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The Burning World is the sixth album by Swans, the New York band founded by Michael Gira. After getting the audience used to devastating live shows, presenting post-no wave music where metallic clashes are paced by claustrophobic industrial marches and torn apart by Gira's screams, Swans (in this album, along with Jarboe and Norman Westberg, another sixteen musicians are credited) decide to radically change direction. When the audience, after Children Of God, began to accept and understand the nature of their music (this is indeed their first and only major label record, Uni), Gira and company decided to follow without compromise the path dictated by inspiration and their creative needs, disappointing a large part of their fans. The tracks on this album decidedly move away from the dark compositions of previous albums, heading towards a more traditional song format, very close to Nick Cave-like murder ballads or neofolk sounds (in a certain sense, Swans are a very un-American band).
The album begins very gently with the guitars and strings of the track "The River That Runs with Love Won't Run Dry". These are immediately driven by a martial drumbeat that quickly reaches its climax to leave the strings in the foreground. When Gira's deep and calm voice enters, the listener realizes that something is definitely off: there are no screams, no metallic guitars marking the beats of a frantic heart. There is only a splendid song sung by a splendid voice.
As we continue listening, we find nothing similar to the past. "Let It Come Down" and "Mona Lisa, Mother Earth" are in fact two more folk ballads, with a bitter aftertaste. If in previous albums negative feelings were expressed explicitly, in this case the mal de vivre is implicitly expressed in these simple songs, masterfully arranged. The masterpieces of this album, like "(She's a) Universal Emptiness" or "Jane Mary, Cry One Tear", foreshadowing the future Angel of Light, serve as a counterpoint to the harshness of the earlier compositions. There is much sweetness (morbid), the sounds are bright and precise, the atmosphere is lively like a splendid winter morning. The singer seems to have reached a state of calm and a sort of serenity, which forgives and forgives himself for crimes committed.
A link to the previous album can be found in the acoustic guitars, which maintain their cursed folk character, but the electric ones that built the walls of sound we were used to, disappear. The use of strings and "ethnic" percussion is shocking: they are the culprits that make this album so un-"Swans".
Jarboe's voice stands out in the ethereal track "Can't Find My Way Home", where a guitar arpeggio is supported by strings and paced by Indian tablas, and in "I Remember Who You Are". A more assured vocal interpretation from the dark chanteuse is noticeable, especially in the second track. In the other tracks, however, she is not alone in the choruses but accompanied by two other voices.
Although appreciated later, this album did not sell as expected and the contract with Uni was dissolved. Many consider (including Gira himself) this album the weak point of their discography. In fact, the album will never be reissued. Bill Laswell's production certainly influenced the cleanliness of the album's sounds, and we can bet it was the label’s own intention to produce an album potentially accessible to everyone. Nevertheless, rarely will tracks be found later that are so inspired, so gentle and melodic, yet manage to maintain a strong dark charge. Considering Gira's career today, this album is an important step in the evolution of his career: from a borderline element on stage, he transforms into a refined songwriter, and we could gather the gems in the albums to follow, especially those labeled Angel of Light.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Let It Come Down (04:28)
Some Men Are Made Of Steel And Blood
Some Fall From Heaven When Their Time Does Come
Some Of Us We Run From A Shapeless Form
And Some Men They Hide From A Howling Storm
Now I Will Wander Through The Falling Flames
And I Will Drown In The Burning Rain
Sha La La La La La La, Let It Come Down
Sha La La La La La La, Let It Come Down
There Is A Place With Nothing To Gain
There Lies The Lover Who Has Broken No Chain
He Sits By The Window And He Stares At The Dark
She Feels For The Knife That Will Split His Heart
Now We Are Betrayed In The Cold Black Pain
And A Fire Will Rain Down Again And Again
Sha La La La La La La, Let It Come Down
Sha La La La La La La, Let It Come Down
03 Can't Find My Way Home (04:47)
Come down off your throne
and leave your body alone.
Somebody must change.
You are the reason
I've been waiting so long.
Somebody holds the key.
But I'm near the end and
I just ain't got the time
And I'm wasted and
I can't find my way home.
Come down on your own
and leave your body alone.
Somebody must change.
You are the reason
I've been waiting all these years.
Somebody holds the key.
Chorus
But I can't find my way home.
But I can't find my way home.
But I can't find my way home.
But I can't find my way home.
Still I can't find my way home,
And I ain't done nothing wrong,
But I can't find my way home.
by Steve Winwood
05 (She's A) Universal Emptiness (04:01)
And She Sits There By The Wall
Making Holes Where I Just Stood
And Her Hands They Touch Her Face
Like Her Face Is Made Of Wood
And She Holds On To A Memory
Of Something I Never Said
But She Still Can't Quite Remember
If My Eyes Are Blue Or Dead
She's The Mother Of Us All
She's The Victim Of My Sadness
And The More She Tries To Know It
The More She'll Never FIll It
She's A Universal Emptiness
A Universal Emptiness
She's A Universal Emptiness
And A Total Lack Of Faith
And I Saw Her Once Before
Down On Her Bended Knees
Through A Window Of The Church At Night
Confessing To The Broken Priest
She Is Holy, As All Women Are
And She Suffers Like A Saint
Yeah She Touched My Hand With Cruelty
But I Was Punished Far Too Late
She's The Mother Of Us All
She's The Victim Of My Sadness
And The More She Tries To Know It
The More She'll Never FIll It
She's A Universal Emptiness
A Universal Emptiness
She's A Universal Emptiness
And A Total Lack Of Faith
07 I Remember Who You Are (04:27)
When Other People Say
You're Someone To Misuse
Shut In Behind Your Young Girl's Face
And Helpless In Your Bed Of Thorns
I'll Remember Who You Are
Yes I'll Remember Who You Are
I'll Remember Who You Are:
A Young Girl, Unchained
Come Back Here Now
I Know You're Somewhere Still Alive
Strong Behind Your Young Girl's Tears
I Know You're Somewhere, Unchanged
Oh I Remember Who You Are
Yes I Remember Who You Are
I Remember Who You Are:
A Young Girl, Unchained
There Stands A Young Girl, Naked
In Her Innocence Unused
And She Holds Me In Her Small Hand
And She Smiles Down On Me
I Am Innocent In Her Dark Eyes
I Will Lose My Heart In The Sand
You're Cruel, But You're Good For Me
And You Hold Me In Your Young Girl's Hand
I Remember Who You Are
Yes I Remember Who You Are
I Remember Who You Are
A Young GIrl, Unchained
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