I think it doesn't have so much to do with reincarnation, or these personas as actual individuals. Instead, consider each man described - the highwayman, the sailor, the dambuilder, as archetypes of the past. The last part, then, refers to the driving spirit of adventure that will never die, regardless of how the world may change.
Jimmy Webb, who wrote this song, says that it is about one person who has died three times but is still alive. It is about reincarnation, the eternal nature of life, and the unity of life - man being composed of the same energy as a single drop of rain.
Jimmy Webb, who wrote this song, says that it is about one person who has died three times but is still alive. It is about reincarnation, the eternal nature of life, and the unity of life - man being composed of the same energy as a single drop of rain.
I think it doesn't have so much to do with reincarnation, or these personas as actual individuals. Instead, consider each man described - the highwayman, the sailor, the dambuilder, as archetypes of the past. The last part, then, refers to the driving spirit of adventure that will never die, regardless of how the world may change.
Jimmy Webb, who wrote this song, says that it is about one person who has died three times but is still alive. It is about reincarnation, the eternal nature of life, and the unity of life - man being composed of the same energy as a single drop of rain.
Jimmy Webb, who wrote this song, says that it is about one person who has died three times but is still alive. It is about reincarnation, the eternal nature of life, and the unity of life - man being composed of the same energy as a single drop of rain.