"Swords" is a song by British recording artist M.I.A. The track was written by M.I.A., Jerry Leembruggen, Ruben Fernhout, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Tevin Plaate and Kaushal Sahil. Leembruggen and Fernhout are part of the Partysquad, who produced the song alongside M.I.A. and Spanker. The track is centred around the sound of clinging swords, recorded during filming the music video, and was completed overnight during the singer's stay in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The song was released as part of "Matahdatah Scroll 01 "Broader Than a Border"", which featured both "Swords", and the track "Warriors", from M.I.A.'s fourth studio album, ''

Matangi Matangi ( sa, मातङ्गी, ) is a Hindu goddess. She is one of the Mahavidyas, ten Tantric goddesses and an aspect of the Hindu Divine Mother. She is considered to be the Tantric form of Saraswati, the goddess of music and learning. ...

''. It was self-released worldwide, under exclusive license to

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...

on 17 August 2015. The song has not yet been performed live.

Music video

The six-minute music video, which featured both "Swords" and "Warriors", was directed by M.I.A. herself and premiered exclusively on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

on 13 July 2015, simultaneously with the single. Filmed in

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

city of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, "Swords" features female dancers performing routines with swords and sticks, interspersed with scenes of M.I.A. in a 10th-century

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temple and lighting a big Om sign. The video for "Warriors" was shot in

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

and features a Zaouli dancer. M.I.A. said she had seen a footage of him on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and has spent two years trying to locate him. She then flew to Africa and filmed his performance.

Track listing

# "Swords" – 2:24 # "Warriors" – 3:41 # "Matahdatah Scroll 01 "Broader Than a Border"" – 5:55

Charts

Release history

References

{{M.I.A. 2015 singles 2015 songs Interscope Records singles M.I.A. (rapper) songs Song recordings produced by Hit-Boy Songs written by M.I.A. (rapper)