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Chumming the Oceans Lyrics
South of the river's mouth
Migration slopes slowly towards mainland.
There, the salt air
Fills the gills of the dead bait in hand.
The deep is in riot, the coastline is quiet
Asleep and divided in bands.
While beer halls all revel, drunk and disheveled,
Helplessly waiting the diver is down.
And they're chumming the oceans.
The signal is sent,
Received and responded to.
The water is red, red, red, red.
We're downed, downed as the hand of God
Chokes the driftwood with dead weight and brine.
And spawning the detailed decline
Via dorsal cuts, hooks, sink and line.
The anchors have settled, the tanks are full level.
The flag has been raised half-mast on the bow.
And harpoons are loaded, the cage has been lowered.
The mask is on, the diver is down, now.
And they're chumming the oceans.
The signal is sent
I think he's in trouble.
The water is red, red, red, red.
Migration slopes slowly towards mainland.
There, the salt air
Fills the gills of the dead bait in hand.
Asleep and divided in bands.
While beer halls all revel, drunk and disheveled,
Helplessly waiting the diver is down.
The signal is sent,
Received and responded to.
The water is red, red, red, red.
Chokes the driftwood with dead weight and brine.
And spawning the detailed decline
Via dorsal cuts, hooks, sink and line.
The flag has been raised half-mast on the bow.
And harpoons are loaded, the cage has been lowered.
The mask is on, the diver is down, now.
The signal is sent
I think he's in trouble.
The water is red, red, red, red.
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such a wonderful wonderful song. my favorite archers song . . .
Not my favorite, but the most "different" for sure. It's a man getting eated by a shark, with some great great imagery.
very beautiful song the imagery is very welll done
There also exists a version of this song played by Crooked Fingers (live only).
This is a really beautiful song, painting a soundless yet intense picture of some sort of ocean/coastal scene. It definitely is a prime example of Eric Bachmann's poetic genius. I think it's just supposed to be some sort of story of a diver being eaten by sea creatures. Anyway, it was definitely a foreshadowing of the kind of sound Bachmann would later create with Crooked Fingers.
my fave archers song too.. dunno if the diver's getting eaten (yet?) ... my take is that the water's red cuz of the chum.. but the exact nature of the looming danger is still unknown
Ok... Perhaps I'm simply [perverted]. But this song was about sex the minute i heard it! Well, very uncoordinated "can't get it up" sex.
"South of the river's mouth, migration slopes slowly towards mainland" that's the advancing...
The "salt air" possibly referring to the not-so-great smell... filling the gills of the "dead bait" in hand. Quite obviously, a flaccid guy.
The deep in riot, referring to the "wanting it" mindset, but the coastline is quiet (no action going on, due to the awkward situation) and everything is asleep and "divided" in bands - waiting for something to happen.
The chumming, possibly referring to "chum" as a sort of friendly intimacy (much like a random drunk encounter) as opposed to spreading bait around.
Signals sent out... and a response recieved. Even something as simple as "you ready? yeah"
but here's where the sexual metaphor gets strange...
the water being red. Let's hope not!
Driftwood, dead weight, all referring further towards the flaccid guy.
The next verse is where he seems to be regaining some composure, with him finally staying in place, with a "full tank", his flag's at least raised up a little, he's ready to shoot, a "mask" is on and he's down and ready to go.
My understanding is that "chumming" the waters is throwing a bunch of cut up baitfish into the sea to attract a frenzy of sharks.
It seems like this song is alluding to the decline of mankind. But then, I think most songs by intelligent artists these days are about the decline of mankind.