SongMeanings

I was driving to Denver to see the final four for Women's basketball. It was a once in a lifetime experience, particularly for the seniors that would be playing the game.

I was alone. I was to meet my dad who had recently underwent open heart surgery and was now recovering nicely.

The car I was driving was big, blue (the color of water), and old. I wondered if it would make the distance or would break down, but so what, I'm a man, resourceful, with 2 legs, big, strong, what do I have to fear?

It was late.

I've had money or thought I had money at certain points in my life, but not at that minute as I drove on the dark and desolate highway, somewhere in Iowa. I heard the sounds of irrigation sprinklers in the distance. The air smelled fresh, clean, with just a hint of fertilizer, but muted.

My wife is beautiful, but she thought I was crazy for driving across the country to see some women play a game. When I originally purchased my house, it was so new, so important to me, now it seems like such piece of crap. My kids are doing well in school but doing their own thing.

I am alone and it is wonderous.

Well, how did I get here?

I know how, it was based on preconceptions of things I had to do, on a path I felt oblidged to take, to pursue, wife, house, job, kids, all on "autopilot," of course always with the idea of a "plan," that fulfilled yields emptiness and like a tear in an ocean means nothing, but seems like it does. Ultimately, it is an expression of possibilities, limitless opportunity unfettered by what we think we need to obtain, total freedom, not a nihilistic expression of nothingness, but of choice and movement, like water around obstacles. Mid life, either a regret of things undone, or possibilities to explore.

It was like tasting ice cream for the first time, what a wonderful song.

FORGOT A FEW DETAILS THAT WILL HELP EXPLAIN THIS WAY EASIER ..IT IS INDEED ABOUT REINCARNATION. WATER IS A SYMBOL OF RENEWING, WASHING AND REBIRTH. ANCIENT TEXTS TELL US THAT THERE IS WATER UNDER US (BLUE ABYSS) THAT CONTAINS A WORLD THAT RUNS A CYCLE OF HUMAN LIVES HERE ON EARTH THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOREVER. IN VERSE ONE HE HAS ONE LIFE THEN THE CHORUS COMES IN TO SPEAK ABOUT WATER FLOWING UNDER AND ONCE IN A LIFETIME. SECOND VERSE IS ANOTHER LIFE THEN THE CHORUS COMES AND HE IS RECYCLED TO ANOTHER LIFE WHICH IS THE 3RD VERSE. IN ALL OF HIS LIVES EVERYTHING BECAME WORLDS APART DIFFERENT THAN ONE ANOTHER, POSING DIFFERENT QUESTIONS FOR EACH LIFE. THE WATER FLOWING (INTO THE BLUE AGAIN) WAS THE RECYCLE STAGE. SAME AS IT EVER WAS IS SAYING THE CYCLE IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE SAME. FULL OF QUESTIONS...THE RENEWING OF THE WATER OR THE BLUE CLEANSES YOU OF ALL PAST MEMORIES (WATER DISOLVING AND WATER REMOVIN) AND AFTER BEING REBORN YOU WAKE UP SAYING HOW DID I GET HERE? HOW DO I WORK THIS? THEN YOU DIE AND IT HAPPENS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN, HENCE THE SAME AS IT EVER WAS, SAME AS IT EVER WAS, SAME AS IT EVER WAS....

I agree with exexpat93. IT IS INDEED ABOUT REINCARNATION. WATER IS A SYMBOL OF RENEWING, WASHING AND REBIRTH. ANCIENT TEXTS TELL US THAT THERE IS WATER UNDER US THAT CONTAINS A WORLD THAT RUNS A CYCLE OF HUMAN LIVES HERE ON EARTH. IN VERSE ONE HE HAS ONE LIFE THEN THE CHORUS COMES IN TO SPEAK ABOUT WATER FLOWING UNDER AND ONCE IN A LIFETIME. SECOND VERSE IS ANOTHER LIFE THEN THE CHORUS COMES AND HE IS RECYCLED TO ANOTHER LIFE WHICH IS THE 3RD VERSE. IN ALL OF HIS LIVES EVERYTHING BECAME WORLDS APART DIFFERENT THAN ONE ANOTHER, POSING DIFFERENT QUESTIONS FOR EACH LIFE. THE WATER FLOWING WAS THE RECYCLE STAGE. THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL SONG NO MATTER HOW IT IS PRECIVED, AND DESERVES 2 THUMBS UP AND 5 GOLDEN STARS FOR BEING A UNIQUE WORK OF POP ABSTRACT ART..

Reincarnation and Buddhism. You may find yourself in many different lives and not feel like you belong there and should be somewhere else.

This is one of those songs that seemed like just a bunch of nonsense lyrics when I first heard it at 17, but has made and more sense as time has passed.

I think it's about the way we can coast through life, just doing the things we think we're 'supposed to do', one thing leading into another; college, career, marriage, kids...

And one day you sort of pull your head up above the surface and look around and wonder where you lost yourself. It feels like it's been buried under a pile of titles and possessions and responsibilities and you've drifted into a place you never intended to go.

