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(She's a) Universal Emptiness Lyrics
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
She's The Last Mistake We Make
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 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
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 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
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I disagree with the comment below. This is one of my personal favorite Swans songs. I love Michael's delivery here. I think this one is about a woman with no faith in anything, and is simply negative to all. This is a pretty weird song, since the lyrics seem sort of Christian, but Swans are not a Christian band. A spiritual band, but not Christian.
@bjbp Not that weird considering the themes that were explored on Children of God, which was the direct predecessor of this album. I've always viewed the 80s/90s Swans albums as thematic pairs: Filth/Cop, Greed/Holy Money, Children of God/Burning World, White Light/Love of Live, Great Annihilator/Soundtracks.
@bjbp Not that weird considering the themes that were explored on Children of God, which was the direct predecessor of this album. I've always viewed the 80s/90s Swans albums as thematic pairs: Filth/Cop, Greed/Holy Money, Children of God/Burning World, White Light/Love of Live, Great Annihilator/Soundtracks.
Oh, and this ends with "she's the last mistake we make!"
she's a universal emptiness the meaning is in the title. she!!!! meaning religion.she's the last mistake we make. from an old cutting I found.
@paulcanham1 this seems incredibly unlikely. Gira has spoken at length about how none of the music they did during this time period was "anti-religion". He recognized that for the utter cliché it was at the time... many 'alternative' bands in the 80s were releasing songs that were critical of Christianity or the government. There wasn't really anything left to say, there wasn't then and there isn't now. I think these lyrics should be taken at face value: it's referring to an actual woman. The fact that she visits a church doesn't mean it's about religion.
@paulcanham1 this seems incredibly unlikely. Gira has spoken at length about how none of the music they did during this time period was "anti-religion". He recognized that for the utter cliché it was at the time... many 'alternative' bands in the 80s were releasing songs that were critical of Christianity or the government. There wasn't really anything left to say, there wasn't then and there isn't now. I think these lyrics should be taken at face value: it's referring to an actual woman. The fact that she visits a church doesn't mean it's about religion.
Swans are one of my favorite bands ever, but I have to say that these are some of the worst lyrics Michael Gira has ever, ever penned.
@owennnnnnnnnn IDK, even if I'd never heard the song or knew it existed, if I read these lyrics I'd immediately know it was written by Gira. These are some of the most Gira lyrics imaginable.
@owennnnnnnnnn IDK, even if I'd never heard the song or knew it existed, if I read these lyrics I'd immediately know it was written by Gira. These are some of the most Gira lyrics imaginable.