River, river carry me on
Living river carry me on
River, river carry me on
To the place where I come from

So deep, so wide, will you take me on your back for a ride
If I should fall, would you swallow me deep inside

River, show me how to float
I feel like I'm sinking down
Thought that I could get along
But here in this water
My feet won't touch the ground
I need something to turn myself around

Going away, away towards the sea
River deep, can you lift up and carry me
Oh roll on though the heartland
'Til the sun has left the sky
River, river carry me high
'Til the washing of the water make it all alright
Let your waters reach me like she reached me tonight

Letting go, it's so hard
The way it's hurting now
To get this love untied
So tough to stay with thing
'Cause if I follow through
I face what I denied
I get those hooks out of me
And I take out the hooks that I sunk deep in your side
Kill that fear of emptiness, loneliness I hide

River, oh river, river running deep
Bring me something that will let me get to sleep
In the washing of the water will you take it all away
Bring me something to take this pain away


Lyrics submitted by Novartza

Washing Of The Water Lyrics as written by Peter Gabriel

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Washing Of The Water song meanings
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13 Comments

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    General Comment

    Surprised no one's said anything about this one. I think the song is about suffering something terrible in the past (heartache etc) and then taking steps to move on. The washing of the water imagary links back to the idea of purity/cleansing. Similar to a baptism where sins from the past are forgotten, and one begins with a clean slate. A really beautiful song.

    Wonderboy2kon December 07, 2005   Link

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