{"id":5146,"date":"2023-04-15T19:43:44","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T01:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/?p=5146"},"modified":"2025-10-22T21:17:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T03:17:44","slug":"song-of-the-day-simulation-swarm-big-thief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/2023\/04\/15\/song-of-the-day-simulation-swarm-big-thief\/","title":{"rendered":"SONG OF THE DAY: Simulation Swarm, Big Thief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Image courtesy of The Current<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Upon my first listen, “Simulation Swarm”- simply put- just didn\u2019t do it for me. I found myself disconnected, neutral, and slightly disappointed in Big Thief<\/em>, one of my all-time favorite bands, and their newest release. As a self-proclaimed musical genius, I assumed my initial reaction to the song was correct. “Simulation Swarm” found itself forgotten after my inaugural dismissal, never to be seen again. This is the last time I trust my pretentious expectations; I was treacherously mistaken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A December evening in Boston was the second time \u201cSimulation Swarm\u201d found me. Though I choose to believe my rediscovery of the song is a case of fate, or perhaps divine intervention, Spotify autoplay is arguably responsible for my pot-of-gold moment. I drive around my hometown behaving in a particularly melodramatic manner- looking wistfully at stoplights, sighing aggressively, head in hands, etc. Enter \u201cSimulation Swarm\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment transports me to an entirely new headspace. Upon my second listen, the song brings me almost immediately to tears. It wrecks me. A door opens, welcoming feelings I have long repressed, and yet yearn to feel again. There is something distinctly heart-wrenching about Big Thief\u2019s “Simulation Swarm.” A devastating baseline chases me throughout my listen as Lenker constructs her convoluted lyrical image. I have not unveiled the full picture, yet I find myself clinging to certain lines with abnormal intensity. Though, with research, it becomes clear that the song is dedicated to her biological brother, I choose to believe that the cryptic nature of Adrianne Lenker\u2019s lyricism is an allowance for personal interpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was reborn with my second listen. To me, this song is an attempted escape to a place I am no longer welcome. Its melodies, complemented by soft harmonies and a melancholic tune, create an unmistakable feeling of desperation. I have written and rewritten my feelings about this song, but I truly do not believe its magnificence can be encapsulated by words. In order to feel the weight of Big Thief\u2019s masterpiece, give it a listen. And, if it doesn\u2019t stick the first time, trust me, listen again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upon my first listen, “Simulation Swarm”- simply put- just didn\u2019t do it for me. I found myself disconnected, neutral, and slightly disappointed in Big Thief, one of my all-time favorite bands, and their newest release. As a self-proclaimed musical genius, I assumed my initial reaction to the song was correct. “Simulation Swarm” found itself forgotten […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1658,"featured_media":5151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-of-the","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/files\/2023\/04\/Screen-Shot-2023-04-10-at-11.14.49-PM.png?fit=744%2C674&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa7fJU-1l0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5146"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5153,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5146\/revisions\/5153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}