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Distant Water Lyrics
It's like you pass to me this bitter cup
So I can take a sip
And I know that it's likely gonna burn
But never mind the taste of it
I take what I can get
It sure is a hard way to learn
I mean look at how I sip your cup of nasty
Like I'm lucky for a taste to quench my thirst
When love creates an optical illusion
I'm gonna see it just the way it was rehearsed
If I was dying in the desert
I would see shining on the sand
True love, like distant water
On dry land
I liked everything about you, except the way you treated me
But that didn't seem to matter much at first
I longed for you to fill me
Like a wino loves his drink
But every time you filled me with a thirst
If I was dying in the desert
I would see shining on the sand
True love, like distant water
On dry land
'Cause I was looking for a goddess who could save me
So I played the worshipping fool
The colder your kindness
The more it convinced me
You're just that cool
Now just look at how I sip your cup of nasty
Like I'm lucky for a taste to quench my thirst
When love creates an optical illusion
I'm gonna see it just the way it was rehearsed
If I was dying in the desert
I would see shining on the sand
True love, like distant water
On dry land
True love like distant water
On dry land
So I can take a sip
And I know that it's likely gonna burn
But never mind the taste of it
I take what I can get
It sure is a hard way to learn
Like I'm lucky for a taste to quench my thirst
When love creates an optical illusion
I'm gonna see it just the way it was rehearsed
I would see shining on the sand
True love, like distant water
On dry land
But that didn't seem to matter much at first
I longed for you to fill me
Like a wino loves his drink
But every time you filled me with a thirst
I would see shining on the sand
True love, like distant water
On dry land
So I played the worshipping fool
The colder your kindness
The more it convinced me
You're just that cool
Like I'm lucky for a taste to quench my thirst
When love creates an optical illusion
I'm gonna see it just the way it was rehearsed
I would see shining on the sand
True love, like distant water
On dry land
On dry land
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Wow, can't believe there are no comments on this one yet. One of my favorites, and always hits me close to home, especially now coming out of a relationship just like this.
The metaphor here is incredible and deep and extended. The chorus says it all. True Love is a mirage of distant water, an illusion in this relationship, something he always strives to attain but can never quite reach, because it doesn't exist.
But, he's in such a desert - has such need for this love - that he'll take anything, even if it's the bitterest harshest cruelest worst kind of love, and then thinks he's lucky to get it because he's stuck in this illusion. But even then, "every time you filled me with a thirst" - he wasn't getting anything out of it but an even greater need for love, because he wasn't getting anything.
Another killer, bitter song, like "Going Somewhere" (I bet it's about the same relationship), and it's great at every turn of phrase and extension of that metaphor. It develops really well musically too, building in intensity as the song goes on. Just perfect really, like this whole album. Good stuff.