| Jason Isbell – Flying Over Water Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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To me, it's about fear and uncertainty in general life as well as in a relationship. "Flying over water" is something people fear - that sets the stage. First verse - from the sky everything looks so buttoned up but the truth is that it was all built on slave labor and there's so much fighting and death going on. Second verse - he's witnessed the woman in his life fighting and struggling to survive on her own. He didn't seem to help her - maybe he couldn't or maybe he just didn't. And he still doesn't quite know what happened or what she needs. Chorus - in spite of all that, he wants to help. He recognizes what she fears but also tries to remind her that what she fears isn't always true (being over land can over water). Verse three - again reflects on how everything looks clean and straight from on high, but the day to day challenges of living have taken their toll on him too. Chorus - same as before, only now he's no longer interested in the liquor cart. Instead, he's identifying with her weariness and noticing how long they've been in the sky - the struggle goes in and on. Bridge - do we, would we, did we, will we, should we leave our love behind? Should we just walk away from the relationship in the face of this difficult existence? Ultimately I find this a hopeful song - it represents the kind of unfiltered questioning that goes on in all our heads, I think: "everything else looks so squared away, but I and my life seemed so f***ed up...maybe I ought to just chuck it all and walk away?" But in the end, I think (I hope) we end up coming back to our most important relationships and recommitting to them and realizing that they are at the center of everything that IS good about our short time in this planet. |
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