I Remember Learning How to Dive Lyrics

Lyric discussion by nowhereman1980 

Cover art for I Remember Learning How to Dive lyrics by Animal Collective

Anyone else think they chose the word 'dive' because it sounds like 'die,' especially the way they draw out that long 'i' sound? Plus 'die' rhymes better with 'high.' I think this song is more than just what it literally says. It could be a song about death, comparing it to the first time diving off a diving board. The mood of the song makes sense in both cases as well. A bunch of their songs seem to address death directly or indirectly.

@nowhereman1980

Yeah, I completely agree -- I heard it as "I remember learning how to die" for ages, which makes it a much more somber song. I think that it is definitely a metaphor. But I also long the "wheee" in the song, that Vashti sings with Animal Collective, which makes it so childlike and sweet. I love this idea that maybe even as we lay dying we can have this sensation that reminds us of learning how to dive as a child. But the metaphor could be for anything -- in a similar vein to David Lynch's "catching the...