This is possibly my favorite Shearwater song. The grandiose building if the song into a glorious climax is what this amazing band is all about. Combine that feel with Meiburg's dramatic delivery, and you have a classic. I'm sure that this song is full of metaphor, and can affect anyone differently, but my interpretation is that the song details a feeling of inevitability and helplessness against the flow of time. There is religious imagery present, which I think is metaphorical for tradition and the use and misuse of power, something that is grand and ornate yet can be exploitative. Everyone is "running from a rising tide" of societal pressure and wanting to live without the distraction of society, as a castaway. But the flow of time is impossible to stop, those in power will keep power and everyone is tied together by their past. The flow of time is inevitable, and those who try to escape from it are cast away.
This is possibly my favorite Shearwater song. The grandiose building if the song into a glorious climax is what this amazing band is all about. Combine that feel with Meiburg's dramatic delivery, and you have a classic. I'm sure that this song is full of metaphor, and can affect anyone differently, but my interpretation is that the song details a feeling of inevitability and helplessness against the flow of time. There is religious imagery present, which I think is metaphorical for tradition and the use and misuse of power, something that is grand and ornate yet can be exploitative. Everyone is "running from a rising tide" of societal pressure and wanting to live without the distraction of society, as a castaway. But the flow of time is impossible to stop, those in power will keep power and everyone is tied together by their past. The flow of time is inevitable, and those who try to escape from it are cast away.