In his youtube video of this song, there's an upside-down portrait of the very thing he's singing about, hanging on the wall behind him. I think it's genius, whether his inspiration came from the portrait or vice versa (I wouldn't be surprised if he painted it).
Anyway, I've listened to this song over and over, and its lyrics and imagery are exquisite for an eighteen year old.
In the imagery of the song, I see a big 'unsinkable' ship sinking, and the singer is a passenger of the ship. When the ship is hit and begins sinking, everyone starts throwing their heavy treasures into the sea, gold, silver, etc, trying to lighten the load and slow the sinking.
In the first chorus, when he sings:
"Waves of silver, waves of gold
Are coming now to take me..."
I can see a picture of the mess, of people falling into the sea amongst the rubble, surrounded by the treasures they had cast away, floating in the waves. They are fighting the waves to keep from drowning, faces falling beneath the surface.
The way he wrote the song makes this imagery so valuable. Especially in the second chorus, the second interpretation of the chorus bursts like a fire of colours. It's the same lyrics, but this time the picture feels like a metaphysical, religious experience. The heavens descend into the skies, looking like waves of gold and silver. It mixes with the ship's descent into the sea, and reaches for the souls of victims underneath the waters, separating bodies from their souls.
As for the song, I am still awestruck. I'm guessing he's alluding to some mythological story, but I could be completely in the wrong. The allegory is so simple but so complex.
In his youtube video of this song, there's an upside-down portrait of the very thing he's singing about, hanging on the wall behind him. I think it's genius, whether his inspiration came from the portrait or vice versa (I wouldn't be surprised if he painted it). Anyway, I've listened to this song over and over, and its lyrics and imagery are exquisite for an eighteen year old.
In the imagery of the song, I see a big 'unsinkable' ship sinking, and the singer is a passenger of the ship. When the ship is hit and begins sinking, everyone starts throwing their heavy treasures into the sea, gold, silver, etc, trying to lighten the load and slow the sinking.
In the first chorus, when he sings: "Waves of silver, waves of gold Are coming now to take me..." I can see a picture of the mess, of people falling into the sea amongst the rubble, surrounded by the treasures they had cast away, floating in the waves. They are fighting the waves to keep from drowning, faces falling beneath the surface.
The way he wrote the song makes this imagery so valuable. Especially in the second chorus, the second interpretation of the chorus bursts like a fire of colours. It's the same lyrics, but this time the picture feels like a metaphysical, religious experience. The heavens descend into the skies, looking like waves of gold and silver. It mixes with the ship's descent into the sea, and reaches for the souls of victims underneath the waters, separating bodies from their souls.
As for the song, I am still awestruck. I'm guessing he's alluding to some mythological story, but I could be completely in the wrong. The allegory is so simple but so complex.