Behind the Sea (Album Version)

A daydream spills from my corked head Breaks free of my wooden neck Left a nod over sleeping waves Like bobbing bait for bathing cod Floating flocks of candle swans Slowly drift across wax ponds

This part of the song is talking about a message is a bottle floating across the water with a dream inside the message escapes and spreads across the pond, this talks about how somthing can spread so quick.

The men all played along to marching drums and boy did they have fun behind the sea They sang, so our matching legs are marching clocks and we’re all too small to talk to god Yes, we’re all too smart to talk to god

this is talking about soldiers fighting over in iraq and how there each clocks which means one day they will stop ticking, which means that they could die, and were to small to talk to god, along with to smart to talk to god, is a sarcastic wordplay meaning we dont make time to talk to god.

Toast the fine folks casting silver crumbs to us from the dock Jinxed things ringing as they leak through tiny cracks in the boardwalk Scarecrow now it’s time to hatch sprouting suns and ageless daughters

this represents how the men who send us to fight for the war are eating with silver crumbs or there rich while we fight there war, and now there haching are suns and daughters, and trying to scare us into beliving we need to fight(hence the scarecrow)

Go on, you know Don't you know

That those watermelon smiles just can’t ripen underwater Just can’t ripen underwater

awatermelon smile refers to a slice of a watermelon, ( a (half circle) shaped smile on your mouth

The men all played along to marching drums and boy did they have fun behind the sea They sang, so our matching legs are marching clocks and we’re all too small to talk to god Yeah, we’re all too smart to talk to god oh, we’re all too smart to talk to god

Ooooh

Legs of wood waves, waves of wooden legs Waves of wooden legs Legs of wood waves, waves of wooden legs Waves of wooden legs Legs of wood waves, waves of wooden legs Waves of wooden legs Legs of wood waves, waves of wooden legs Waves of wooden legs

this is for all the lives of the soldiers lost, all of there legs represent there lives Oooooh

So close, so close

"A daydream spills from my corked head Breaks free of my wooden neck"

Okay, so the narrator starts off trying to block daydreams, but he slips up, and the day breaks free.

"Left to nod over sleeping waves Like bobbing bait for bathing cod"

Sleeping waves, I think, means that someday the waves are going to wake up, things are going to get more exciting, and when they do, he's going to use this daydream to catch fish. Or in the bigger scheme of things, make a living off it.

"Floating flocks of candle swans Slowly drift across wax ponds"

This part kind of eludes to the Tin Solider; didn't the story mention candle swans and wax ponds? So it could be tying into they're seen as nothing more than toys, or they are actually toys.

"The men all played along to marching drums and boy did they have fun behind the sea"

I think that since they followed one drum/person so mindlessly, they sunk/marched right off the dock. I think the water has to symbolize death, and since the soldiers are so mindless, they don't see death when they sign up for the war, they just see it as an adventure.

"They sang, so our matching legs are marching clocks and we're all too small to talk to god Yes, we're all too smart to talk to god"

The soldiers are taking pride in the way they're able to march so perfectly, and uniformly look the same. I think the part about god is saying that they don't believe in him, and some people look at it as they're not important enough to have to look outside their own little world, or they're smart enough not to believe in something that big.

"Toast the fine folks casting silver crumbs to us from the dock Jinxed things ringing as they leak through tiny cracks in the boardwalk"

The soldiers are eventually going to die, but the people who are on the dock (perhaps as mindless as the soldiers) are throwing valuables for the soldiers. I think the narrator uses the adjective jinxed, because it applies to the irony of the situation. Soldiers are needed for war, and war is usually happening to protect valuable things, a country or goods, and here the people are throwing them off the dock to the soldiers who are going to die..

"Scarecrow now it's time to hatch sprouting sons and ageless daughters"

A scarecrow is something that protects over crops, so in a way, the soldiers are like scarecrows. The sprouting sons and ageless daughters part is talking about the kids they've already had, sprouting sons, sons that are going to grow up to an age when they can go to war, and ageless daughter, he's saying the daughters age doesn't really matter because they'll never grow up to an age when they're shipped off to war.

"That those watermelon smiles just can't ripen underwater Just can't ripen underwater"

When people were kids, they use to hold watermelons up to their face so it looked like a huge smile. I'm assuming the age of the watermelon is connected to the age of the child. So the children going off to war are never going to have ripened smiled because you can't grow up when you're dead.

"Legs of wood waves, waves of wooden legs"

The narrator ended with this because it kind of sums up the whole message of the song. About how easily, and quickly soldiers marching turned into soldiers dying.

how many name changes did this song go through?! seriously. does anyone know though?

