Your body may be gone, I'm gonna carry you in.
In my head, in my heart, in my soul.
And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both live again.
Well I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Don't think so.

Well that is that and this is this.
You tell me what you want and I'll tell you what you get.
You get away from me. You get away from me.
Collected my belongings and I left the jail.
Well thanks for the time, I needed to think a spell.
I had to think awhile. I had to think awhile.

The ocean breathes salty, won't you carry it in?
In your head, in your mouth, in your soul.
And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both grow old.
Well I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I hope so.

Well that is that and this is this.
You tell me what you want and I'll tell you what you get.
You get away from me. (You get away from me) You get away from me.
Collected my belongings and I left the jail.
Well thanks for the time, I needed to think a spell.
I had to think awhile. (I had to think awhile) I had to think awhile.

Well that is that and this is this.
Will you tell me what you saw and I'll tell you what you missed,
when the ocean met the sky. (You missed, you missed)
You missed when time and life shook hands and said goodbye. (You missed)
When the earth folded in on itself. (You missed)
And said "Good luck, for your sake I hope heaven and hell (You missed, you missed)
are really there, but I wouldn't hold my breath." (You missed, you missed)
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death? (You missed, you missed)
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?

The ocean breathes salty, won't you carry it in?
In your head, in your mouth, in your soul.
The more we move ahead the more we're stuck in rewind.
Well I don't mind. I don't mind. How the hell could I mind?

Well that is that and this is this.
You tell me what you want and I'll tell you what you get.
You get away from me. (You get away from me) You get away from me.

Well that is that and this is this.
Will you tell me what you saw and I'll tell you what you missed,
when the ocean met the sky. (You missed, you missed)
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste the afterlife?



Lyrics submitted by zouyan

Track duration: 03:44

"Ocean Breathes Salty" as written by Isaac Brock, Eric Judy, Dann Gallucci

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Ocean Breathes Salty song meanings
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227 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:When ever i hear this song i think of the video. Makes me think of my brother that passed away and how he was my hero. Im athiest, but when i listen to this song i think when i was little and he was still around and if could see him once more. When i hear the lyrics "wont you carry it in, in your head in mouth in your soul. I think as long as i keep him in my heart he will always be alive inside and if there is a heaven, thats when ill see him again
    Flag maddhatteron April 05, 2013   Link
  • -1
    Memory:this mii fav song by them.
    Flag koala5412on September 01, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about someone he knew who was very religious and spent their entire life trying to be good and make sure they got into heaven. when they died he talks about how he hopes heaven and hell are really there (but he wouldnt hold his breathe). He thinks this person wasted their life for something that probably doesnt even exist so they're probably wasting their afterlife too.
    Flag ariel20893on September 01, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Based on the angry and accusatory tone of the lyrics, I think this song is about someone who is pissed off at a loved one for dying. Stage 2 of Grief: Anger; finding someone to blame for the loss. The video makes me think it's concerning the death of a father, due to the child's association of the hurt bird with an adult male figure. Maybe the boy's father died when he was young, and the lyrics are the words of the older version of the son, bitter towards his late father for not being there.
    Flag JackVon June 14, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is a tale of remorse and contempt rising from a single act, a girlfriend went behind his back and got an abortion. The first part of the verses is clearly directed towards the unborn child and all of the things that he/she will never get to experience, like seeing the ocean. The second part of the verses, and pre-chorus, are much more aggressive in tone and directed at the woman, identifying the betrayal and his absolute contempt for her. She wasted life, why wouldn't she waste the afterlife.
    Flag inflightextremeon April 10, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Love this song so much.. His voice is amazing. Love of my freaking life.
    Flag BearCountryon March 23, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Not saying this is the true and actual meaning: but I can't help but feeling like this is a song about a couple or 2 friends who get in trouble with the law or hit rock bottom due to drug abuse.
    One of them could have realized how much of life there still is to live and how the same patterns didn't work out so it's time to try something new, where as the other person is stuck doing the same old thing. I don't believe this individual holds animosity for the other but feels hopeless in trying to convince this person to change.
    Flag liddlearion October 11, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The Ocean Breathes Salty...Why, it certainly does.

    I think this song is drawing a comparison between death and the ocean; About how you carry it with you, and all its salt, and how, after someone dies, you are left to think of all the things they never got to see, do, or feel. Maybe more than death and the ocean, I think it may be about what it is like to be close to someone who has died; "Maybe we'll get lucky, and we'll both live again", and "You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste the afterlife" both seem to me like things someone would say when thinking of a lost friend. Also, "the more we move ahead, the more we're stuck in rewind" could be about how the older you get, the more you feel a need to look back over your memories in order to live, maybe that could be tied into the death, like the older you get, the more people you know seem to die, and you are left with are your memories of them to look back over, to keep them alive.
    Flagged McNoodlebottomon October 01, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:I've always liked this song, but I listened to it again shortly after my boyfriend committed suicide in April and the meaning just came to me. I think it's about the anger you feel after someone you love commits suicide.. but obviously it's just my frame of reference. These parts really stuck out to me after the "incident";

    Your body may be gone, I'm gonna carry you in.
    In my head, in my heart, in my soul.
    And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both live again.
    Well I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Don't think so.
    {The person is dead, but the narrator is going to carry them in their heart forever. He hopes that one day they'll see each other again, but doesn't think it's likely.}

    Well that is that and this is this.
    You tell me what you want and I'll tell you what you get.
    You get away from me. You get away from me.
    Collected my belongings and I left the jail.
    Well thanks for the time, I needed to think a spell.
    I had to think awhile. I had to think awhile.
    {When someone commits suicide it's a shock. You are numbed, you don't understand why this happened. You have to think awhile. Obviously the narrator is very bitter at his friend for commiting suicide.}

    Well that is that and this is this.
    Will you tell me what you saw and I'll tell you what you missed,
    when the ocean met the sky. (You missed, you missed)
    You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste the afterlife?
    {His friend had a grey view of life – tell me what you saw and I'll tell you all the good parts you missed.}
    Flag ac0503981on August 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Agree with the below posters: it's clearly a sarcastic criticism of religion in general.
    Flagged TheDistantPanicon August 23, 2011   Link

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