The Same Deep Water as You

A song only beaten by 'disintergration' in terms of beautiful soul shredding, disturbing music. Spent many a night listening to this at full volume in darkened rooms! The suicide suggestion is probably correct but could just be a metaphor for the intensity of a specific relationship.

My hands before my fading eyes And in my eyes Your smile The very last thing before I go...

I think it may be refering to the acceptance that a particular relationship will ultimately destroy you and yet there is an all-consuming need to continue with it.

After all - we've all had that moment haven't we?

This is my favorite song. Period. Ever. No bones about it. The first cure song I ever heard, and the last one I'll ever hear if I have anything to say about it.

This song is about...differences.

the difference between concrete and abstract.

depth of feeling.

Some love with depth. Some love with breadth.

Few love with both.

His sorrow is that he cant reciprocate depth. So he reciprocate what he can. That is tenderness.

The most tender part of the song, from the songwriters perspective.

The most vulnerable is.

The very last thing before I go. The very last thing before I go. The very last thing before I go... I will kiss you. I will kiss you. Iwill kiss you forever on nights like this. And we shall be together.

It is painful for him, because that is the depth of his reciprocation. He loves with a different truth. He loves with a different depth. It is a true depth. It is different, and he cant see or understand. That pains him. It is a pain that is holistic and complete. For he feels like he is shallow. "shallow drown is less than we."

Some are concrete. Some are abstract. This song is about the divide between the two. When Robert Smith dedicates this song...I think he dedicates it to his wife. It is poignant and true. It is about deep and utter surrender, and showing nothing for it.

Cant you see I tried.

Swiming the same deep water as you is hard.

The shallow drown is less than we.

We shall be together.... Not really. She goes to depths that he literally cant. Not because he is unwilling. He is unable, because of his internal make-up.

I think it is his anthem to his wife.

He is a deeply honest and literal songwriter.

I don't really think this song is about suicide. It seems desperate to me. Suicide is a solution, sometimes a very extreme solution, and every time I hear this song it seems like there is a desperation from not being able to find a solution.

My take on this song is it is about the last night you spend with somebody you love and know that when you wake up they will be gone. Because you have tried everything to keep them, but they want to leave anyway and there's nothing you can do to get them to see that you need them.

The line "Can't you see I try, swimming the same deep water as you is hard", is his way saying that he has a hard time understanding her motivations[for leaving]. Robert Smith uses a lot of metaphors for ordinary things. That's why I don't take their songs so literally because what it seems to be on the surface is rarely what it is.

"The shallow drowned lose less than we"

My interpretation... yes, I guess it has to do with human depth... but (imo) I think if you drown in shallow water, you've had to fight a lot less for your life... if you drown in deep water... you've had to fight a lot for a life that you (inevitably) lost. We're all drowning metaphorically... some have to fight harder than others to stay alive, physically and emotionally. The ones that are in deeper water... and who have more depth, they have more to lose when they've drowned. Does that make sense? Probably not... it makes sense in my mind!

ah I love these guys.................

I think to me, it's clear that his lover is committing suicide and he is witnessing it, and at the same time, being baited or tempted into joining them. They don't want to deal with life after their lover is dead, so the whole song he is considering drowning himself as well, so they can be together. "Kiss me goodbye Pushing out before I sleep" Is the narrator telling his lover he wants a kiss goodbye before he goes, but he can't pull himself a way really cause he knows she's going to drown herself. "Kiss me goodbye Bow your head and join with me" And face pushed deep Reflections meet The strangest twist upon your lips And disappear The ripples clear And laughing Break against your feet And laughing Break the mirror sweet "So we shall be together" In this verse, the lines with quotes around them, is his lover baiting him to bow his head (under the water = And face pushed deep) and kiss her so their reflections can meet. The strangest twist upon your lips, has to be her disappointment that he isn't as willing to join her in this suicide kiss, for she is so willing and so ready. (And laughing Break the mirror sweet )Is him actually pulling away from her in the middle of the kiss cause she is trying to hold him down in the water with her, against his will. (Their reflections no longer meeting = break the mirror sweet). You see he's wresting with his conscience here for he had promised her he'd commit suicide right along with her, to prove his integrity & everlasting love for her and he now realizes he can't do it (Can't you see I try Swimming the same deep water as you is hard) Living up to the idea of suicide to prove is everlasting love & commitment to her is becoming a harder pill for him to swallow then he thought, so to speak. He feels he is in over his head in terms of what he has promised. But is really contemplating doing it anyways cause she keeps baiting him with ( "So we shall be together... "). "Kiss me goodbye" Pushing out before I sleep It's lower now and slower now The strangest twist upon your lips The "kiss me goodbye" in this verse is in quotations, unlike the kiss me goodbye in verse one. Which means the narrator is quoting someone other than himself, so this is his lover asking him to kiss her goodbye. It's lower now and slower now (Is her with her lips pouted ready for the kiss goodbye so she can again try and pull him under with her, and she is slower in her descent back down unto the water, cause is holding out hope he will go through with their agreement and join her finally for the final descent. The strangest twist upon your lips, is her expression of disarray when she realized he isn't going to go through with it & she is alone in this final descent out of this world. It's finally sinking in, the idea that she must go it alone.

But I don't see And I don't feel But tightly hold up silently My hands before my fading eyes. This is a great verse, that tell so much. Her he is saying I don't see and I don't feel, he can no longer see the disapproval in her expression (the strangest twist upon her lips) or feel her cause she has drowned deep in the water. But tightly hold up silently My hands before my fading eyes And in my eyes Your smile The very last thing before I go Even though he can't see her, he still has the memory of her drowning herself,and holds up his hands before his eyes cause at this point he has begun crying and then pictures her smile, that's the last thing about her he wants to remember (The very last thing before I go). The memory of her beautiful smile reflecting in the water, as it seems to provide some kind of solace for him during this extremely sad moment. I will kiss you I will kiss you I will kiss you forever on nights like this I will kiss you I will kiss you And we shall be together... Picturing the smile, remembering their last kiss, makes him in his minds eye, picture kissing her forever...for she is dead now and during this verse he is holding her lifeless body and kissing her, despite the fact that she's dead, she is almost even more hauntingly beautiful to him in death and that's why he says I will kiss you forever on nights like this.

I believe this song is about how he broke up with this girl and the depression is overwhelming him almost "Drowning" him and he's thinking about when they where together and the very last moments they where together, the last verse is almost like things they said to each other when they where together and what he wishes.... I could do a run down of what I see in each verse but i'm tired and can't be asked.

I think the "The shallow drowned lose less than we" means that its better in the long run to stay in "shallow water" than to take the risk "swimming in the same deep water as you" even though it seems like a good idea. In other words, even though it seems like the best thing to do, at the time, is get really involved in a relationship, you will only end up losing everything in the end. Sad really how it means that love isn't the most important thing in the world like most love songs say.

Although I can connect with the meaning of this song very deeply it has never been one of my favorites off this album but its a great tune nonetheless. It is about like another person said commiting suicide (or wanting to) over love whether its a divorce, death of a loved one, or a hard rejection.

I am not sure what this song is about, but it always makes me feel like standing in the cold pouring rain, some lonely place at night, wishing for something no longer here or out of reach. As GothicBlade puts it; hopefully the last song I will ever hear, if I could choose.