Almost all of Swans' and Radiohead's output plays chess with my brains, but Sonic Youth's Diamond Sea manages to ask more and more questions with every listen (and there have been quite a few).
While the song is about passivity and needing to stand up when it's appropriate, for me it's a song that helps me keep perspective when dealing with loss.
TW: death
!Starting a bit over 10 years ago, I've lost 2 uncles, a cousin, my grandfather, and just last week, my grandmother. Each time, this is a song that I have found comfort in.!<
In the chorus, the listener is invited to reflect on how they live their life. At the same time, lines about starlight and sunbeams remind us of the greater world and universe out there and maybe our own insignificance.
It’s off their new album. The lead singer said this about the subject matter: “‘Jaws’ is a song about the expectations that come along with adulthood: marriage, buying a home, having kids, white picket fences. I have to wonder if we all truly want those things or if we follow suit out of fear and peer pressure."
For me, it makes me think about the overall experience of being female and the expectations and pressures that come along with that.