This is a fabulous song. It's one of my favorites on the album. Many of Josh's songs on this album speak of a longing for the resurrection of all things. He's always looking forward to something better, and I think he most often sees the truth that this more difficult phase of the journey is worth the glory that awaits.
But in this song I see something a bit different. Josh is a master with metaphor and seamlessly incorporates history and literature into his songs in a fascinating way. Sea and water imagery especially run throughout the album. This song, unlike some of his others, feels old and weary. Even some of the lyrics hint at that. The impression I'm getting is a guy who is feeling weighed down by the burdens of this life but has a determination (not entirely by his own strength) to make it through. But he shows this by using a metaphor of getting home to a person.
This seems to come to a head with his usage of the myth of the sirens. Greek poets wrote of bird-women whose song was so irresistible that the sailors on passing ships couldn't resist sailing towards the sound of their voices only to have their boats dashed on the edges of the rocky cliffs where the sirens lived. In the Odyssey, Odysseus wants to hear the sound of their voices but knowing the danger, he makes his crew stop their ears with beeswax and bind him to the mast. Directing them not to untie him no matter what he did or said, they passed by the cliffs safely achieving what was thought to be impossible.
It's a really powerful metaphor that fits with the theme and feel of the song and serves to illustrate the desperate difficulty of the situation. It also fits with the idea that the song is referring to a person because Odysseus was trying to get home to his wife who assumes he has died in the Trojan war.
All in all, it's a powerful and beautiful song that seems to include multiple themes and topics.
This is a fabulous song. It's one of my favorites on the album. Many of Josh's songs on this album speak of a longing for the resurrection of all things. He's always looking forward to something better, and I think he most often sees the truth that this more difficult phase of the journey is worth the glory that awaits.
But in this song I see something a bit different. Josh is a master with metaphor and seamlessly incorporates history and literature into his songs in a fascinating way. Sea and water imagery especially run throughout the album. This song, unlike some of his others, feels old and weary. Even some of the lyrics hint at that. The impression I'm getting is a guy who is feeling weighed down by the burdens of this life but has a determination (not entirely by his own strength) to make it through. But he shows this by using a metaphor of getting home to a person.
This seems to come to a head with his usage of the myth of the sirens. Greek poets wrote of bird-women whose song was so irresistible that the sailors on passing ships couldn't resist sailing towards the sound of their voices only to have their boats dashed on the edges of the rocky cliffs where the sirens lived. In the Odyssey, Odysseus wants to hear the sound of their voices but knowing the danger, he makes his crew stop their ears with beeswax and bind him to the mast. Directing them not to untie him no matter what he did or said, they passed by the cliffs safely achieving what was thought to be impossible.
It's a really powerful metaphor that fits with the theme and feel of the song and serves to illustrate the desperate difficulty of the situation. It also fits with the idea that the song is referring to a person because Odysseus was trying to get home to his wife who assumes he has died in the Trojan war.
All in all, it's a powerful and beautiful song that seems to include multiple themes and topics.
@itslittlejohn brilliant. Thank you for taking the time to write this
@itslittlejohn brilliant. Thank you for taking the time to write this