When all that's left to do
Is reflect on what's been done
This is where sadness breaths
The sadness of everyone
Just like when the guys built the
Dam at otter creek and all the
Water backed up
Deep enough to dive
We took the dead man in sheets
To the river flanked by love
Deep enough to dive
Deep enough to dive
Be here now
We took him there and three
In a stretcher made from trees
That had passed in the storm
Leave the hearse behind
To leave the curse
Be here now
Is reflect on what's been done
This is where sadness breaths
The sadness of everyone
Just like when the guys built the
Dam at otter creek and all the
Water backed up
Deep enough to dive
We took the dead man in sheets
To the river flanked by love
Deep enough to dive
Deep enough to dive
Be here now
We took him there and three
In a stretcher made from trees
That had passed in the storm
Leave the hearse behind
To leave the curse
Be here now
Lyrics submitted by Caverna[RR], edited by SmileyKovacs
"The Dam at Otter Creek" as written by Chad David Taylor Chad Alan Gracey
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
In the second verse the song likens this act of dwelling on past mistakes to the act of building a dam. Constantly reflecting upon one’s past mistakes never allows a person to get over/overcome those mistakes, so dwelling on the past is a kind of mental block or dam, preventing progress. Past regrets that should be forgotten never are forgotten. They never become “water under the bridge,” to use that cliché. Instead these regrets get “backed up,” like water, slowly creating a pool of sorrow, perhaps “deep enough to dive” into.
If the previous poster is right about the reference to actual events at Otter Creek Campground, then perhaps the next verse is suggesting that the eventual outcome of diving into a pool of one’s sorrows is drwoning. The “dead man in sheets” is a man who plunged into that pool, committing suicide perhaps, or otherwise becoming lifeless. Despite this man’s pool of sorrow, however, he is “flanked by love,” taken to the river by people who love him, surrounded by feelings of love equal to his feelings of regret, a “love deep enough to dive.” If only a person could learn to live in the present instead of dwelling on the past, or in other words “be here now,” then he could bathe in love instead of regret.
The final verse is actually incorrectly noted here. The booklet that comes with the album shows the lyric as “We took him THREE and three,” suggesting there were six people carrying the dead man, three on each side.
Anyway, using a “stretcher made from trees that passed in the storm” suggests a more productive way of dealing with past mistakes. Rather than damming up one’s regrets and sorrows, a person should use the debris from past troubles, or “storms,” to move forward, to carry them into the future instead of keeping them stuck in the past. The final lines of the verse, “leave the hearse behind, leave the curse behind,” are a simple restatement of the idea that one should let go of the past, live in the present, “be here now.”
We took him three and three
In a stretcher made from trees
I believe "3 and 3" would refer to the typical configuration of pall bearers and "a stretcher made from trees" a coffin. Pretty sure that is the "surface level" meaning. As for the analogy, I'll leave that to the smart people.
OTTER CREEK PICNIC AREA
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES PROHIBITED
NO PARKING AFTER SUNSET
VEHICLES TOWED AT OWNERS EXPENSE
Which is interesting. Which "Otter Creek" is he talking about? A little search through Google shows there is an Otter Creek Campground near their native York, PA (in nearby Airville, PA). Anyone care to elaborate?
Coming from the spiritual philosophy viewpoint the first verse suggests Krishnamurti's idea that attachment and thoughtless acts can cause personal sorrow through regret. I think the dead man is metaphorical, being someone who has succumbed to the grind of daily life and become emotionally numb and hardened. Its the sense of a life ruined in the same way that the environment was affected when the dam was built. But the beautiful river is still there and by metaphorically taking this guy to the river they're making him spiritually aware, a kind of rebirth.
Screw you mainstream lovas, this is the shit.
OTTER CREEK PICNIC AREA
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES PROHIBITED
NO PARKING AFTER SUNSET
VEHICLES TOWED AT OWNERS EXPENSE
Which is interesting. Which "Otter Creek" is he talking about? A little search through Google shows there is an Otter Creek Campground near their native York, PA (in nearby Airville, PA). Anyone care to elaborate?