This is what I'm picturing:

"A daydream spills from my corked head Breaks free of my wooden neck Left to nod over sleeping waves Like bobbing bait for bathing cod Floating flocks of candle swans Slowly drift across wax ponds" --This is describing the point of view... something floating along on the water that was cast a-sea by sailors. It's hard to think of something that this could be... the first 2 lines make me think of a wooden barrel or something... but I don't think that's what it is. Maybe... (You'll notice I changed the "left a nod" to "left to nod", because this seems right and makes completely more sense. Like, the men threw it overboard, left it to float along on the water.)

"The men all played along to marching drums and boy did they have fun behind the sea" --These are the men on the ship that the narrator is watching.

"They sang, so our matching legs are marching clocks" --They're maybe singing (this might not be literal), and maybe stomping their wooden legs. 'Matching' as in looking alike... they all have wooden legs, so they all match... their legs are stomping to the marching beat from the previous lines, idk.

"And we’re all too small to talk to God" --They're poor sailors, been through everything, not noble or good enough to pray.

"Yes, we’re all too smart to talk to God" --They'll go on singing as their ship is sinking, instead of praying.

"Toast the fine folks casting silver crumbs to us from the dock Jinxed things ringing as they leak through tiny cracks in the boardwalk" --Thankgod for the people throwing money/valuables/silver things into the sea. The money might be the jinxed things... idk, I'm trying to think of something that would ring. (There's another song I've heard, telling a story of a sinking ship, and, in the point of view of someone on a ship, says, "The ship was sinking, we were drinking, singing one last song, casting our gold into the ocean". This seems really similar to me.) But, because it says "from the dock", maybe it's referring to people waving them off, throwing things... That makes it more confusing.

"Scarecrow now it’s time to hatch sprouting suns and ageless daughters" --No idea, but couldn't it be "sons" instead of "suns", since it says "and ageless daughters"???

"That those watermelon smiles just can’t ripen underwater" --This is another reason why I think the ship is sinking... The watermelon smiles are the smiles of the men on the ship, maybe, joyous in their departure, but when they sink the smiles will have to come to an end, because they'll drown. Darnit, now I'm having to think about the people on the dock, too... maybe they could be the ones smiling... but I don't like that idea, cuz it's too confusing.

"Legs of wood waves, waves of wooden legs" --Two things: 1)The 'waves' of stomping on the ship deck and 2)The waves of wooden-legged drowned sailors in the water when they sink... wood floats, so it might bob on the waves...

WOW that was difficult (and really long, sorry). I probably forgot a whole bunch of things, and I'm probably really wrong... but that was my try at it. First try at the meaning of a Panic song, too... never thought I could do it. I don't think I think this is the real meaning, just the imagery. That whole thing could still have some connection to real life, instead of a bunch of sailors.

LOL I really don't know, I just thought I'd supply you all with another full-of-crap idea.

-peace-

To add to foundthevelvetsun's interpretation, I just thought I'd throw out my opinion on this particular verse. "Toast the fine folks casting silver crumbs to us from the dock Jinxed things ringing as they leak through tiny cracks in the boardwalk" I think it's saying that the people at the dock might have given them valuables such as gold and silver on their departure, and the sailors were thankful for it then. But now that the ship is sinking, it's weighing it down even more, and they're throwing it overboard, like in One Last Song. I do think it's the same concept as well.

And both Josiah Leming and PATD are insanely amazing.

i dont think its meant to be taken like a story. they're telling it like a story ut really they're saying lots of little things. i think its probably actually about writing songs. A daydream spills from my corked head Breaks free of my wooden neck then he's describing his daydream. just the randomness of thoughts.

and i like the bit about watermelon smiles. i dunno what the watermelon is for but i thought about smiling when you're crying. "That those watermelon smiles just can’t ripen underwater" i think about how you cant mean a sm ile of you're crying. thoughts? xxx

fairyfreak -- Yeah, that's what I meant in the end when I was saying it was just the imagery. I don't really think that's the meaning to the song... like you said, there's probably a real meaning... that's just what I was picturing with that sinking ship stuff. And I love your ideas, too, especially about the watermelon smiles. Maybe it all could have double-meaning???

jennak1629 -- Nice on the Josiah Leming fan-ship... LOL didn't think very many people knew, that's why I didn't name the song... but yes he and the song and Panic are all very awesome. Props!!!

-peace-

Watermelon smile- Huuuuuge smile. Like a big slice of watermelon.

This song is great lyrically, ryan's just basically describing a form of a daydream spilling from his head, but he's put more of a theme to it, in this case a dock at sea.... what could have inspired this? im not sure, sometimes after i maybe watch a great movie about something in particular, i write poems about it.

Again, great song, i love the waxed pond bit.

i think someone or something has broken his dream or imagination.