Ease Your Feet in the Sea

I've been a Belle and Sebastian fan for years and this is one of my favourite songs of theirs. For a long time I thought that it was underrated by fans, but I've had a change of heart recently.

I think that what draws people to belle and sebastian's music has never been the hit singles or 'must listen' songs. People are drawn to belle and sebastian because their music is so unassuming. It's brilliant, but never feels like it's trying to grab your attention on purpose. That subtlety is what draws people in. Each B&S song to me feels like walking into a new room and exploring it. It's a really active process and can almost feel like a conversation at times, trying to see how all the pieces fit together. Ultimately, i think that one of Stuart's greatest strengths is that his lyrics tell a story in such a way that you can identify with his characters, but still vague enough to force you to fill in the gaps with your own experience. Perhaps the reason different people identify so strongy with different B&S songs is that that personal 'gap filling' reflects the listener's own life experience and that process, in some circumstances, provides a safe way to subconsciously deal with pain and unresolved emotional issues with through the safety net of superimposing them onto a character in a song. This deep emotional attachment may be why so many fans are so obsessed with this particular band. Neutral Milk Hotel is another example.

My favourite belle and sebastian songs are Ease your feet in the sea, Chickfactor and Don't leave the light on baby. These aren't widely regarded as the 'best' songs in the band's catologue, but they're the ones I identify with most. I'm happy for people to disagree. That's the beauty of this band. Everybody experiences them in their own subjective way.

The song is clearly about suicide. The first 100 times I heard the song, I didn't listen to the lyrics, and thought it was just a pleasant song. But just one listen reveals a very clear story and theme.

The singer is addressing a friend who, over the course of the song, kills himself.

• Verse 1: The singer is telling his friend to relax and let his troubles go. Singer alludes to death in the last lines of this verse.

• Verse 2: The singer is contrasting his contented (self-absorbed?) life activities with the friend's sudden jarring suicide attempt.

• Verse 3: The singer realizes the urgency of things, and addresses the dying friend, bargaining to try and keep him around, and apologizing for not seeing the signs.

• Verse 4: The singer is walking past dead friend's house, thinking about how everybody (including himself) ignored his friend and his emotional needs.

my favorite song about suicide. sm had a friend with ME who never got better and eventually killed himself. its also a song about heightened sensitivity and alienation. interesting that he seems to understand and accept his friend's choice. although maybe this song was a way to come to terms with that.

This song is amazing. I don't think it's necessarily about a suicide. I think it's about the helplessness that can be felt when it comes to dealing with your family. You get into arguements and you hate the fact that they don't acknowledge or respect you. You get to a point where you start to think "Hey, I'm an adult too, and I shouldn't have to take this crap". You feel helpless because, frustrating as it can be and as hard as it can be to deal with, you can't just hate them and have that be the end of it. All you can do is forgive, or forget.

A little more, to add to my last comment.

• Especially at the beginning of the song, it just sounds like the singer is talking about having a carefree day (except for the little words and phrases that hint at something bad that's coming).
• By the end of verse 2, you see that something is very wrong ("emergency ... no more 'wait and see'").
• In verse 3, you see the singer himself tumble into into regret, sadness, and emotional turmoil.
• In verse 4, the singer is seemingly detached again, outwardly peaceful walking under the infinite stars. But now he realizes the extent to which everybody in the friend's life took him for granted.

Depending on your POV, the subject of the song is (a) suicide in general, (b) the dysfunctional relationships surrounding the suicide victim, (c) survivor's guilt.

jcovarruon has this meaning pretty much nailed down to my mind - with the exception of Verses 3 & 4.

I think the singer is referring to finding his friend in the process of attempting suicide in Verse 3.

"To what it is that you are going through, my boy I let you dry" - possible reference to alcohol here, 'drying out'

"The signs were clear that you were not going anywhere, anywhere" - failed suicide attempt

"Save for a falling down, save for a falling down" - the rope is cut

"Everything's going high" - sensation as he falls to the ground

Verse 4 definitely refers to a memory of the same person, but after a successful suicide attempt after they were found trying to hang themselves - "dangling, hovering."

Either way, it's a tragically beautiful song and one open to many interpretations - this is just one of them.

I believe this song is about coping with a friend's suicide. For example, "Suddenly, without a warning/on a pale blue morning you decide your time is wearing thin/a conscious choice to let yourself dangling/hovering." Regardless, it's still a very pretty song with a nice violin solo.

I love the line "there's no more wait and see" . It's so annoying when you ask someone to help you out when you are feeling down and they just say "wait and see" as if they think it can't be that bad for you and everything will just sort it self out on its own. Sometimes saying stuff like that just isn't helpful, sometimes things are that bad and you really need some help. Things were obviously that bad for the person in this song, since they committed suicide, people had said 'wait and see'... but he couldn't. On the other hand this song also explains how hard it is to help people in this situation. "I make another sandwich And I fill my face, I know that things have got to you But what can I do?"

I definately think this song is about suicide. "A conscious choice to let yourself go dangling Hovering It's an emergency There's no more wait and see"

no more "wait and see" referring to someone who has threatened suicide before..and the rest of the song the person trying to figure out what he could have done to prevent it.

'take your shoes off, curl your toes, i will frame this moment in time'

beautiful imagery :)