Swords

Album: AIM (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is built around rapidly ringing percussion, sampled from the metallic clanging of swords. M.I.A. recorded the track and its accompanying video on the fly in India, after an Indian fan tweeted her with a GIF of a girl sword fighting. "I took this trip," she explained on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show. "I happened to be in India so I tracked this person down. 24 hours later I was with these people."

    M.I.A. shot a video in a tenth century temple, then drove immediately to a studio, where the song was pieced together overnight.
  • M.I.A's first single since 2013's "Matangi," the song was recorded for the singer's Matahdatah album. It is also part of an audiovisual project, released on Apple Music, titled Matahdatah Scroll 01 Broader Than a Border.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.