I've always considered this song to be a brief retelling of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Consider:
"We spotted the ocean at the head of the trail;
Where are we going, so far away."
Frodo and company start in the Shire, where, purportedly, one can see the Sea from the top of one of the Elf Towers in the Westmarch, and are heading for Rivendell, which none of them have been to and which is far away.
"And somebody told me that this is the place
Where everything's better and everything's safe."
These lines are of course a reference to Rivendell itself, the last Homely House, where the Elves live and all is good and at peace.
"And half and hour later we packed up our things
We said we'd send letters and all those little things."
The company sets off again, after what seems just a very short while, and Frodo tells Bilbo that he'll keep a journal, if he can't send messages.
"And they knew we were lying but they smiled just the same
It seemed they'd already forgotten we'd came."
Again, neither Bilbo nor the elves think that the company will be in touch. In the case of the Elves, they slip back into their timeless eternity and seem to have already moved onto weightier matters as the company sets out.
"Now back at the homestead where the air makes you choke,
If people don't know you, then trust is a joke."
Fast-forward to the scouring of the Shire, and you have Frodo and company returning home, only to find it devastated at the hands of Saruman. And of course, the Shire itself is unwelcoming of strangers and mistrust anyone they don't know or aren't familiar with.
"We don't even have pictures, just memories to hold
That grow sweeter each season as we slowly grow old."
None of the companions have any pictures of their journey, but subsist on remembering all that they've seen and thought about. I always picture Frodo touching the jewel that Arwen gave him and contemplating his final journey to the Grey Havens. The last line can either be about Frodo leaving, or about Sam spending the rest of his life in Middle-Earth holding on to memories.
I don't know, that's just always been my interpretation.
As for the refrain, walking on the ocean can be seen as a metaphor for the ships that will sail, and the timeless yet ever-changing nature of Middle-Earth itself (flesh to water, wood to bone, etc.)
I don't think I'm that far out there - after all, Toad does have a song called Hobbit on the Rocks. :)
I've always considered this song to be a brief retelling of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Consider:
"We spotted the ocean at the head of the trail; Where are we going, so far away."
Frodo and company start in the Shire, where, purportedly, one can see the Sea from the top of one of the Elf Towers in the Westmarch, and are heading for Rivendell, which none of them have been to and which is far away.
"And somebody told me that this is the place Where everything's better and everything's safe."
These lines are of course a reference to Rivendell itself, the last Homely House, where the Elves live and all is good and at peace.
"And half and hour later we packed up our things We said we'd send letters and all those little things."
The company sets off again, after what seems just a very short while, and Frodo tells Bilbo that he'll keep a journal, if he can't send messages.
"And they knew we were lying but they smiled just the same It seemed they'd already forgotten we'd came."
Again, neither Bilbo nor the elves think that the company will be in touch. In the case of the Elves, they slip back into their timeless eternity and seem to have already moved onto weightier matters as the company sets out.
"Now back at the homestead where the air makes you choke, If people don't know you, then trust is a joke."
Fast-forward to the scouring of the Shire, and you have Frodo and company returning home, only to find it devastated at the hands of Saruman. And of course, the Shire itself is unwelcoming of strangers and mistrust anyone they don't know or aren't familiar with.
"We don't even have pictures, just memories to hold That grow sweeter each season as we slowly grow old."
None of the companions have any pictures of their journey, but subsist on remembering all that they've seen and thought about. I always picture Frodo touching the jewel that Arwen gave him and contemplating his final journey to the Grey Havens. The last line can either be about Frodo leaving, or about Sam spending the rest of his life in Middle-Earth holding on to memories.
I don't know, that's just always been my interpretation.
As for the refrain, walking on the ocean can be seen as a metaphor for the ships that will sail, and the timeless yet ever-changing nature of Middle-Earth itself (flesh to water, wood to bone, etc.)
I don't think I'm that far out there - after all, Toad does have a song called Hobbit on the Rocks. :)