The lyrics are so tightly knit it's almost hard to put it into words, but I believe it is about the moment in your life when you really become fully conscious of the fact that you are going to die someday.

Kermit version anyone? ha ha. Such a wonderful song about the meaning of life...

This is the song that hooked me on The Talking Heads. And I endured being ostracized for listening
to them. "Freak" was a common term of affectiuon by my peers. It was worth it!

First time I heard this song was on a Pete Tong radio show. Loved it the moment I heard it.

Having not known the lyrics I interpreted the meaning to be the inverse of what many people are saying. Not as an epithany but as a kind of positive message about how life will take you places and you may find yourself in a shotgun shack or a mansion with a fancy car. Letting the water carry you is part of life and not to panic about it. I'm 23 year old graduate and this is one of those things 23 year old grads are preoccupied with. Where will I be, am I doing the right thing? Do I have the right job?

I suppose what I'm getting at is that in 20 years a song can change meaning quite easily just as life crisis have now become Quater as well as Mid. The excess and image of the eighties has not gone away but gotten stronger. This song is a great song because it can be seen from both views: from mid -life epithany to quater-life positivity.

To me this song is about a man questioning his existence and coming to the conclusion that his existence and material possessions are meaningless. He is discomforted by this realization, but this problem is natural and will continue to plague man just as water will continue to flow underground. This song makes me want to both cry and dance.

It's interesting to compare with another great song on fleeting, futile existence: "Time" by Pink Floyd. I think both songs speak of empty lives. "Time" tells of emptiness through inaction. "Once In A Lifetime" tells of emptiness through action.

This one is pretty simple I think.

The water represents things holding us back from getting anywhere in life. And sometimes we seem like we're getting to where we want to be in life (money, a good job, a nice family, etc) but things happen and "the water underground under the stones" holds us back. Sometimes we can't see what's going to happen, but then it goes back to where you started.

It is about how your life can lead to a place you never intended whether you fight against the forces that be or not. Most people put down strong roots (their possessions) that fool them into believing that they are in control of their lives, when in fact the waters of time will push them down below the water so they can't even see anymore. Until one day, perhaps because they lost their possessions or as the result of some epiphany, they realize that they have become something they never wanted to be. All because of possessions.

By trying to control the uncontrollable, such as removing the water at the bottom of the ocean that erodes everything and changes everything, we let the other forces control us.

If there is a lesson at all here beyond the observation of the mid-life crisis many people have, it is that perhaps the key to controlling your destiny is to not try to control the uncontrollable, and to not set so many roots of possession which force us to bow to the flow of the water. Instead, by picking up root and allowing the unstoppable water to move us to where we belong, then we can avoid losing sight of what is important, and we can enjoy the ride.

Also, I think there's a political aspect. Am I right or am I wrong? You can't know if cling too hard to what you cannot change, if you are bowing to the waters to retain control, you lose the ability to change your mind, and perhaps you might end up doing things that are unthinkable and not what you would have wanted if you weren't fighting the water.

A lot of people got this wrong.

The song is about the futility of our (mankind's) endeavours. No matter what we do, our impact in the grand scheme of the universe is negligible. So the subtext is to live your life to whatever will fulfil yourself.

That's why you have the lines "same as it ever was" repeating over and over until the end of the song, even after all that has taken place, all is the same as it ever was.

Water is the allusion to time, time is always flowing, time isn't holding up? Time isn't after us. However we hold ourselves down by time by trying to build a legacy, that, again, in the end, doesn't matter.

Once In A Lifetime: An theoretical interpretation

Once In A Lifetime tells of a man (or a woman) who all of a sudden -- comes to terms with the banality and disconnection he feels towards his present life's situation. The first verse describes his initial shock, in the realization that all of this somehow feels very unfamiliar. He starts questioning surroundings, then the chorus comes in. The chorus is a sudden ephiphany realizing what's been passing him by day-by-day, as the last sentence of the first verse literally asks the question: "Well...How did I get here?"

The chorus answers with "Letting the days go by and letting the water hold me down." The water in this context seems completely negative, in my opinion representing every obstacle in life that prevents the main character from truly finding himself. It is an epiphany, and the realization comes from the fact that he's letting materialism and disconnection from reality cause the days to go by. Letting the water pull him down.

Despite him having an epiphany that the water is preventing him from enjoying life -- the simple acknowledgement of the water implies that the negativity may remain as the water is not completely out of his thoughts. So the chorus offers a What Happened / This is why sort of call and response. At this point he snaps out of the brief realization, this time a bit more grounded in reality.

In this next verse the character becomes more questionable of his present life situation, at the end declaring that he doesn't even belong and that it is all wrong! Then it goes back into a second epiphany of the same topicality as his first. The realization that he can change his current setup -- in this chorus I feel that water means "I can hear the water of life within me and beneath my feet -- I am still alive and can change this setup!" Unfortunately, I fear the water may just mean something else that is materialistic.

Because the next bit has the main character freaking out down the line again. In his new situation, the one he thought would work in his most recent epiphany, he thinks that he should be emotionally content -- but he is not. New situation, but it is the "same as it ever was".

