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Ten thousand men sleep down with Davy Jones
with stolen treasure they tithe
The open water chills me to my bones
but it's the only place that I feel alive
The ocean floor begins to disappear
I sense that terrible depth
The open water is my only fear
but I'll sail as long as I still have breath in me
I'm starting to believe the ocean's much like you
cause it gives, and it takes away
Between the devil and the deep blue sea
I stare into the abyss
The open water is an awful thing
but I'm anxious till the anchor is aweigh
I'm starting to believe the ocean's much like you
cause it gives, and it takes away
I'm starting to believe the ocean's much like you
cause it gives, and it takes away
I'm starting to believe the ocean's much like you
cause it gives, and it takes away
with stolen treasure they tithe
The open water chills me to my bones
but it's the only place that I feel alive
The ocean floor begins to disappear
I sense that terrible depth
The open water is my only fear
but I'll sail as long as I still have breath in me
I'm starting to believe the ocean's much like you
cause it gives, and it takes away
Between the devil and the deep blue sea
I stare into the abyss
The open water is an awful thing
but I'm anxious till the anchor is aweigh
I'm starting to believe the ocean's much like you
cause it gives, and it takes away
I'm starting to believe the ocean's much like you
cause it gives, and it takes away
I'm starting to believe the ocean's much like you
cause it gives, and it takes away
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The misconception I think most of the people who say that it is about a romantic relationship, is that the relationship between God and a christian is a deeper sense of what we experience between two people. God's love is unconditional, and nobody else can claim to have unconditional love for something. His love is just so much more expansive than anything we could ever conceive. Which is why the love story between God and his people is terribly romantic.
no one else really mentioned this, but tithing is a practice thats common in churches, where you give one tenth of your earnings to the church. it is traditionally not thought of as "taxing," per say, it is sharing your wealth with the community, in the sense that the church is doing the work of God in the community, and the ultimate good.
In this context though, it definitely does have a much darker context. These men who sleep with Davey Jones are dead. Because they lead lives of plundering, they are now "paying" for their sins. I think this is a really powerful metaphor because tithing should be giving freely, and instead these men took freely, and therefore are now paying it back. And since their dead, that treasure isn't doing them any good. So in this sense, they put their faith in the value of treasure (which could be anything; money, sex, grades, power, ect.) during their lives and not in God, and the result is they are living with Davey Jones (the devil- in hell).
The ominous tone of this verse definitely shows that Dustin (or the speaker) does not want to end up like them. The remainder of the song, for the most part, is him contemplating the ways of God, how "the Lord giveth and taketh away," and his own personal struggles to keep his utmost faith in God, even in his doubts.
God is portrayed in the bible as both loving and condemning, so he is juxtaposing these two characteristics of God and how he both loves and fears God. "sailing" is a metaphor for living on faith, which he feels leaves him in a fragile place and at the mercy of God (the expansive size and dangers of the sea), but which he also finds peace and purpose in (the aspect of sailing that is direction, moving towards a destination). The chorus is him praying to God.
The beautiful thing about music (and being somewhat ambiguous in the lyrical part of it) is that anyone can relate to it. I understand for people who do not believe in a God that this could easily be about a relationship between two people, but I am simply arguing that the original intent was a romance with God.
thats about all i've got. Beautiful, beautiful song.
I think that he could also be comparing the "Open water" to a lover, maybe? he says the open water is his biggest fear and therefore she is his biggest fear because she has this ability to make such an impact on him and his life and it scares him so much that just one person could create such an impact on him. however he does love her and he does want to pursue a future with her. hes just very cautious because its almost something to good to be true.
Maybe im just too much of a romantic =P
"Open water chills me to my bones, but the only place where I feel alive." In other words, The guy is afraid of the UNKNOWN, yet wishes to know more about it...
Then the chorus: "I believe the Ocean is much like you...ECT." In other words The ocean is a powerful thing, so is God, he can give and take when you least expect it... Thus, leading to the reason of the song.
"Between the devil and the deep blue see, I stare into the abyss." Meaning he would RATHER stare into the ocean (God) Despite the fact he is afraid of it (Him)....
That's my interpretation...
"Cold and alone...on a digital sea...instead of your arms wrapped around me"
to prove that there is a girl in the equation.
The open water
chills me to my bones,
but it's the only place that I feel alive.
The ocean floor
begins to disappear;
I sense that terrible depth.
The open water
is my only fear,
but I'll sail as long as I still have breath in me.
This to me, is clearly allegorical of that. Being alone is scary and tumultuous, but its the only place that he feels alive-pretty self explanatory. There's no ball and chains when you're not obliged to someone. When the ocean floor begins to disappear hes seeing this future of being single as his relationship is coming apart. Nevertheless, he'll sail on as long as he can.
Between the devil and the deep blue sea, I stare into the abyss - the devil could represent the object of his disaffection. But between the two, being at sea (or single) is the lesser of the two evils.
Just my opinion, I guess it could all also apply to your theist theories.