I love the guitar riff played throughout the song. If The Triffids were better known outside Australia, I bet it'd be ranked among the likes of Satisfaction and Sweet Child o' Mine.
It's clearly a narrative poem, the only kind of poetry I can dig, and seems to tell the story of a man who separates from his wife, gets drunk and attempts suicide by swimming out too far into the ocean. All told much more artfully than my drab synopsis. It's ambiguous whether or not he actually dies, though; it is only said that the seabirds don't touch the figure washed ashore, who is clearly implied to be the man. It could be that the birds don't touch him because he hasn't died. Alternatively, perhaps they leave his corpse out of pity for the sorry state they heard him in.
I love the guitar riff played throughout the song. If The Triffids were better known outside Australia, I bet it'd be ranked among the likes of Satisfaction and Sweet Child o' Mine.
It's clearly a narrative poem, the only kind of poetry I can dig, and seems to tell the story of a man who separates from his wife, gets drunk and attempts suicide by swimming out too far into the ocean. All told much more artfully than my drab synopsis. It's ambiguous whether or not he actually dies, though; it is only said that the seabirds don't touch the figure washed ashore, who is clearly implied to be the man. It could be that the birds don't touch him because he hasn't died. Alternatively, perhaps they leave his corpse out of pity for the sorry state they heard him in.
Very tragic song. But brilliant lyrics and music.