Lyric discussion by poweronoff 

Cover art for Paradise lyrics by Bruce Springsteen

Personally, I thought of it as suicide.

The first stanza about someone who love another and is happy, but their relationship is tainted or something of the sort. Hence, the "black water".

He then thinks that suicide, or disappearing under the waves, will bring him to peace, hence the "white water".

The last one is where he sees that paradise isn't worth it. So, in the last two lines he changes his mind and sees that he is continuing with life and that's Happy Day.

This song is about two women who strive to reach paradise. The first is a mother who is also a suicide bomber - we know she's a mother becuase of the motherly reference to the school pack. A man wouldn't be referenced this way. She is from the middle east - as referenced by the black river, i.e. oil. Check out 'Seeds' and 'Goodeye' for a similar reference to oil (and therefore money/riches/dreams/reason for war etc)

The suicide bomber carries out her role thinking this will take her to paradise. she might be right - what...