One of the themes in stories about Ulysses is that even though he spent years struggling to return home, once he reaches it he is restless and can't be satisfied there, because he has "touched the distant sands" of foreign lands and has learned to live for adventure. (For example, in the poem "Ulysses" by Tennyson...)
So I think this song can be interpreted kind of that way. It's about someone who travels to a foreign exotic place and falls in love with both the land and a girl (who represents the place in a way). Now that he has met her, he knows that he can never be satisfied without her -- "you know you cannot leave her for you touched the distant sands." He knows he must return home to the "hard land of the winter", and he wants to take her with him, but he also knows this is impossible...and even if he did take her back there, it wouldn't be the same, and eventually the magic would probably be lost. And he probably can't stay at the "distant beaches" for the same reason -- not only does he not quite belong there, but part of its magic for him is probably the temporary nature of his stay. He is destined to move on, but now he is doomed to be dissatisfied wherever he goes. While he is traveling, he misses his homeland where he really belongs, but once he returns, he is restless for adventure and can't forget the girl that he met, who is preserved in memory as perfect, whether she really is or not -- so what he misses may or may not even exist.
It’s a feeling that everyone who travels can probably relate to at least a little...
@greenbean I agree, too. I would add that the reference to the sirens implies that that pain is worth it. Ulysses has his crew stop their ears with wax so that the sirens' song does not affect them, but he chooses to have himself bound to the mast and to listen to it with "naked ears". Even though he knows that "the sirens sweetly singing" draw sailors to their deaths. To choose to suffer terribly, in order to learn something that no one else alive knows - it's a defining quality of the character.
@greenbean I agree, too. I would add that the reference to the sirens implies that that pain is worth it. Ulysses has his crew stop their ears with wax so that the sirens' song does not affect them, but he chooses to have himself bound to the mast and to listen to it with "naked ears". Even though he knows that "the sirens sweetly singing" draw sailors to their deaths. To choose to suffer terribly, in order to learn something that no one else alive knows - it's a defining quality of the character.
One of the themes in stories about Ulysses is that even though he spent years struggling to return home, once he reaches it he is restless and can't be satisfied there, because he has "touched the distant sands" of foreign lands and has learned to live for adventure. (For example, in the poem "Ulysses" by Tennyson...)
So I think this song can be interpreted kind of that way. It's about someone who travels to a foreign exotic place and falls in love with both the land and a girl (who represents the place in a way). Now that he has met her, he knows that he can never be satisfied without her -- "you know you cannot leave her for you touched the distant sands." He knows he must return home to the "hard land of the winter", and he wants to take her with him, but he also knows this is impossible...and even if he did take her back there, it wouldn't be the same, and eventually the magic would probably be lost. And he probably can't stay at the "distant beaches" for the same reason -- not only does he not quite belong there, but part of its magic for him is probably the temporary nature of his stay. He is destined to move on, but now he is doomed to be dissatisfied wherever he goes. While he is traveling, he misses his homeland where he really belongs, but once he returns, he is restless for adventure and can't forget the girl that he met, who is preserved in memory as perfect, whether she really is or not -- so what he misses may or may not even exist.
It’s a feeling that everyone who travels can probably relate to at least a little...
That's exactly how I interpret this song...and you're right about that travels feeling
That's exactly how I interpret this song...and you're right about that travels feeling
@greenbean I agree, too. I would add that the reference to the sirens implies that that pain is worth it. Ulysses has his crew stop their ears with wax so that the sirens' song does not affect them, but he chooses to have himself bound to the mast and to listen to it with "naked ears". Even though he knows that "the sirens sweetly singing" draw sailors to their deaths. To choose to suffer terribly, in order to learn something that no one else alive knows - it's a defining quality of the character.
@greenbean I agree, too. I would add that the reference to the sirens implies that that pain is worth it. Ulysses has his crew stop their ears with wax so that the sirens' song does not affect them, but he chooses to have himself bound to the mast and to listen to it with "naked ears". Even though he knows that "the sirens sweetly singing" draw sailors to their deaths. To choose to suffer terribly, in order to learn something that no one else alive knows - it's a defining quality of the character.