The Swimmer

I'd like to know what this is about, no doubt it's something about a tragic case with a swimmer...I'm good at detecting the obvious

I think this is related to Thallasocracy. A guy is swimming into the past to be what he once was cos he wants to detach himself from this world and return to the sea: pelagic = oceans, choragic = leader

This is one of my favorite FB&TC songs. I initially liked it for the musicianship and the beautiful sadness of the steel guitar over the unconventional chord progression that somehow work perfectly, as most FB&TC songs do. After many listens, I think I finally realized what the song is about. Frank is singing about someone with a persecution complex, or victim complex. They have gone through a painful experience, but now removed from it, they continue to struggle and insist that they are being persecuted. Frank is describing that help is available, but the swimmer refuses to grab the hands of those who have reached out to rescue her (him?). Frank wonders how the swimmer is able to stay afloat, yet not make any progress with their problem. Frank wonders if the swimmer will figure it out, or if they will ultimately sink to the bottom of the sea.

I took it to be about a whale (metaphorically speaking one presumes). Leaving Florida for the latitudes, being pelagic and choragic all seem to fit that. And being the 'prize of the sea.

Frank Black has said this song was about a real event, but it's not clear if he was serious. I remember when this came out thinking back to an event where an extreme long distance swimmer was lost, I've always felt it was about that. Frank has a few songs with the same theme, Angels Come to Comfort You is one, where a tragic death is contemplated in a fantastical way, possibly as an allegory to a potential afterlife, or as a eulogy showing his admiration.