Into The Surf

Album: Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 2 (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This melancholic song finds Yannis Philippakis singing about a loved one dying far away from home. "On 'Into The Surf' there's this shadow of death, of someone not returning from a voyage," he explained to DIY magazine. "There's a type of Greek folk song that's always to do with the immigration of Greek people and how dying on foreign shores is always viewed as the worst fate – to die far away from your home and your family."
  • The short instrumental "Surf Pt.1" from Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1 is a chop out of "Into the Surf." Philippakis wanted to include the layer of sound as a tease before the release of Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2 seven months later.

    "I liked the fact that it's alluding to what's to come on album two and when you get to album two, you hear it refashioned in a song," he explained to Consequence of Sound. "As a music fan, that would be the kind of thing that makes me go, 'Well, that's cool,' as a nerdy thing. We just felt that it was pretty and it deserved its own moment."
  • The sparse, animated video reflects Yannis Philippakis' Greek heritage and reflects the song's lyrical themes.

    "By mixing traditional stop-motion with live action and digital animation techniques the idea was to aim for something that felt just about tangible but almost out of reach, echoing the themes of the song in a heightened dreamlike way," said director Steve Warne. "A little bit of reality with a dose of mystery."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Maxi Priest

Maxi PriestSongwriter Interviews

The British reggae legend tells the story of his #1 hit "Close To You," talks about his groundbreaking Shabba Ranks collaboration "Housecall," and discusses his latest project with Robin Trower.

Bible Lyrics

Bible LyricsMusic Quiz

Rockers, rappers and pop stars have been known to quote the Bible in their songs. See if you match the artist to the biblical lyric.

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New York

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New YorkSong Writing

Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.

Brenda Russell

Brenda RussellSongwriter Interviews

Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Donald Fagen

Donald FagenSongwriter Interviews

Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.