Where Fishes Go

this whole CD (the distance to here) rocks. it's so full of something i can't put into words. live is like no other band out there. this song is really cool to, though it took me awhile to understand what it means.

so in this song the sea is a place that represents bad stuff (whatcha doin' in this darkness baby? when you know that love will set you free will you stay in the sea forever?) or darkness as ed likes to refer to it. i'm guessing that you go to the sea (remember darkness) because love/light (that's not in the sea) can be really rough and difficult sometimes. So . . . you go to the sea to breathe. and i think the song is trying to say that while we all get tired and things can get bad (like GOD showing you up like a dime store hooker (he has his reasons, i promis)) it's really better out here in the light of love.

long live live!!!!! peace out everyone

I used to love Live. Then i learnt how religious the Ed guy is and it became inescapably obvious with this ablum. With throwing copper, there were religious undertones, and i really like that in mucis, it an easily referenced metaphor that is largely universal at the ver leat, universally relatable.

This album is just preaching. and after not hearing it for many years i put this album on and this song inparticular struck me.

To me, i hear a lot of patronising of atheist/ism. It suggests that Atheist are so because they cannot handle the idesa of God. The first Verse:

yeah I found god and he was absolutely nothin' like me he showed me up like some dime-store hooker who was plain to see I couldn't take it anymore so I went back to the sea cuz' that's where fishes go when fishes get the sense to flee

Who are fish? evolutionist. THey Evoled from fish (as a creationist would put it anyway) so they are fish. and they can't handle the idea of this omnipotant and benevolant being, it scares them and they retreat beck to the ‘sea’ their beleif in science.

The second verse: yeah I found god and he was absolutely just like me he opened my mouth, looked down my throat told me I was thirsty he said, I been, I been, I been been in this water all my life never took the time to breathe, breathe, BREATHE!

If you can open your mind to the idea of such a being then you will receive the releif of being able to ‘breathe’ which can mean life or love or what ever positive action that the writter is suggesting that an atheist will never experiance being in the ‘water’.

Bridge: whatcha doin' in this darkness baby? [darkness = atheism = bad] when you know that love will set you free [God = freedom = good] will you stay in the sea forever? drownin' there for all eternity [sea=science= ignorance of God] whatcha doin' in this darkness baby? livin' down where the sun don't shine [no sun, jesus is a sun god, this is just getting obvious noew] come on out into the light of love don't spend another day livin' in the sea livin' in the sea, yeah

So, do you see how preechy this song is? And how patronising it is to someone who is not religious. Apparantly I can’t handle God so i run away and live with my other unevolved fish with our safe science. Ha! LOL.

Just adding on to the last comment, Live say that water in their songs represents human consciusness, a connection to everything that feels safe with that in mind this song becomes more about taking risks in the hope of trancending the ordinary

spiritualiy babay!

going back to the sea= primordial soup... at least in my mind. It's a reference to the question of creation or evolution. Think about it.

The sea is a hiding place. Sometimes it just feels like the challenges of life (poverty, pain, heartbreak etc...) gets too much, and it's a lot easier to fall back into a "comfort zone". But by doing this we miss out on the best life has to offer, basically wasting our time on this planet. To achieve greatness, take the risk. Get your ass out of the darkness and into the light of love. You need to leave he water to BREATHE!!!

The retreating to the sea idea is good, like when people get hurt in life and become selfish, single minded, or introspective.

Oh, and "peace out"

i think this song is about someone who has become depressed and "inside themselves" and this song is about going out and experiencing love and life instead of hiding away from everything the world has to offer.

All of you are underestimating Ed, (and this entire band's), song-writing ability/spirituality/understanding-of-the-human-condition. This song may be interpreted MANY different ways, and THAT is the brilliance of it. If you have been paying attention at all to the rest of this album, you would realize that these guys aren't RELIGIOUS, but SPIRITUAL. Any of you who are unable to get more than one meaning out of this song, or only a negative connotation from it, then go sit at the kids table while the rest of us adults have a mature discussion.

Now, this song MAY be about creationism vs. evolution, like Crtty mentioned, but if you can get past your own biases and open your mind a little bit, you'll be able to push aside the sports mentality of "us vs. them" long enough to see a rather different interpretation of this song.

What this song piratically SCREAMS out to me is the story of addiction. Now this gets complicated, as spirituality is intrinsically tied to the struggles of addiction, especially when one is brought up in the guilt-ridden dogma of modern organized religion. The meaning is quite obvious if you have ever questioned the meaning of life/god's plan/your purpose in the universe, or have experienced any sort of true diversity or soul searching, (call it what you want, but it's all the same struggle, and I believe Live understands this point - as illustrated by the song "Sparkle" - "the feelin' of being lived was so strong, the giver became the gift, all one").

So let's unpack this: The first verse, talking about how he found god and he was nothing like him, showed him up, and forced him back into the "sea". This is indicative of someone who has put their faith in god/positivity/forward-thinking-humanist-values/etc., and only received heartache in return. You don't have to be religious to understand this concept, ("I just can't win"). The verse talks about how, "I couldn't take it anymore so I went back to the sea." "The Sea" indicates a safe or familiar place that one would retreat to when they feel they have been abandoned, (especially by their faith or by god). The lines after the first verse, "where you goin' now? what's your plan?" represent the listlessness of disillusionment after someone loses their faith.

The next verse is VERY telling, as it refers to familiarity and inclusion and THIRST. This is very indicative of alcohol addiction, especially with the line, "he said, I been, I been, I been, been in this water all my life, never took the time to breathe." This "water" has been all around him this whole time, this solution to his sorrow has been here the whole time. The complete opposite analysis of "god" from the first verse and how he "found" him and "he was absolutely just like me," as opposed to being "absolutely nothin' like me," is very telling of someone who is in the depths of alcohol addiction, and how he found god in altering his perception.

The next verse sounds a lot like the conscience of this person realizing that they aren't doing right by themselves, questioning their actions and struggling with the guilt of doing the wrong thing, but feeling good about it at the same time. The line, "come on out into the light of love, don't spend another day, livin' in the sea,"

The last verse, as it repeats the previous verse, but with slightly different inflection, feels more like a lamentation of the person's inability and rationalization of not being able to drag themselves out of the "sea", (their addiction). It's dark, but hopeful, because they know that the "light of love", (positivity/faith/god/etc.), can replace their addiction, but they'll have to drag them selves out of that sea in order to get there. They're still not ready to change, but want to elevate themselves above their addiction and to "come on out into the light of love."

This song is really only one part of a larger narrative of the entire album, and shouldn't be taken out of context. We all feel that the "The Distance" proscribed to us is unobtainable, and that the Quiet River is continually raging inside of us, because we are all children of the Sun, and we strive for love, and will do anything to feel it, even if it means our own self-destruction.