| Josh Ritter – Change of Time Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I believe this song is simply about a someone, more specifically I'd say a couple, going through a big change in their/his/her life. It doesn't sound like a problem with their relationship necessarily, although I think it definitely could be, but it sounds like it is something that they are going through together. The narrator goes into great detail in the verses to describe the hardships of this change in their life, which, rather obviously, does not look to be a good or positive change. However, in the end, Josh offers us a revelation to the problem. "I had a dream last night I dreamt that I was swimming And the stars up above Directionless and drifting Somewhere in the dark Were the sirens and the thunder And around me as I swam The drifters who’d gone under" In the first verse he starts the metaphor of being lost at sea, more specifically, I would say being shipwrecked. Throughout the song this metaphor seems to be about life and it's hardships. The verses are, in its simplest forms, examples of life throwing all of its troubles at the narrator. I think the narrator dreaming all of this is important in that this is really an internal struggle for the narrator, even though something physically may have triggered it. Stars are often used as a literary device for one's future or fate (I like to think of the famous line in Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves"). Since the stars are "directionless and drifting", the narrator's future seems to be in serious flux. The darkness further describes the metaphor of being directionless because the narrator is unable to see. The "sirens", "thunder", and the perished "drifters" are the warning signs of an imminent danger and, I believe, the "drifters who'd gone under" further serve to illustrate what could happen if the narrator keeps drifting directionless. "Time, love... It’s only a change of time" The chorus serves as a shift in tone, perhaps it is the narrator's love telling the narrator this to comfort him/her, or, perhaps it is the other way around and the narrator is deciding to console his love (and possibly himself) by illustrating, although with simplicity, that time is always changing situations and that life is everchanging. As if to say, no matter what bad things occur, they are only a change in time, which is a part of life for everyone. "I had a dream last night And rusting far below me Battered hulls and broken hardships Leviathan and Lonely I was thirsty so I drank And though it was salt water There was something ‘bout the way It tasted so familiar" The 2nd verse echoes the first verse's description of the narrator's troubles and what appears to be internally haunting him/her. The "battered hulls" makes me think that the narrator has been metaphorically shipwrecked, but it may just go along with the description of entities that have come across this part of the sea and did not suffice to make it. Along with the doomed "drifters", there appears to be the wreckage of a ship or ships. Once again, possibly serving to foreshadow what could happen to the narrator if he/she keeps going down the same path, aimlessly "drifting. Leviathan is a reference to the old testament, believed to be a sea monster, but also symbolizing the devil. I believe the narrator is describing himself as giving into his desires/ making a mistake/ sinning when he says "I was thirsty, so I drank/ And though it was salt water" and the line prior: "Leviathan and lonely", are his reasons for taking a sip of the salt-water that will only further his demise. Also significant is the salt-water which, lost at sea, seems like a good idea drink, although, the substance being salt-water, the narrator knows it is not. The taste being familiar could be his pessimism towards how life has continued to treat him thus far, or could be his realization that he keeps making the same mistake over again. "The black clouds I'm hanging This anchor I'm dragging The sails of memory rip open in silence We cut through the lowlands All hands through the salt lands The white caps of memory Confusing and violent" In the bridge verse, the narrator continues with the over-arching tone of describing this nightmare he/she is going through. "The black clouds I'm hanging" describes the bleak situation that is hanging over him, but, perhaps more importantly, it highlights the author's realization that it is he/she that has placed these troubles in such a way that it is debilitating and further goes along with the idea of drinking the saltwater and drifting when he/she should be swimming. The anchor symbolizes the 'monkey on the back' of the narrator that is keeping him/her from going to far or, more literally, getting out of the bleak state of mind. This verse goes on to illustrate something in the past that seems to be plaguing the narrator: "The sails of memory rip open in silence", "The white caps of memory/ Confusing and violent." The "sails of memory" ripping open also further describe a sinking or sunken ship, perhaps thinking back, alike the narrator's thinking back to his haunting past, to when his ship capsized and his troubles began. The description of the "saltlands" and the white caps of memory" further serve a time when he/she was on land. My theory is that the narrator can see the whitecaps in the distance and he/she is tempted to swim towards them, but they are confusing because swimming towards the whitecaps, the past in this case, is not beneficial to the narrator. "I had a dream last night And when I opened my eyes Your shoulder blade, your spine Were shorelines in the moon light New worlds for the weary New lands for the living I could make it if I tried I closed my eyes I kept on swimming... Rough seas, they carry me wherever I go" The last verse is where the large tonal shift occurs in the song- seemingly moving away from the narrator's pessimistic outlook towards his/her situation and moving towards an optimistic view. The narrator, in this verse, wakes up from the nightmare, symbolizing the nightmare as possibly a mere low point in his life; seemingly a break from reality. Instead of reality being bleak he paints reality as hopeful and as a 'light to the end of the tunnel', and it is his waning away from reality that plagues him. The reality is that his love is beside him and has always been there, even through the bad dream. His love is his hope of getting out of this dark place he has been in, she/he is the "shoreline in the moonlight" and instead of going towards the past, the ship that is now wrecked, or the whitecaps that will not suffice as a safe-haven, it is something new he/she goes towards: "new worlds", "new lands"; as if, instead of being reluctant to the change, the narrator is opening his/her arms to it. This is the verse that makes it seem like either his/her relationship was on the rocks, or that they were going through something together. Either way, even If it is only the narrator with the issue, the resolution seems to be this: no matter what bad things happen, I have my love beside me who will be the "shorelines in the moonlight"; the silver-lining in the clouds. And it is this thought that seems to truly comfort him/her and to encourage the narrator to "(keep) on swimming." The "Rough seas..." verse that is sung by backup vocals seems during the chorus seems to simply say that the rough seas, however rough and scary, will carry and lead the narrator on through life and this further resembles the narrator's acceptance of this change in his/her life. |
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