In the next verse, particularly as evidenced by the distortion throughout the verse, the world is tempting him to let the water pull him down again. It is just a metaphorical way of describing all of life's negative moods and petty desires blinding each of us. This next time however, the third epiphany that is still the same in subject matter as his last two causes him to go insane. He commits suicide, through drowning. He's lost in himself and cannot figure anything out. The water will literally hold him down until he floats lifelessly to the top, the water flowing underground.

As he is dying, the next verse are his final contemplations on reality. They are self-explanatory.

The epiphany he stumbled upon repeats twice, as if that is all that is left on his mind (in addition to the repeated "same as it ever was" which is the specific thought that drives him to suicide.")

Now I personally do not believe this is a literal suicide, I think it is a metaphorical one describing him coming to terms with the superficiality of the world and having an ego death. I just think the water imagery tells the LITERAL side of death, but intended to illustrate the metaphorical concept of an ego death and reconnection with the world.

I've heard that the song is about the writer's experience with dissociative fugue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state

This song is so incredibly profound.

"MY GOD !...WHAT HAVE I DONE ?"

This solidifies what this song means for me. Thought it was very psychedelic at first. Then I realized a genius twist. Listen to the manner in which he talks. It consists of a mixture between a preacher and someone who is defending themselves/their sanity/their situation. It sounds to me like a man on their last limbs in a court being tried for the crime of murdering his wife. As if all the verses are him breaking down and trying one last time to justify why -- what he felt. The choruses are separate from this scenario and I feel just very metaphoric imagery that really amplifies the songs over message.

Its about taking drugs/wasting your life on Drugs. Pretty clear to me after the first verse and chorus frankly.

The references to Water is a metaphor for time.
In to the (blue) again after the moneys gone. (coming down after high (Blues))
My god what have I done. I have wasted my life WFT!
same as it ever was.
Words not written in lyrics sites 3:56 "Here comes the Crystal" Crystal refers to ICE which was an epidemic in the US at this time of this songs writing.

Any way, that it has always sounded like that to me. even the music tends to read this way.

ejay68

I think this is about being happy with what you have. You wake up one day and say "My god what did I do with my life, it's not anything what I wanted it to be when I was a kid!" Well, no one's life is like that save for the exceptionally lucky. To me this is about looking at your life and seeing it's perfect the way it is, and you don't need to have that large automobile, or that beautiful wife. Not saying "What did I do with my life for all those years?"
People ask themselves this so much, even I have. It's a horrible feeling and it's best to be happy with things that you can't change.

(cont. from previous):

You may get your once in a lifetime crack at achieving (what we call) the American Dream, but is that really living? Is one really flowing with the true Water (Spirit) of Life to a greater place. Have you lived a deliberate life - one that fulfills your own unique destiny? If not, the WATER will come...water dissolving...water removing...and will whisk away all that is not based on a proper foundation of truth.

Going along with the sheeple in the world is not a path of LIFE. It is not a joyful one, either. One day one wakes and says, "What have I done?"

Byrne seems to always enjoy hydroplaning on the surface of the water...dancing all the way. Life and spirit are always there calling to us to Return, but if we do not, the Water will take us to the ocean. A man has no control over the ocean, and cannot retrieve that water from the bottom. Best to check ourselves now...before we let too many days go by and we begin to drown.

I think that we tend to over-analyze what the artist intended, when sometimes what we take from a work is much greater than the original intent. An example is "And She Was". I was rather let down to learn that the inspiration was a high school peer using acid in the grassy lot adjacent to the Yoo Hoo Chocolate Factory in Baltimore. While that was rather quirky and cool, it was nothing like the transcendent and ethereal overcoming triumph of a free female that I had imagined. To boot: Byrne said that the gal who inspired the song approached him once, and she remarked that the song didn't really resemble her recollection of anything that occurred back then. Wow. Let down? or, did she just fry all the main brain cells that might help her recall?

I believe that the water in this song is the inevitable force of life...you can plan to be ORDINARY and get all the trappings of life, a house, car, 2.5 children, etc...keep up with the Jones', but the water always returns to the sea. And money comes and money goes.

cont.

Wikipedia:
"is usually interpreted to be a song dealing with the midlife crisis and the inevitable sacrifice of youthful ideals and dreams for conventional success"

David Byrne was driving around on some trip with another of his musicians when they heard some religious guy talking on one of the stations (I do not know if they were on tour or not). They apparently found what he was saying, or how he was saying it, interesting and put some of what they heard into a song. That's how the lyrics came about. Interpret them how you will.

I agree with the gayness thing. That was what came to mind the first time I heard this song. It's a quite amazing song about being successful and having a happy relationship and one day waking up and feeling different. It's kinda going through the stages. Or, possibly realizing that what you had and though you always wanted, wasn't really what you wanted. First it's all happy, then it's just confusion and mixed feelings...then he's wondering what he did and where he went wrong because he isn't happy with what he has.

That's just my take on it anyways.