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Selling Rope (Swan Dive to Estuary) Lyrics
As I swan dive into the estuary, the birds do not flinch at my fall
They perch in the rafters, before, during, after: they do not notice me at all
As I float down into the estuary, wind cases my body in cool
I smell petrol fumes, see the smoke rise in plumes: the earth is one big fireball
Anecdote, lie
My own alibi
I've been telling jokes
Piled notes high
My own alibi
I've been selling rope
As I break the film of the estuary, the seaweed submerges my form
No passing cars stop, not a single jaw drops, as my wallet and keys sink before.
A splash all I left in the world
Once held a magpie in the palm of my hand and the blood in our veins flowed faster, as I'd planned
Got a heart full of love and a head full of more but a fist full of threads from the seams
and I saw a smile in that beak.
Oh I was a bird right then, one day I will be again
I've been telling jokes while selling rope to you
There's no ticker-tape, no pearly gates
No carnival and no parade
Just one, one for sorrow
They perch in the rafters, before, during, after: they do not notice me at all
I smell petrol fumes, see the smoke rise in plumes: the earth is one big fireball
My own alibi
I've been telling jokes
Piled notes high
My own alibi
I've been selling rope
No passing cars stop, not a single jaw drops, as my wallet and keys sink before.
A splash all I left in the world
Got a heart full of love and a head full of more but a fist full of threads from the seams
and I saw a smile in that beak.
I've been telling jokes while selling rope to you
No carnival and no parade
Just one, one for sorrow
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The meaning of this song is pretty simple; just about jumping off a bridge, and how his suicide really changed nothing about the world. The lyrics are still great though. Just so elegant and poignant.
I think that this is about someone contemplating suicide because he believes that no one notices him and he is alone "as I dive into the estuary, the birds do not flinch in my fall, they perch in the rafters, before, during, after. They do not notice me at all" Birds being the people around him. He doesn't believe that anyone would notice or care if he dies "a splash all I left in the world"