This song is, most probably, a parable. The implications are obvious, and the meaning is stirring.
The story in the song goes: A sailor, on a ship at the "dawn of the world" (the time of the discovery of the "New World", as referenced by the title... "The Great Exchange" is what historians call the passing of slaves from Africa to the new world, resources and new foods back to Europe, and then some money and resources to Africa repeating the cycle... however, the title doesn't just set the scene historically, but provides a sort of pun on the meaning...)
The sailor and the rest of the crew mutinied against the captain and they sentenced him to die, to walk the plank, so to speak. The irony, of course, is that they sank after they mutinied against their captain... mutinies occur when crews are displeased with the captain's leadership or their progress, so to sink afterwords is a sort of foil.
In the ocean water, the narrator swims for his life, becomes exhausted, and succumbs, thinking he will drown...
And then his captain, clinging to wooden debris from the exploded ship, rescues him, most selfishly, by pulling is body across his support, giving up his own means of survival for the sailor who had helped to cause the entire predicament.
So, the song is a message on selfish sacrifice of the betrayed for his enemies, and, considering Dustin's faith, its no far stretch to assume who the song's meaning parallels.
I absolutely love this song! It's my favorite on this album, by far, and I really like the way he sings the lyrics; it makes the meaning more clear that way. For example, whenever I hear him say "We mutinied had sentenced our captain to die 'fore our sails", the way he sings it, sounds like "to die for our sins", and again, near the end, he says "Your body is a bridge across an endless sea", the way that he sings it it comes across as, to me, "your body is a bridge, a cross, an endless sea." If talking about Christ, the "bridge" is from one life to the next, the cross, well thats obvious, and an endless sea, which reminds me of the song "Open Water" from water, where he compares God to the seas... that part may be a stretch, but thats really the feeling that I get from that line.
Anyways, the other imagery in this song, like the captain making the supreme sacrifice upon a beam of wood, really cement in me that this song is less disputably about Christ than some other songs: the metaphor is obvious.
This song is, most probably, a parable. The implications are obvious, and the meaning is stirring.
The story in the song goes: A sailor, on a ship at the "dawn of the world" (the time of the discovery of the "New World", as referenced by the title... "The Great Exchange" is what historians call the passing of slaves from Africa to the new world, resources and new foods back to Europe, and then some money and resources to Africa repeating the cycle... however, the title doesn't just set the scene historically, but provides a sort of pun on the meaning...)
The sailor and the rest of the crew mutinied against the captain and they sentenced him to die, to walk the plank, so to speak. The irony, of course, is that they sank after they mutinied against their captain... mutinies occur when crews are displeased with the captain's leadership or their progress, so to sink afterwords is a sort of foil.
In the ocean water, the narrator swims for his life, becomes exhausted, and succumbs, thinking he will drown...
And then his captain, clinging to wooden debris from the exploded ship, rescues him, most selfishly, by pulling is body across his support, giving up his own means of survival for the sailor who had helped to cause the entire predicament.
So, the song is a message on selfish sacrifice of the betrayed for his enemies, and, considering Dustin's faith, its no far stretch to assume who the song's meaning parallels.
I absolutely love this song! It's my favorite on this album, by far, and I really like the way he sings the lyrics; it makes the meaning more clear that way. For example, whenever I hear him say "We mutinied had sentenced our captain to die 'fore our sails", the way he sings it, sounds like "to die for our sins", and again, near the end, he says "Your body is a bridge across an endless sea", the way that he sings it it comes across as, to me, "your body is a bridge, a cross, an endless sea." If talking about Christ, the "bridge" is from one life to the next, the cross, well thats obvious, and an endless sea, which reminds me of the song "Open Water" from water, where he compares God to the seas... that part may be a stretch, but thats really the feeling that I get from that line.
Anyways, the other imagery in this song, like the captain making the supreme sacrifice upon a beam of wood, really cement in me that this song is less disputably about Christ than some other songs: the metaphor is obvious.
The great exchange is one life for another.
That's what this song means to me.