This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
You look different every time you come
From the foam-crested brine
It's your skin shining softly in the moonlight
Partly fish, partly porpoise, partly baby sperm whale
Am I yours? Are you mine to play with?
Joking apart, when you're drunk you're terrific when you're drunk
I like you mostly late at night you're quite alright
But I can't understand the different you in the morning
When it's time to play at being human for a while, please smile
You'll be different in the Spring, I know
You're a seasonal beast like the starfish that drift in with the tide, with the tide
So until your blood runs to meet the next full moon
You're madness fits in nicely with my own, with my own
Your lunacy fits neatly with my own, my very own
We're not alone
From the foam-crested brine
It's your skin shining softly in the moonlight
Partly fish, partly porpoise, partly baby sperm whale
Am I yours? Are you mine to play with?
Joking apart, when you're drunk you're terrific when you're drunk
I like you mostly late at night you're quite alright
But I can't understand the different you in the morning
When it's time to play at being human for a while, please smile
You'll be different in the Spring, I know
You're a seasonal beast like the starfish that drift in with the tide, with the tide
So until your blood runs to meet the next full moon
You're madness fits in nicely with my own, with my own
Your lunacy fits neatly with my own, my very own
We're not alone
Lyrics submitted by DonCaballero
Sea Song Lyrics as written by Robert Wyatt
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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This is one of the most lovely love songs ever written -I can't believe no one else has commented on it! I love wyatt's poetic turn of phrase.
The strangest love song I've ever heard, and certainly one of my five favorite songs... Talking to the sea as if it was his lover, and in such words ! ("your madness fits in nicely with my own", how beautiful and weird to say it to the one you love...) When I heard those lyrics, I couldn't help thinking of a French author from the end of the 19th century called Lautréamont and his haunting and terrifying masterpiece "Les Chants de Maldoror". Has anyone ever read this book ? The problem with Wyatt's songs is that it's impossible to put by words the vocal arrangements on them, especially Wyatt's "solos" (Coltrane had his sax, Wyatt has his alien voice...)
@The Dog That Ate...<br /> Thanks for the book you mentioned<br /> The problem? I got what you meant, but calling it a "problem"?
I think it's about being in love with someone changeable and 'moody', and also touching on Wyatt's own immaturity, as he sees it. The sea is used as a metaphor for the woman's changing moods. Not exactly a new idea, but a very beautifully expressed one here.
This song does not seem to me to have much of a concept, per se, but is rather more of a mixed jumble of pure emotion that goes to your soul and moves you like little else can. I'm just getting into this album, widely regarded as a masterpiece of Canterbury Prog, but this is an impressive beginning.
Great song indeed. Extremely creative. I'm in love with this master piece. A love story between 2 unusual people.
This first album solo of Wyatt came after he fell or jumped from a window during a party while drunk and could not walk anymore. He said later that this album would not exist without this accident due to his self-destructive tendencies. One can reasonably think this song is a lot about himself and his insanity, but not without a sense of hope as can be felt at the end of the song.
This song is uber creepy. I can't put my finger on it. It's like a really strange photo where you know that is someting wrong with the picture, something out of place. It's like when you feel you're being watched, but you turn around and see nothing.
I think this is a song about his insanity, or meeting this other side of him that comes out like the "tides."
I read in my biology class that the structure of a man's penis was derived from fish, and I know that "foam-crested brine," is supposed to be jizz. It's a song about a wet dream, and how it didn't leave him feeling fulfilled. Sure, his wet dream may have felt good while it was happening but, once he woke up in the morning, he realized that his appetite for sex was gone. He talks about waiting for the next full moon(when he regains what he lost) so he can lose it all again.