Riverside

I have another interpretation. It was the first thought through my mind when I heared the song.

Down by the river by the boats Where everybody goes to be alone Where you wont see any rising sun Down to the river we will run

This verse reffers to the afterlife. The river is the river that you need to pass to come in the real afterlife (or underworld, like Charon the shipper etcetera). So that explains the boats too. While you need to pass the river, there isn't any sun there. Maybe its afterlife, maybe the unterworld... but maybe both dont have rising sun (anymore). You'll be alone there, like many people say: we all die alone.

When by the water we drink to the dregs Look at the stones on the river bed I can tell from your eyes You've never been by the riverside

But then it gets weird, ofcourse you didn't been by the riverside, you only can die once... So maybe the narrator is Charon the shipper, or another figure that stays there. Drink the dregs is coming to insight in the situation. Maybe realising that you/he/she is dead.

--

Down by the water the riverbed Somebody calls you somebody says Swim with the current and float away Down by the river everyday

So just flow with the river to the afterlife, dont hestitate and dont stay too long in the 'grey area'. Just flow with it, get on the ship, let Charon shit you to the afterlife. The last sentence doesn't make sense with this interpretation... why everyday?

Oh my God I see how everything is torn in the river deep And I don't know why I go the way

And then the narrator sees its done. Life IS done, its over and its time to move on. But she does see the pain. Then (i dont know why i go the way) the narrator thinks: why am i going to the afterlife? I want back to my life!

When that old river runs pass your eyes To wash off the dirt on the riverside Go to the water so very near The river will be your eyes and ears

old river = old life. People say the see the their life flashes through their eyes, i think that the narrator means that with the old river pass through her eyes. Life is done, so it the 'dirt' both literaty as a figure of speech washes away, its time for a new life. Cant figure out the last two sentences though.

I walk to the borders on my own To fall in the water just like a stone Chilled to the marrow in them bones Why do I go here all alone

Again alone, you die alone so you need to do it alone. Borders? maybe she still didn't got on the ship and tried to 'swim'. But that isnt possible, you NEED the ship, so she will sink in the river and feels the cold in her bones. Cold can refer to actual water of the death, like cold bodies.

Last sentence: still wondering why she is alone, she recognises she is death, but why alone? Why not together with her loved ones?

Maybe I'm just wrong, but I needed to share it with you :) I would be happy the see any comments.