Sonic Youth "The Diamond Sea"

I was never really into drugs (yeah, "really" is a qualifier).

I always felt like they usually detracted or distracted from the experience, rather than added to it.

Especially during concerts. So I was almost always completely sober for shows.

Because being high would have meant totally missing out on one of the great concert music experiences of my life.

In the mid-90s, some time after their "Washing Machine" album came out, I went with a friend to The Tennessee Theater in Knoxville to see Sonic Youth.

Sonic Youth's live shows were never about style---in that there were no costumes or dancers or schtick. But they did have an incredible light show.

And when they performed "The Diamond Sea" and the tune moved into its long, dissonant final phase and the lights were pulsating and my ears were rings and the energy of the audience was ratcheting up, up, up . . . I really could have sworn that I was tripping on something. The floor was moving, the shadows were bulging, time was bending.

It was the weirdest, coolest damn thing.

And then, like the tide receding, the music subsided and I was back to earth.

That couldn't have happened if I were fucked up . . .


Geffen released the song as a single, which edited down the CD version, from 19 minutes to under 6, which is what appears in the video. And Youtube doesn't let you post anything over 10 minutes.


Hear the shortened version on Youtube.

The vinyl version is actually longer than the CD version at nearly 26 minutes.