...boy, I'm such an idiot. Just got what this song is really about, and after I bitched at people for not believing Deron's literal interpretation. The man is clearly lying to protect his own vulnerability.
This is a song about alcoholism and mental instability.
The narrator is aware of his volatile mental state ("I create to destroy at hand") and feels that his life will always be like this ("tragedy haunts its prey").
I believe that the water in this song is a metaphor for alcohol. So "I'm off to the deepest depths" is about drinking, which causes the narrator to "forfeit [his] place on this land". He feels that his drinking isolates him.
The next part is about how the narrator and his wife/partner are bound together. "The tide pulls you in" is about how his mental instability binds his partner to him. "Yet you'll find yourself drifting with me."
"Don't hold your breath for long" is where the narrator is telling his partner not to expect him to change, because he cannot. The "undertow getting too strong" is the undercurrent of his alcoholism and mental health issues that lies beneath their relationship. "There's no reason for you to come along" - the narrator is giving his partner a get-out clause, saying that just because they're married, she doesn't have to put up with all of his problems. He knows that he is going to self-destruct (see first line of song) and he doesn't want to drag her down with him.
"The end of the dry lives we've lead" - dry, as in sober. He's saying that his alcoholism has got so bad that he will never be "dry" again. "You sutured my wounds when they bled" refers to their bond and how she has been there for him.
Rest is self-explanatory. This is what I think, given that when this album was written/recorded, Deron was struggling with his alcoholism. He'd never admit that it's such a personal song, but I truly believe it is, from Deron to Felissa.
Feel free to contradict me, but you won't change my mind =)
...boy, I'm such an idiot. Just got what this song is really about, and after I bitched at people for not believing Deron's literal interpretation. The man is clearly lying to protect his own vulnerability.
This is a song about alcoholism and mental instability.
The narrator is aware of his volatile mental state ("I create to destroy at hand") and feels that his life will always be like this ("tragedy haunts its prey").
I believe that the water in this song is a metaphor for alcohol. So "I'm off to the deepest depths" is about drinking, which causes the narrator to "forfeit [his] place on this land". He feels that his drinking isolates him.
The next part is about how the narrator and his wife/partner are bound together. "The tide pulls you in" is about how his mental instability binds his partner to him. "Yet you'll find yourself drifting with me."
"Don't hold your breath for long" is where the narrator is telling his partner not to expect him to change, because he cannot. The "undertow getting too strong" is the undercurrent of his alcoholism and mental health issues that lies beneath their relationship. "There's no reason for you to come along" - the narrator is giving his partner a get-out clause, saying that just because they're married, she doesn't have to put up with all of his problems. He knows that he is going to self-destruct (see first line of song) and he doesn't want to drag her down with him.
"The end of the dry lives we've lead" - dry, as in sober. He's saying that his alcoholism has got so bad that he will never be "dry" again. "You sutured my wounds when they bled" refers to their bond and how she has been there for him.
Rest is self-explanatory. This is what I think, given that when this album was written/recorded, Deron was struggling with his alcoholism. He'd never admit that it's such a personal song, but I truly believe it is, from Deron to Felissa.
Feel free to contradict me, but you won't change my mind =)