For me, I've always related this song to my own personal feelings of being stuck in a town and situation I hate. I think that the "deepest ocean/bottom of the sea" is this inescapable place that seems impossible to leave. It's the bottom of the ocean, where there is no sunlight or any outside influences to set you free.
The "Your eyes, they turn me" is some person or some thing finally giving the person a wake up call and hope for a life outside of the ocean floor. For me, I always picture it as a woman who comes from "the surface" or lives at the bottom and tells him stories of life outside. He contemplates "Why should I stay here?", realizing that these people and this location will never fulfill his desires in life. He gives all his trust to her and decides to "follow where you lead".
I think that the "phantoms" that she is "turning him on to" are the abandoned dreams that he once had hoped to achieve, but was held back by his own inhibitions. Her arrival has reawakened his determination and he is ready to "follow to the edge of the earth".
"Everybody leaves, if they get the chance, and this is my chance" - I think that all of this person's past friends have already escaped long ago, while he has been left behind at the "bottom of the sea". This girl, whose eyes have reminded him of everything he lacks, is his last chance at escaping/being happy.
Unfortunately, something goes wrong and he misses his last chance. Somebody outside force, or perhaps his personal fears, keeps him from making that jump to the other side. He lets her get away while he gets "eaten by the worms and weird fishes", which are the people who reside at the bottom of the sea. He now knows that it is only downhill from here, and that the only thing that will free him is the day when he finally loses everything and realizes how much time he has been wasting. "I'll hit the bottom and escape"
tl;dr - It's about being trapped and then seeing a way out, only to let the opportunity slide by.
For me, I've always related this song to my own personal feelings of being stuck in a town and situation I hate. I think that the "deepest ocean/bottom of the sea" is this inescapable place that seems impossible to leave. It's the bottom of the ocean, where there is no sunlight or any outside influences to set you free.
The "Your eyes, they turn me" is some person or some thing finally giving the person a wake up call and hope for a life outside of the ocean floor. For me, I always picture it as a woman who comes from "the surface" or lives at the bottom and tells him stories of life outside. He contemplates "Why should I stay here?", realizing that these people and this location will never fulfill his desires in life. He gives all his trust to her and decides to "follow where you lead".
I think that the "phantoms" that she is "turning him on to" are the abandoned dreams that he once had hoped to achieve, but was held back by his own inhibitions. Her arrival has reawakened his determination and he is ready to "follow to the edge of the earth".
"Everybody leaves, if they get the chance, and this is my chance" - I think that all of this person's past friends have already escaped long ago, while he has been left behind at the "bottom of the sea". This girl, whose eyes have reminded him of everything he lacks, is his last chance at escaping/being happy.
Unfortunately, something goes wrong and he misses his last chance. Somebody outside force, or perhaps his personal fears, keeps him from making that jump to the other side. He lets her get away while he gets "eaten by the worms and weird fishes", which are the people who reside at the bottom of the sea. He now knows that it is only downhill from here, and that the only thing that will free him is the day when he finally loses everything and realizes how much time he has been wasting. "I'll hit the bottom and escape"
tl;dr - It's about being trapped and then seeing a way out, only to let the opportunity slide by.