The Song Meaning Wiki

I Was Born Swimming

Squirrel FlowerStudioFebruary 7, 2020

About this Album

I Was Born Swimming is Squirrel Flower's 2020 debut album for Polyvinyl. The title refers to Ella O'Connor Williams's birth en caul, and the record meditates on movement, solitude, and connection.[2] It was recorded with producer Gabe Wax, with the band tracking in New York over five days.[2] Reviewers described a slow-burning mix of quiet mood and sudden noise, with recurring images of heat, water, birth, and in-between seasons.[3]

The record grew out of an early session that produced only "Red Shoulder" and "Streetlight Blues," with most of the rest finished about a year later at the Rare Book Room in Brooklyn.[2] It was recorded largely live with few overdubs, and Williams's father, a blues bassist, plays on it.[2][4] The title track, the last song added, was recorded in her childhood bedroom in Arlington, Massachusetts.[2]

The lead single, "Red Shoulder," was introduced as a song about destabilization and dissociation.[1] Critics praised the album's stripped-down folk tendencies, fierce guitar playing and rich vocals.[3]

Songs

I-80Red Shoulder

References

  1. Squirrel Flower announces debut album I Was Born Swimming (The FADER) — Williams's own description of Red Shoulder as a song about destabilization and dissociation, and the purpose of the closing solo.
  2. Artist To Watch: Squirrel Flower (Stereogum) — Background on Williams's upbringing, the first recording session, the Rare Book Room sessions and the meaning of the album title.
  3. Squirrel Flower, I Was Born Swimming review (Clash) — Critical reception of the album, praising its stripped-down folk tendencies, guitar playing and vocals.
  4. Introducing Squirrel Flower debut full-length I Was Born Swimming, listen to lead single Red Shoulder (Polyvinyl) — Label announcement covering the lead single, the video by Laura-Lynn Petrick and how the album was recorded.