High water carried her down stream
She watched the water's living things
She thought, it's not a mound with six planks of wood
The cardinal points to hold you up
Or a mountain where a shed self could
Feed the roots and honor the tongues of the animals
Drift into the moss and bloat where the peat bog pulls
Rolled like a felled tree
With arms as useless as such
Death's panic came, a calmness stayed, you couldn't do much
Just watch the water chip away at the bank eroding
Cut and crumbling through the spate
It took a father, it covered a daughter
Took her down, down, down
With the glass bottles, books, a tire
Collected hair tufts in the weeds
Snagged and wrapped in the peats
Dammed and trapped
You said, is this the ceremony?
I don't know, well I don't mind
The way we all fall in and roll down
Pushed through the veins and trafficked byes
And when your ears sit under
Head is half submerged down below
Pooling all accounts of peace while passed beneath the canopy glow
She watched the water's living things
She thought, it's not a mound with six planks of wood
The cardinal points to hold you up
Or a mountain where a shed self could
Drift into the moss and bloat where the peat bog pulls
With arms as useless as such
Death's panic came, a calmness stayed, you couldn't do much
Just watch the water chip away at the bank eroding
Cut and crumbling through the spate
Took her down, down, down
With the glass bottles, books, a tire
Collected hair tufts in the weeds
Snagged and wrapped in the peats
Dammed and trapped
I don't know, well I don't mind
The way we all fall in and roll down
Pushed through the veins and trafficked byes
And when your ears sit under
Head is half submerged down below
Pooling all accounts of peace while passed beneath the canopy glow
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Copied from Anathallo's blog at http://yourhappymakesmegooldies.blogspot.com/2008/10/being-open-to-our-current-current.html
"Here are the lyrics for 'The River.' Erica and I wrote them after hearing about an experience that her mom had while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. She was crossing a river and the current swept her away. Due to the weight of her pack, she couldn't get to a bank and was certain that she was going to die. Upon that realization, she leaned back, calmed her senses and enjoyed what she thought would be her last living moments... she observed everything with a concentrated mindfulness as she passed underneath the glow of light pouring through the canopy of leaves. This is a half fictional retelling. (She was saved - just so you know)"
The other important part of their blog post is that they include this quote: "Be open to the real forces that are around, instead of the images and the hype. It's such a lessening of the human being to go through winter hating winter and to go through summer hating summer." - Ken Dunn, Hyde Park Resident.
The other important part of their blog post is that they include this quote: "Be open to the real forces that are around, instead of the images and the hype. It's such a lessening of the human being to go through winter hating winter and to go through summer hating summer." - Ken Dunn, Hyde Park Resident.
The post talks about the idea of just going with the flow of life and appreciating its beauty, no matter what.
The post talks about the idea of just going with the flow of life and appreciating its beauty, no matter what.
I know that the band posted the actual meaning of the song on their blog, but I thought I'd mention anyway that this song reminds me of Ophelia in Hamlet. The idea of floating down a river... "the tongues of the animals," kind of like Ophelia being crazy before she drowned, speaking gibberish... "It took a father" could mean Polonius, who died earlier in the play and whose death is what caused Ophelia to go crazy. If the river is death (or the natural course of life, which flows toward death), then it makes sense that it took her father, and then took her.
I dunno, just an interesting little resonance that I found personally.
I love the harmonies and instrumentation in this song (: So good.