This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Nature, nurture heaven and home
Sum of all, and by them, driven
To conquer every mountain shown
But I've never crossed the river
Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own
Yet I'm helpless by the river
Angel, angel, what have I done?
I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire
I've conquered country, crown, and throne
Why can't I cross this river?
Angel, angel, what have I done?
I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire
I've conquered country, crown, and throne
Why can't I cross this river?
Pay no mind to the battles you've won
It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle
Open your heart and hands, my son
Or you'll never make it over the river
It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river
It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river
Nature, nurture heaven and home
It'll take a lot more than words and guns
Sum of all, and by them, driven
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
To conquer every mountain shown
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river
Braved the forests, braved the stone
It'll take a lot more than words and guns
Braved the icy winds and fire
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
Braved and beat them on my own
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river
And together we'll cross the river
And together we'll cross the river
Nature, nurture heaven and home
And together we'll cross the river
And together we'll cross the river
Nature, nurture heaven and home
And together we'll cross the river
And together we'll cross the river
Sum of all, and by them, driven
To conquer every mountain shown
But I've never crossed the river
Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own
Yet I'm helpless by the river
Angel, angel, what have I done?
I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire
I've conquered country, crown, and throne
Why can't I cross this river?
Angel, angel, what have I done?
I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire
I've conquered country, crown, and throne
Why can't I cross this river?
Pay no mind to the battles you've won
It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle
Open your heart and hands, my son
Or you'll never make it over the river
It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river
It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river
Nature, nurture heaven and home
It'll take a lot more than words and guns
Sum of all, and by them, driven
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
To conquer every mountain shown
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river
Braved the forests, braved the stone
It'll take a lot more than words and guns
Braved the icy winds and fire
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
Braved and beat them on my own
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river
And together we'll cross the river
And together we'll cross the river
Nature, nurture heaven and home
And together we'll cross the river
And together we'll cross the river
Nature, nurture heaven and home
And together we'll cross the river
And together we'll cross the river
Lyrics submitted by Kadoka, edited by armorhide7, Deshra
The Humbling River Lyrics as written by Tim Alexander Maynard James Keenan
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I don't think that it necessarily means death, though it could definitely been taken that way. If you take the Buddhist interpretation it means reaching nirvana, often characterized as crossing a river. The only part that is puzzling to me is "the hands of the many must join as one." Typically in Buddhism it is possible for an individual to reach nirvana without help from others. A Bodhisattva, however, chooses to reincarnate over and over to help all sentient beings reach nirvana, so from a Bodhisattva's point of view, all sentient beings must join together so that we can all cross the river. I don't think Maynard is trying to be too specific, just giving a general feeling of letting go of achievements of the ego and working toward enlightenment, calling for others to join along.
@ChuanRi For someone so knowledgeable you seem to have forgotten the reason why the individual aspires to achieve enlightenment. We do what must be done for the benefit of all. Buddhism has an individual element, but by becoming one with the unborn we become one with all. Remember that to be the "I" the we are all part of, "I" must lose the "we" since there is just "I" and that "we" is actually a dividing statement. All is one, but all are different. Even though we can achieve enlightenment on an individual basis, we will only know the true power of enlightenment once the "all" that are different become the"one" until all we can do is see the buddha in each other until we realize the buddha that is us, or more importantly "I"