Track by Track with Going Swimming

November 9, 2023

Naarm/Melbourne-based punk outfit Going Swimming recently dropped their new album, Can’t Wake Up. They walk us through it, track-by-track:

Unbelievable Seals
This song is an instrumental, so in terms of what it means, there’s not a lot to add. A lot of surf bands back in the 60’s didn’t have vocals, so this is us throwing it up to those that have come before us, albeit a lot heavier and faster than some of our favourites from the Golden era. We wanted something with a lot of energy that could get thrown into a live show and still keep the punters heads nodding, and I think we’re captured that with this one.

Cold Front
Callan wrote the music for this in the depths of the Melbourne winter with the working title ‘Cold Front’. Whether he meant it or not, there’s quite a bit of aggression in this song and the lyrics add to that. The general idea behind the lyrics comes from the feeling of being inside but not really wanting to go outside because there’s nothing out there for you, but if you stay cooped up for too long you start to get grumpy and frustrated, which can lead to an assortment of negative emotions.

All Dressed Up to Cry
These lyrics share a pretty similar context to ‘Cold Front’, although more specific to the Melbourne lockdowns. We were all going through it during that time, and I guess we were trying to cling on to anything that brought any excitement to our lives, even just for a small moment. Getting dressed up to go to the shops or waiting all day to have drinks with your friends over a video call sounds silly now, but it was all we had at that time, but outside of that there was a lot of tough times that challenged us emotionally and this song is a sad reminder of that.

Hating / Waiting
We’ve all let people down before, and when it’s your loved ones that you continue to do it to, it creates a lot of guilt and shame. The lyrics for ‘Hating / Waiting’ tell the story of being a bit too loose and not sticking to what you may have said or promised to someone, and therefore letting them down. The song itself is loose so I think it matches the story quite well.

Murderous Mongoose
I find it fun every now and then to write lyrics that are completely fictional. Aswin wrote the music for this song and sent it through with the working title ‘Murderous Mongoose’, and I was watching Pulp Fiction at the time, so I suddenly got the urge to write something within that realm. The lyrics tell the story of two men who are planning to execute an armed robbery. “Don’t let the black of the past be the thing that defines you”, indicates that one of the robbers has a bleak past and this is his chance to make up for that. They may or may not be working for someone else, but one thing we know is that there is a lot of pressure riding on the success of the heist.

Unimpressed
I find it really hard to be around arrogant people that name drop or they’re always looking to one up others in order to make themselves feel better or make someone else feel smaller. ‘Unimpressed’ is all about the feeling you get when you’re in the same room as one of these people. It’s only a matter of time before they say something to let it be known that they’re more superior than you, when they’re just a prick.

Stuck
“Stuck in a rut” is the lyric that sums up the idea behind this song. We’re all in our 30’s, so naturally we’re at the age they say you should have it figured out, but I guess there’s always going to be times where you question everything you’re doing with your life, which can weigh you down quite a lot. When you’re stuck in a rut, it’s not easy to navigate your way out.

Malaria
This is our oldest song on the album, I think Aswin wrote it back in 2017. This is actually the third time we’ve recorded it and I think we’ve finally landed on a winner. There’s not a lot of lyrics in this one, but the story that behind the few words come from when Aswin came back from a trip in India and was convinced he had Malaria. Turns out he’s all good

Can’t Wake Up
‘Can’t Wake Up’ is a song about losing connection with yourself and finding it really difficult to do or feel anything meaningful. Not matter what you try, you just can’t seem to get out of first gear, which makes it hard to be social as you don’t feel like you’re presenting the best version of yourself. You’re having to force things that would usually come quite naturally to you.

Not A Get At
‘Not a Get At’ is about that shitty feeling of fighting with your partner and that shitty dance you do when you have things that you want to say but you know it’s likely to fan the flames of your argument; hence the title and desperately trying not to offend whilst still getting your point across!

It’s a little bit tongue-in-cheek, because this one is a fucking fun, fast, punchy tune to play, so we’re really keen to drop this one into our live set.