The Ocean
Embracing Life's Depths: A Song of Love and Longing by Dar Williams
Lyrics
When I went to your town on the wide open shore
Visiting a town near the ocean
Oh I must confess, I was drawn, I was drawn to the ocean
Feeling a strong attraction to the ocean
I thought it spoke to me, it said, "Look at us,
Perceiving the ocean as communicative
We're not churches, not schools, not skating ponds, swimming pools
Comparing the ocean to unconventional places, emphasizing loss
And we have lost people, haven't we though?"
Acknowledging the ocean's witness to human losses
Oh, that's what the ocean can know of a body
Reflecting on the ocean's knowledge of the human body
And that's when I came back to town, this town is a song about you
Describing the town as a song about someone
You don't know how lucky you are, you don't know how much I adore you
Expressing admiration for the person associated with the town
You are the welcoming back from the ocean.
Viewing the person as a welcome return from the ocean
I went back to the ocean today
Returning to the ocean with books and papers
With my books and my papers I went to the rocks by the ocean
Selecting a rocky location by the ocean
But the weather changed quickly, oh the ocean said
Encountering changing weather and the ocean's indifference
"What are you trying to find, I don't care, I'm not kind
Highlighting the ocean's lack of concern and violence
I've bludgeoned your sailors, I've spat out their keepsakes
Referencing harm to sailors and destruction of keepsakes
Oh it's ashes to ashes, but always the ocean,"
Reflecting on mortality and the enduring nature of the ocean
But the ocean can't come to this town, this town is a song about you
Emphasizing the town's contrast with the ocean
You don't know how lucky you are, you don't know how much I adore you
Reiterating admiration for the person in the town
You are the welcoming back from the ocean.
Portraying the person as a welcoming presence after ocean encounters
And the ones that can know you so well are the ones that can swallow you whole.
Noting the potential danger in close relationships
I have a good and I have an evil, I thought the ocean, the ocean thought nothing
Contrasting personal moral dualities with the ocean's neutrality
You are the welcoming back from the ocean.
Reiterating the person's role as a welcome return from the ocean
I didn't go back today
Choosing not to return to the ocean, asserting a preference for land
I wanted to show you that I was more land than water
Expressing a desire to showcase a connection to the land
I went to pick flowers I brought them to you
Presenting flowers as a gesture, symbolizing a connection
Look at me, look at them, with their salt up the stem
Noticing the impact of the ocean on the flowers
But you frowned when I smiled and I tried to arrange them
Encountering a negative reaction to the gesture
You said, "Let me tell you the song of this town"
Introducing the town's song, sharing local perspectives
You said, "Everything closes at five. After that, well, you just got the bars
Highlighting the town's routine closing time
You don't know how precious you are, walking around with your little shoes dangling
Expressing the person's unawareness of their value
I am the one who lives with the ocean.
Reiterating the connection with the ocean as a defining aspect
It's where we came from, you know, and sometimes I just want to go back
Acknowledging the origin in the ocean and a desire to return
After a day, we drink til we're drowning, walk to the ocean, wade in with our work boots
Describing a pattern of drowning sorrows in the ocean
Wade in our work boots, try to finish the job.
Highlighting the persistent struggle and attempt to complete tasks
You don't know how precious you are, I am the one who lives with the ocean
Reiterating the person's lack of awareness of their value
You don't know how I am the one. You don't know how I am the one."
Emphasizing the speaker's unique connection with the ocean
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