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Stop Swimming Lyrics
This song leaks out onto the pavement
It could be a joke, it could be a statement
The more that I fake it and pretend I don't care
The more you can read in to what isn't there
Maybe it's time to stop swimming
Maybe it's time to find out where I'm at
What I should do and where I should be
But no-one will give me a map
I'll leave now this can't continue
But I forget which door I came through
And I know that the lift can be painfully slow
So I think I'll leave by the window
It could be a joke, it could be a statement
The more that I fake it and pretend I don't care
The more you can read in to what isn't there
Maybe it's time to find out where I'm at
What I should do and where I should be
But no-one will give me a map
But I forget which door I came through
And I know that the lift can be painfully slow
So I think I'll leave by the window
Song Info
Submitted by
ministry On Jun 21, 2002
More Porcupine Tree
Trains
Blackest Eyes
Arriving Somewhere But Not Here
The Sound Of Muzak
A Smart Kid
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I've always kind of assumed this song follows the same rough theme as most of the songs on the album (and as the cover art depicts) - in terms of the decline of the record industry and product over art. "Sound Of Muzak" covers the avaricious businessman element; "Four Chords that Made A Million" approaches the manufactured rock band and the way the glamour is sold over the music; "Hatesong", sung with such contempt, attacks the repetitive unoriginality of those typical love songs; "Piano Lessons" is a kind of satire on the whole thing. This song, I think, expresses a feeling of futility felt by avante-garde musicians - knowing that they have the ability to make more money and have an easier life by giving in and producing more 'typical' records. So "Stop swimming" would be a reference to giving up on experimental and progressive music. And as I say I've always kind of felt it captures the feeling you get when you realise how you're barely making an influence on that banal, money-hungry business, seeing the corruption of 'art'. That said, I like the above interpretations just as much. I just happen to be very pretentious when it comes to things like art...
I think your interpretation is "spot on" ;)
I think your interpretation is "spot on" ;)
"Stop swimming."
Probably one of the best and eerie metaphors I've heard.
listening to this made me think of the John Cheever story "The Swimmer," and on further listening i feel like steven wilson has to have read this and drawn off of it for the lyrics to this song.
I think this song is just about someone realizing their life is directionless...maybe even pointless. The last verse makes me think maybe that person is sick of the directionlessness...and opts for suicide ("I'll leave now this can't continue...I'm happy to leave by the window"). Just a thought.
and you can even hear his scream as he's falling ;]
'This song leaks on to the pavement' seems to be forshadowing the jump from a certain point of view, too...
hauntingly beautiful
Definetly the sound of a heartbeat and then a thud at the end. Listen for it the last 5 seconds. =\
This song reminds me of my life. I pretty much did fuckall with my life this far. I've been living in kind of a daze for the longest time, and looking back, I probably should have done a lot more.. There's times I thought about ending it all, but I usually try to look at shit from a better point of view.
to: m43k where exactly is the scream? i seem to have missed it