imo, this perfectly sums up the dark moddyness of that pub.

[fuckscum]

Oh I forgot to mention, one of the serial killers was Dennis Neilsen

[eoinpahern]

holy shit thats really interesting. i remember reading a really good book about dennis neilsen when i was 17 he was some disturbed human being.

[Tirdfish]

Brian Masters wrote the book on Neilson also called Killing for Company - spooky.

Swans rule.

[adamndirtyshame]

i hear ya.. i used to go to a wendys where someone was murdered, and it always has this dark moodyness, and the food is just awful.

[urckrecords]

@fuckscum and they only caught up to him after people started finding human hands clogging up the drains

fuck, this is a fucked up world (that's why I listen to Swans)

[pjubagoni]

could they be the best <3

[VoidOvNihil1134]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW

[Lollarcoaster]

I instantly fell in love with this song. The morbid story behind it with the beautiful melody, I'm hooked. :P

[andinoble]

Yeah, the whole The Great Annihilator album is great-I spoke to Michael Gira when he played an accoustic set in Vienna recently and he said it is (except for Soundtracks for the Blind/Swans are dead)the only"later period"Swans he still listens too ocassionally(that´s why he still releases it&not the Burning world/White light etc)).You should read his book-"The Consumer"too-similar tales are told...

[swans1997]

For me, The Great Annhilator, blends all the elements of power, passion, grace, and beauty of SWANS , in one magnificent package. Not a duff moment on that album.

[AriasuperiorYT]

@swans1997

it's a great album, but i think that all the beauty and power of swans blends even more on soundtracks for the blind.

[swans1997]

@AriasuperiorYT Ok, but I was talking about this album, Soundtracks is another one.

[DoorsBeyondDoors]

Swans inspired a lot of different artists from the extreme metal leanings to the bombast of post-rock.

Truly one the most seminal acts of our time.

[harvesterofsorrow111]

its amazing to think these guys had a huge influence on Napalm Death, who cite The Swans as their biggest influence

[wordupassholes]

That is, the heavy period. I'm sure you know that, but you never know.

ND has nothing on Swans though. Heaviest band ever.

[polistyrenejassband]

this is my favorite swans song

[DFWsearch]

Is Michael and Jarboe coming from a cheery afternoon of gardening? How delightful. I love Michael Gira. i wish he could kill and eat me. So hot!

[azathoth12]

M. Gira was inspired by the serial killer/necrophile Dennis Nilsen. There is actually a book by the same name, I remember reading it as a teenager. I highly recommend it if you are into that sort of thing.

[greedholymoney]

i am into masturbating. any book about that you recommend? or perhaps you wrote such book!

[nark500]

I absolute love this song... so vrey good!

[evelinnee]

And it's "forehead".

Someone needs to type slower.

[hanspeterpitsch]

Can any english speaking person please give me the FULL lyrics? A few lines in the last part are missing, and I couldn't find them anywhere. It's from "I know we'll live again" on. Would anybody be so kind? :)

[sveikasveta]

SWANS / SKIN irrepetibles!!

Uno de los grupos grandes de la musica alternativa. Cientos de canciones excelentes. Da que pensar como no fueron tan famosos como lo es actualemente Nick Cave. Swans eran mejores con diferencia, la lastima o el encanto es que no tenian el glamour de Nick Cave que gusta tanto a las masas.

[D4VERD4NN]

This song is about the British serial killer Dennis Nielsen, who killed for company.

[stiggyh]

gems forever!!!!! ;-)))

[CizinManikThorns]

I'm listening to this song in the right moment... choking someone looking at their eyes feeling like god.. :P nothing could be better than this.. what a tune..

[Putyourknifinme]

one of my favorite swans songs, thanks for uploading

[forakiller]

me too, im so in love with this tune...i want to die to it

[Putyourknifinme]

yeah i hear ya, id love to kill someone to this, being as its about dennis nilsen, i can just visualise it now, my hand clasping round the throat...im not twisted at all!!

[evelinnee]

Why did you spell 'knife' wrong?

[Putyourknifinme]

haha i knew someone would notice eventually, it was by accident, i wasnt paying any attention to spelling, then noticed a few weeks after and gave myself a nice big slap on the forhead haha.