Memories swim. Six years ago, the Creature from the Black Lagoon rising above the ink ripples freshly tattooed in my back, rises above the water ripples of Trout Lake. Twenty-three years ago, my riptide-wearied eight-year-old arms hug high-tide Jones Beach for dear life, the saturated shore line sinking like quicksand and taking me with it. Seven years ago, a night swim so invigorates my friends and I that the bartender who sees us after asks what we’re on. Twenty years ago, I imagine myself the boogie-boarding champion of Topsail Beach, NC. One year ago, I didn’t spend enough time in the water.
Levon Henry is a saxophonist, clarinetist, guitarist, bassist, organist, pianist, singer and songwriter from Los Angeles living in Brooklyn. Hear him play most of those instruments as waters flow in his new “Swim” video, premiering below. (He did that too by the way; he’s also a documentary filmmaker.) Hear him play the others on Dioramas I: Water Tower, the ongoing serialized release on which this song appears.
More about: Levon Henry
