I think you guys are way off, especially clarkma5.
This song is about losing a best friend in early adolescence. The "deep deep river" is his adulthood, carrying him away from the magic of childhood.
The first verse is at his friends funeral in early December, or fall. All of the dead kid's friends are his pallbearers, and friends and family tell stories of his short life. ("All your days in a line"). But even as they celebrate the kid's life, the narrator feels no relief ("it's not even close to alright").
The kid's uncle is some sort of criminal, and one gets the feeling that the narrator is worried for his friend.
The next part is either a car crash or the kid hung himself and the narrator found him. One wonders if maybe they had a clubhouse of sorts in the woods, Bridge To Terebithia style. Regardless, the narrator witnesses his friend leaving, and it breaks him. His father finds him and comforts him, explaining the afterlife in hopeful terms. But it doesn't make it any better.
As the song ends, the narrator realizes he will not be going "down the deep river" with his best friend. Smh. The song just kills me every time.
I think you guys are way off, especially clarkma5.
This song is about losing a best friend in early adolescence. The "deep deep river" is his adulthood, carrying him away from the magic of childhood.
The first verse is at his friends funeral in early December, or fall. All of the dead kid's friends are his pallbearers, and friends and family tell stories of his short life. ("All your days in a line"). But even as they celebrate the kid's life, the narrator feels no relief ("it's not even close to alright").
The kid's uncle is some sort of criminal, and one gets the feeling that the narrator is worried for his friend.
The next part is either a car crash or the kid hung himself and the narrator found him. One wonders if maybe they had a clubhouse of sorts in the woods, Bridge To Terebithia style. Regardless, the narrator witnesses his friend leaving, and it breaks him. His father finds him and comforts him, explaining the afterlife in hopeful terms. But it doesn't make it any better.
As the song ends, the narrator realizes he will not be going "down the deep river" with his best friend. Smh. The song just kills me every time.