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Goin' Down Lyrics
Sock it to me…
Floatin’ in the river,
With a saturated liver,
And I wish I could forgiver her,
But I do believe she meant it,
When she told me to forget it
And I bet she will regret it,
When they find me in the morning,
Wet and drowned,
And the world gets round,
I’m goin’ down, I’m goin’ down.
I’m coming up for air;
It’s pretty stuffy under there,
I’d like to say I didn’t care,
But I forgot to leave a note,
And it’s so hard to stay afloat,
I’m soakin’ wet without a boat,
And I knew I should have,
Taken off my shoes,
It’s front page news,
Goin’ down, goin’ down.
I wish I had another drink;
It wouldn’t be so hard to sink,
I should have taken time to think;
Besides I got the picture straight,
She must’ve had another date;
I didn’t need this extra weight,
I wish that I could see the way to shore,
I don’t want no more,
Goin’ down, I’m goin’ down.
Now I see the life I lead,
I slept it all away in bed,
I should’ve learned to swim instead,
And now it’s really got me stumped,
I can’t believe, oh, why I jumped,
I’d like to get my tummy pumped,
I can’t believe they drink this stuff in town,
This dirty brown,
I’m goin’ down, goin’ down.
I wish I’d looked before I leaped,
I didn’t know it was so deep,
Been down so far I don’t get wet,
I haven’t touched the bottom yet,
This river scene is gettin’ old;
I’m hungry, sleepy, wet, and cold,
She told me to forget it nice;
I should have taken her advice,
I only wanna go on home;
I’ll gladly leave that girl alone,
What a way to spend the night,
If I don’t drown I’ll die of fright,
My pappy taught me how to float,
But I can’t swim a single note,
He threw me in to teach me how,
And I stayed there,
Floating like a mama cow,
And now I’ve floated way down stream, I know this has to be a dream,
If I could find my way to shore,
I’d never ever do this anymore,
I’ll give you three;
I’ve been down nine,
I’m goin’ down just one more time,
I’m goin’ down, goin’ down.
Now the sky is gettin’ lightm
And everything will be alright,
Think I finally got the knack,
Just floatin’ here lazy on my back,
I never really liked that town;
I think I’ll ride the river down,
Just movin’ slow and floatin’ free,
There’s a river swingin’ under me,
Waving back to the folks on shore,
I should have thought of this before,
I’m floatin’ on down to New Orleans,
Goin’ to pick up,
On some swinging scenes,
I know I’ll know a better day;
I’ll go down groovin’ all the way,
Goin down, goin’ down…
Floatin’ in the river,
With a saturated liver,
And I wish I could forgiver her,
But I do believe she meant it,
When she told me to forget it
And I bet she will regret it,
When they find me in the morning,
Wet and drowned,
And the world gets round,
I’m goin’ down, I’m goin’ down.
I’m coming up for air;
It’s pretty stuffy under there,
I’d like to say I didn’t care,
But I forgot to leave a note,
And it’s so hard to stay afloat,
I’m soakin’ wet without a boat,
And I knew I should have,
Taken off my shoes,
It’s front page news,
Goin’ down, goin’ down.
I wish I had another drink;
It wouldn’t be so hard to sink,
I should have taken time to think;
Besides I got the picture straight,
She must’ve had another date;
I didn’t need this extra weight,
I wish that I could see the way to shore,
I don’t want no more,
Goin’ down, I’m goin’ down.
Now I see the life I lead,
I slept it all away in bed,
I should’ve learned to swim instead,
And now it’s really got me stumped,
I can’t believe, oh, why I jumped,
I’d like to get my tummy pumped,
I can’t believe they drink this stuff in town,
This dirty brown,
I’m goin’ down, goin’ down.
I wish I’d looked before I leaped,
I didn’t know it was so deep,
Been down so far I don’t get wet,
I haven’t touched the bottom yet,
This river scene is gettin’ old;
I’m hungry, sleepy, wet, and cold,
She told me to forget it nice;
I should have taken her advice,
I only wanna go on home;
I’ll gladly leave that girl alone,
What a way to spend the night,
If I don’t drown I’ll die of fright,
My pappy taught me how to float,
But I can’t swim a single note,
He threw me in to teach me how,
And I stayed there,
Floating like a mama cow,
And now I’ve floated way down stream, I know this has to be a dream,
If I could find my way to shore,
I’d never ever do this anymore,
I’ll give you three;
I’ve been down nine,
I’m goin’ down just one more time,
I’m goin’ down, goin’ down.
Now the sky is gettin’ lightm
And everything will be alright,
Think I finally got the knack,
Just floatin’ here lazy on my back,
I never really liked that town;
I think I’ll ride the river down,
Just movin’ slow and floatin’ free,
There’s a river swingin’ under me,
Waving back to the folks on shore,
I should have thought of this before,
I’m floatin’ on down to New Orleans,
Goin’ to pick up,
On some swinging scenes,
I know I’ll know a better day;
I’ll go down groovin’ all the way,
Goin down, goin’ down…
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I think this is about relationships with women. He says:
"And I wish I could forgive her, But I do believe she meant it, When she told me to forget it"
I think he means that he wishes that he could forgive her for telling him to "forget it," but there is no hope as she really did mean that it was over. This caused him to drown, and he's only new to this whole relationship thing, so he can't swim, he hasn't had any practise.
He says he's forget her if he could: "I'll gladly leave that girl alone," but he can't.
He gives up on relationships because of this trauma that he's going through:
"If I could find my way to shore, I’d never ever do this anymore,"
But then he realises that he doesn't have to stay in the same spot:
"I never really liked that town; I think I'll ride the river down"
And he finds acceptance: "Just movin’ slow and floatin’ free."
This is a really beautiful song, it goes through the arc of depression, anger, and acceptance really powerfully and it contrasts them well. That and his ROCKING VOCALS AND RHYTHM!
The song is about getting dumped and getting drunk. Later realizing you are drunker than you should be, Then getting drunker. Just read the words.
@bbfan Absolutely right. It completely makes sense. "If I don't drown I'll die of fright" "Now I've floated wayy down stream"
@bbfan Absolutely right. It completely makes sense. "If I don't drown I'll die of fright" "Now I've floated wayy down stream"
The song is about a man who's girlfriend broke up with him, tries to commit suicide, and immediately regrets the attempt.
No love for Goin' Down?!
Oh man, what a badass song this is. If you haven't heard it, you're in for a treat. I've never jumped in the river to commit suicide, but I have no trouble believing in the authenticity of the lyrics. The rap-like pace and the frantic, squalling brass capture the desperation in the lyrics perfectly. Micky Dolenz's finest hour, for sure.
greatest vocal performance by a rock and roll guy. ever
This song is about being drunk. THe girl left him and he's been lying in bed drinking "dirty brown". He's so drunk he wishes he hasn't drank at all, but he's going down again.
This song is about being drunk. THe girl left him and he's been lying in bed drinking "dirty brown". He's so drunk he wishes he hasn't drank at all, but he's going down again.
It's not about getting dumped. It's about having way too much to drink at a bar, hitting on a girl, getting rejected, and being chased out of the place and jumping into a river to get away. And then he realizes he probably shouldn't have done that. Wikipedia is wrong, as usual, and doesn't even cite a legit reference if you follow the link provided.