To me, this is one of Eno's more straightforward lyrics, although the story is told using symbolism.
It's about a relationship (maybe friendship, but more likely romantic) that has taken a turn for the worse, gotten stagnant.
"Here we are Stuck by this river"
The river is the river of time, and he and his partner are just sitting there stuck, going nowhere.
"You and I Underneath a sky that's ever falling down, down, down Ever falling down"
This could be rain, an often used symbol for sadness, or it could be just one bad thing after another falling on the relationship. Nice how he emphasizes "down" by repetition. Over and over the sky is falling on them.
"Through the day As if on an ocean. Waiting here"
They go through their days adrift, helpless to stop the ups and downs of the waves. Waiting for something but it never comes, and....
"Always failing to remember why we came, I wonder why we came"
They have lost sight of the wonderful things that drew them together in the first place.
"You talk to me As if from a distance"
The partner has withdrawn emotionally, and their communication is distant.
"And I reply With impressions chosen from another time, time, time
From another time"
The relationship has become so stagnant that he can only talk about its past. Again, the very repetition is itself symbolic of the narrator going over the same ground again and again.
A brilliant picture of a relationship that has timed out. I was in one several years ago and this song became very apropos.
To me, this is one of Eno's more straightforward lyrics, although the story is told using symbolism.
It's about a relationship (maybe friendship, but more likely romantic) that has taken a turn for the worse, gotten stagnant.
"Here we are Stuck by this river"
The river is the river of time, and he and his partner are just sitting there stuck, going nowhere.
"You and I Underneath a sky that's ever falling down, down, down Ever falling down"
This could be rain, an often used symbol for sadness, or it could be just one bad thing after another falling on the relationship. Nice how he emphasizes "down" by repetition. Over and over the sky is falling on them.
"Through the day As if on an ocean. Waiting here"
They go through their days adrift, helpless to stop the ups and downs of the waves. Waiting for something but it never comes, and....
"Always failing to remember why we came, I wonder why we came"
They have lost sight of the wonderful things that drew them together in the first place.
"You talk to me As if from a distance"
The partner has withdrawn emotionally, and their communication is distant.
"And I reply With impressions chosen from another time, time, time From another time"
The relationship has become so stagnant that he can only talk about its past. Again, the very repetition is itself symbolic of the narrator going over the same ground again and again.
A brilliant picture of a relationship that has timed out. I was in one several years ago and this song became very apropos.