I've always felt this brilliant song (in particular its title) is an ironic look at the old chestnuts of "the grass is always greener on the other side", and "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone".
In a literal sense, our protagonist is a space traveller who travelled to a far away planet, in the hope of finding something more wonderful than he could ever see on Earth. The shuttle crashed on the far away planet, leaving him trapped.
After many years (literal or figuratively? could just feel like this) trapped here, all he wishes for is to be back on Earth - now realising how beautiful the simple things, like watching swans on a lake, really were - especially compared to a grey and uninhabited planet. And, of course, his family, who he probably never really appreciated & realised how much he needed until he was light years away from them.
There clearly isn't a real lake on the planet - it's a mirage. I think the previous comment around Plato's Cave allegory also ties in with this - as it's been so long since he has actually seen anybody/anything else, he's lost his mind and can't distinguish that the lake isn't real (even though he's never seen it before!).
It's open to debate whether proceeding to the lake is a suicidal/defeatist thought as suggested, it could simply be interpreted as heading for the mirage in the belief it's really there.
I love the imagery in this song, I have a lot of friends who think that the town where they lived is the cause of all of their problems - so leave town for a bigger city/country, thinking it will solve everything. Of course, it very rarely works out like this. They are essentially the protagonist in this song.
I've always felt this brilliant song (in particular its title) is an ironic look at the old chestnuts of "the grass is always greener on the other side", and "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone".
In a literal sense, our protagonist is a space traveller who travelled to a far away planet, in the hope of finding something more wonderful than he could ever see on Earth. The shuttle crashed on the far away planet, leaving him trapped.
After many years (literal or figuratively? could just feel like this) trapped here, all he wishes for is to be back on Earth - now realising how beautiful the simple things, like watching swans on a lake, really were - especially compared to a grey and uninhabited planet. And, of course, his family, who he probably never really appreciated & realised how much he needed until he was light years away from them.
There clearly isn't a real lake on the planet - it's a mirage. I think the previous comment around Plato's Cave allegory also ties in with this - as it's been so long since he has actually seen anybody/anything else, he's lost his mind and can't distinguish that the lake isn't real (even though he's never seen it before!).
It's open to debate whether proceeding to the lake is a suicidal/defeatist thought as suggested, it could simply be interpreted as heading for the mirage in the belief it's really there.
I love the imagery in this song, I have a lot of friends who think that the town where they lived is the cause of all of their problems - so leave town for a bigger city/country, thinking it will solve everything. Of course, it very rarely works out like this. They are essentially the protagonist in this song.