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Back to the Sea Lyrics
two by two
lord we'll take em two by two
we'll lead 'em to the bedroom floor
we'll lead 'em in the dead of morning
two by two
lord we'll take 'em two by two
we'll lead 'em through the pouring rain
we'll lead 'em to the gas chamber
but not me
i'm gonna crawl (x3)
back to the sea
judge us now
lord won't you judge us now
we know exactly who we are
we know exactly what we do
judge us now
lord won't you judge us now
everybody stand on two legs
everybody kneel on two knees
but i'm turning around
and i'm gonna crawl (x3)
back to the ocean i know
back to the ocean i need
back to the sea
and all i need to do is walk
is to believe
so i'm gonna crawl (x3)
back to the sea
lord we'll take em two by two
we'll lead 'em in the dead of morning
lord we'll take 'em two by two
we'll lead 'em through the pouring rain
we'll lead 'em to the gas chamber
i'm gonna crawl (x3)
back to the sea
lord won't you judge us now
we know exactly who we are
we know exactly what we do
lord won't you judge us now
everybody stand on two legs
everybody kneel on two knees
and i'm gonna crawl (x3)
back to the ocean i know
back to the ocean i need
back to the sea
is to believe
back to the sea
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to me, it sounds like he says "and all i need to evolve, is to believe"
You're right. He says evolve. You know...the fish with the feet crawling out of the ocean...i guess. It also has some possible noah/ark references. Since the guitarist/singer Hutch Harris is so critical of the religious right and its role in American policy-making, I would venture to guess that this song explores right-wing christianity's insistence that the creation story (and not evolution) is true.
additionally, there are references to herd-mentality thinking and facism in government (gas chambers, etc).
and one last thing: i pretty much know i'm off the mark with this one, but you could interpret the sea (parting the red sea) mention and the turning back (Moses left Egypt then returned when God told him to) and gas chambers (oppression of the hebrews by egyptians) and most of all everytime he says "we'll lead 'em..." it might refer to the hebrews being led blindly through the desert for 40 years following their escape.
but then again, i'm like 99% sure that's just me reading into it WAYY too much.
sweet.
I see this as him saying that the human species' capacity for religion and faith are the flip side of being "evolved". So he's stating his preference to turn his back on standing upright and to crawl back to the ocean from which all terrestrial animals evolved. Essentially, he's calling into question the idea of human superiority over all other organisms.