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My eyes have once again been proven wrong
Your clouds, your blanket and my pity song
Hovering on your front lawn
Carry on until it's gone
What can I do?
The river's overrun
We're swimming in a flood, you know?
I thought I felt your touch
But the water's rising up
Then I lie naked in a rampage
In the flesh, face to face with the onset
I forget everything that's ever made me
Rise again
Now slowly leave my memory
What can I do?
The river's overrun
We're swimming in a flood, you know?
I thought I felt your touch
But the water's rising up
Now all my lovers raise their cups
What can I do?
The river's overrun
We're swimming in a flood, you know?
I thought I felt your touch
But the water's rising up
Now all my lovers raise their cups
Your clouds, your blanket and my pity song
Hovering on your front lawn
Carry on until it's gone
What can I do?
The river's overrun
We're swimming in a flood, you know?
I thought I felt your touch
But the water's rising up
Then I lie naked in a rampage
In the flesh, face to face with the onset
I forget everything that's ever made me
Rise again
Now slowly leave my memory
What can I do?
The river's overrun
We're swimming in a flood, you know?
I thought I felt your touch
But the water's rising up
Now all my lovers raise their cups
What can I do?
The river's overrun
We're swimming in a flood, you know?
I thought I felt your touch
But the water's rising up
Now all my lovers raise their cups
Lyrics submitted by lulzmaster
Track duration: 04:58
"Swimming in the Flood" as written by Michael Angelakos
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The strings leading into the bass in the opening, something about it has this bittersweet but comforting feel to me. To me this song is hopeful but confused about love, or a new love. It is about a relationship between two people, one of them narrating the song. This person doesn't say they are drowning, but they are SWIMMING in the flood! It makes me so happy, to think that something so overwhelming and confusing, like love, can still be endured if your with the right person. When they say 'what can i do?' and 'you know?' they are asking the other can you believe this? Or are you with me? Like a flood, love is overwhelming, but there swimming in it!
Anyone else ever think of it like that?
I believe he accused his girlfriend of cheating, and it's not the first time. In fact, I think the whole premise of water is an allusion to boiling tempers. "...Been proven wrong your clouds your blanket," 'clouds' can be taken as a state of suspicion e.g. he was wrong about his suspicions of her and her blanket, which I believe is relating to sex.
Furthermore the "pity song" is actually him on her front lawn screaming out "what can I do?" and she doesn't respond. This is compounded by the fact that he screams out "we're swimming in a flood, you know?" He's actually asking her out loud to elicit a response.
Then finally he comes back to reality ("in the flesh"), "face to face" with the start of the argument and he forgets why it even started. Finally, the entire argument fades from his memory like arguments usually do. I don't know whether they make up, or not, I don't think so though.
Final note: "now all my lovers raise their cups" clearly this is signalling for anyone who has ever felt the same way to agree.
The only loose ends I'm curious about is why the water is referred to as a river sometimes. Maybe it's just to present more striking imagery. Who knows, but I love the song!!!
New appreciation for it given my current romantical situations.
This song will be playing on repeat for the rest of today.
I think this song is about an affair, one married, one single and the lyrics are written from the single persons inner dialogue.
My eyes have once again been proven wrong
Your clouds, your blanket and my pity song
Hovering on your front lawn
Carry on until it's gone
The person is feeling sorry for themselves, thinking about what they're doing, realizing that their perspective is clouded and unrealistic. They're desperate to be around the other person, hanging around them when they can but at the same time realizing that they're only continuing to hurt themselves.
What can I do?
The river's overrun
We're swimming in a flood, you know?
I thought I felt your touch
But the water's rising up
They relent to their emotions, what can I do? I am in too deep, I thought I felt you care, I kid myself into believing that something more was going to come out of this.
Then I lie naked in a rampage
In the flesh, face to face with the onset
I forget everything that's ever made me
Rise again
Now slowly leave my memory
Here they are thinking about the fact that they're continuing to place themselves in this destructive cycle, realizing that they're forgetting about themselves, what they believe in and what made them strong. They're hoping to forget about the other person, and move on.
See what you think:
Then I lie, naked in a rampage ("[N]aked" connotes total aloneness--in the most visceral way. "Rampage" connotes being unable to control my actions, under the influence of some sort of passion)
In the flesh, face to face with the onset (the onset of what? withdrawal symptoms? cravings?)
I forget everything that's ever made me rise again (giving up, giving in to it)
Now slowly leave my memory
What can I do? (Again, powerlessness.)
The river's overrun (The normal course of things are out of control.)
We're swimming in a flood, you know? (Just trying to keep afloat of these out of control things.)
I thought I felt your touch
But the water's rising up
Now all my lovers raise their cups ("[A]ll my lovers" emphasizes the sense of plural. The lovers themselves are the things the writer thought would make him happy, but, obviously, one after the other, did not, so he moved from one to the next--one addiction to the next. These many lovers raise their cups in mockery.)
I'm not sure how to interpret "I thought I felt your touch."