By This River

To me, this is one of Eno's more straightforward lyrics, although the story is told using symbolism.

It's about a relationship (maybe friendship, but more likely romantic) that has taken a turn for the worse, gotten stagnant.

"Here we are Stuck by this river"

The river is the river of time, and he and his partner are just sitting there stuck, going nowhere.

"You and I Underneath a sky that's ever falling down, down, down Ever falling down"

This could be rain, an often used symbol for sadness, or it could be just one bad thing after another falling on the relationship. Nice how he emphasizes "down" by repetition. Over and over the sky is falling on them.

"Through the day As if on an ocean. Waiting here"

They go through their days adrift, helpless to stop the ups and downs of the waves. Waiting for something but it never comes, and....

"Always failing to remember why we came, I wonder why we came"

They have lost sight of the wonderful things that drew them together in the first place.

"You talk to me As if from a distance"

The partner has withdrawn emotionally, and their communication is distant.

"And I reply With impressions chosen from another time, time, time From another time"

The relationship has become so stagnant that he can only talk about its past. Again, the very repetition is itself symbolic of the narrator going over the same ground again and again.

A brilliant picture of a relationship that has timed out. I was in one several years ago and this song became very apropos.

This song's great... It's really moving and beautiful

I love to listen to this and some other light, ambient Eno tracks while I'm falling asleep. It actually seems to bring about more interesting and memorable dreams

A really beautiful, touching song. It was in the film "La stanza del figlio" ("the son's room"), and complemented the poignant story perfectly.

I cried so much over this song. I discovered it in Nanni Moretti's movie and, as venus in mohair said, it complemented the story.

Last stanza, translating from Arabic back into English:

"You are talking about distances as if it were to reply to the first impressions of time chosen another time again."

Talk about surreal!

من هنا نحن واقفين أنا وأنت هذا النهر القبة السماوية التحت من الوقوع في هذا التراجع خفضا تدريجيا مطلقا سقوطها

ومن خلال هذا اليوم وكأنها تنتظر في محيط هنا نتذكر دائما بعدم وصل دخل وكيف أصبحنا ولست أدري لماذا جئنا

أنت تتحدث إلي وكأنها من مسافات الرد على الانطباعات الأولى اختارا وقتا من الزمن زمن آخر مرة أخرى

I love the way Eno entwines space, time and movement to form such surreal abstraction.

'Stuck', 'ever falling', 'through the day', 'waiting here', 'from a distance', 'from another time' and links it with water and air: 'this river', 'the sky' 'an ocean'.

And all of this provides a formless context for reflecting on ourselves 'failing to remember', 'wonder why we came', 'you talk to me', 'with impressions chosen' Fabulous.

Eno ponders apparently purposeless existence with such concise skill.

"Here we are, stuck by this river..." What a strange way to begin such a beautiful song! The protagonist seems to be reclined at the side of a river, staring up into space. His thoughts appear to be drifting. He has a companion, but still seems alone. He feels "as if on an ocean" (echoing the protagonist of "Julie With..."), forgetful and isolated. His companion speaks "as if from a distance." Even his words appear alien to him, "from another time." Nothing around him seems to make sense in the moment.

This feels to me like the flow of time, the slow progression and forgetfulness of age. The silence of approaching death -- I can see perhaps an elderly man, trapped in his thoughts, unable to express himself from within a slowly decaying body.

Hoping a moment could last forever, knowing it won't, and being completely overwhelmed by one's senses. The muffling of voices and distance of words overwhelmed by the feeling of everything surrounding you. Knowing it's the final moment spent with someone you love, feeling every inch of the space around you; a vast ocean of words and moments bridged by me and you