Michael Gira stated in a podcast that this song was inspired by a short story called “Funes the Memorious” by argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges.
[Verse 1]
I see the turquoise lake spread out flat between the desert hills
I feel the sun penetrate my skin
I feel it melt the marrow in my bones
I hear the engines grinding, relentless
Crushing stone
Crushing stone
Giant steel insect arms rise up in clouds of rust
Then they pivot and they groan
As they violate and they thrust
Down we ride into the pit
First we’re swallowed, then we’re folded into it
Inside our gouged mouth
New home is a liquid that is velvet, black and slick
It slides down our throats and it fills up our lungs
Feeding young minds with thickened oil and blackened scum
Clawing blind, pounding rock
Killing light with grit and grime
Breaking hands, marking time, sucking dust, oh, sucking dust
Sweating copper tears that are sent up in buckets to the crust
But way, way, way up high
There’s a square hole that opens out to the sky
Exhaling hollow thoughts that like sparrows now fly
Scattering tiny shadows over continents of pale and hardened mud
Following a clear and singing thread that leads us backwards
To a home that never really was
[Pre-Chorus]
Deep in the guts of the Earth
We work, we work
Deep in the heart of the hurt
We work, we work
Shoveling red powder and dirt
We work, we work
Digging a hole that leads to our birth
We work, we work
[Chorus]
We were, we were
We were, we were
We are, we were
We are, we were
[Verse 2]
Because my eyes are made of glass
I drink the sand to sift the past
The shifting tides have come to rest
In shallow pools inside my chest
I am the man who drags his chains
Along the road that navigates
The shit, the slop, the butter and fat
My map is carved into my back
Reality is blazing bright
Beneath the sky all creatures rise
With arms entwined
The living, the dead
In matter, in mind
Simultaneous
I praised your lips
I praised your skin
Our future stopped where time begins
[Pre-Chorus]
I remember
We were, we were
Gone forever
But we were, we were
But remember
We were, we were
Gone forever
But we were, we were
[Chorus]
We were, we were
We were, we were
We are, we were
We are, we were
The Memorious was written by Michael Gira.
The Memorious was produced by Michael Gira.
Swans released The Memorious on Fri Jun 23 2023.