Spirit on the Water Lyrics
Darkness on the face of the deep
I keep thinking about you baby
I can't hardly sleep
Traveling through the dawn of day
You're always on my mind
I can't stay away
Then you turned up again
I always knew
That we were meant to be more than friends
It's just as plain as it can be
I'm wild about you, gal
You ought to be a fool about me
The sources of this hidden pain
You burned your way into my heart
You got the key to my brain
Praying to the powers above
I'm sweating blood
You got a face that begs for love
Doesn't mean a thing to me
If I can't have you
I'll throw my love into the deep blue sea
Why you can't treat me right
You do good all day
Then you do wrong all night
I'm a thousand times happier than I could ever say
What does it matter
What price I pay
Brag about it all over town
Put some sugar in my bowl
I feel like laying down
Holding a blossom on a stem
You ever seen a ghost? No
But you've heard of them
I'm blinded by the colors I see
I take good care
Of what belongs to me
Ringing up and down the line
I'm saying it plain
These ties are strong enough to bind
Calls out from some old familiar shrine
I got no choice
Can't believe these things would ever fade from your mind
With you perfectly
You don't ever
Have to make a fuss over me
Ever since the world began
I only mean it for the best
I want to be with you any way I can
Now I'm feeling the wall
I'm going away baby
I won't be back 'til fall
You can carry all my thoughts with you
You've numbed my will
This love could tear me in two
And it seems so unfair
I can't go back to paradise no more
I killed a man back there
You think I'm past my prime
Let me see what you got
We can have a whoppin' good time
My favorite song from the album.
Bad poetry? I think this wasn't even supposed to be deep poetry deserving of analytical thought. Picture a Venn Diagram with two circles: poetic Dylan (think "Highway 51" and "Ballad of Judas Priest...") & front-porch singer/songwriter (think the New Morning album). Poetic Dylan puts poetry to music, but the lyrics come first. Front-porch singer/songwriter Dylan has occasionally corny lyrics, but the music and melody come first. The two spheres overlap, and in the middle you have his perfect mix of poetry and melody (think "All Along the Watchtower"), but a lot of times it's just great poetry to so-so music, or songs like "Spirit on the Water," where Dylan is a traditional singer-songwriter not trying to impress us with lyrics first and foremost.
This song makes me think of Dylan playing on an old Southern plantation, you know, "Southern Gothic." It's a really pretty love poem, but the lyrics come second. It's about a dependent relationship; he feels like she brings him the happiness he seeks in life, so he's willing to put up with being mistreated: "Sometimes I wonder Why you can't treat me right You do good all day Then you do wrong all night
When you're with me I'm a thousand times happier than I could ever say What does it matter What price I pay"
I imagine it's a song you'd play drinking wine on a romantic evening at Olive Garden lol The romance of it is kind of dysfunctional, as he is putting her on a pedestal, but it is frank about the self-deprecation and self-pity, and the "do-do, do-do" melody is so pretty, it gives it a nostalgic feel. I was going through a similar relationship and the time, and this song meant so much to me because of that. I'm too proud to let my inner hopeless romantic take over, but I feed him a song like this every now and then and he's satisfied ;D
have you ever seen a ghost?
Great song. really campy music but everyonce in awhile theres a line that makes you go O_O evil.
It's interesting how even the best lyricists can create bad poetry: "I'd forgotten about you Then you turned up again I always knew That we were meant to be more than friends"
But the magic of Dylan is the insane amount of poetic thought that goes into each song (20 stanzas in this one), and each song is filled with gems: High on the hill You can carry all my thoughts with you You've numbed my will This love could tear me in two
I wanna be with you in paradise And it seems so unfair I can't go back to paradise no more I killed a man back there
and the quasi-biblical allusion: I've been trampling through mud Praying to the powers above I'm sweating blood You got a face that begs for love
what instrument makes the "do-do, do-do" sound that pops up all the time as one verse ends another begins? Like right after he sings "Sometimes I wonder" and "You think I'm over the hill". Piano? Keyboard? Organ? or guitar strumming?
it's guitar
it's guitar
Its one of those songs where you want to fall asleep too
Amazing how otherwise intelligent people completely fail to even approach the meaning of this song. It is one of the most overtly Christian songs Dylan has done. The song is about his relationship with God, plain and simple. It is not 'quasi-biblical'. The first 2 lines are a paraphrasing of Genesis 1:2. Wake up, people. This song tells you an immense amount about Dylan's life and the quality of his faith.
I do think it's very spiritual. I think when he started writing "Spirit on the water" he was kind of worshiping. There's definitely a girl mixed up in this song though.
I do think it's very spiritual. I think when he started writing "Spirit on the water" he was kind of worshiping. There's definitely a girl mixed up in this song though.
@uzenzo Dylan often writes stream of consciousness style…his thoughts may have started on God, or those scriptures were rolling around in his head, but he eventually gets to a lady he calls “gal” and he writes:’
@uzenzo Dylan often writes stream of consciousness style…his thoughts may have started on God, or those scriptures were rolling around in his head, but he eventually gets to a lady he calls “gal” and he writes:’
They're braggin' about your sugar Brag about it all over town Put some sugar in my bowl I feel like laying down
They're braggin' about your sugar Brag about it all over town Put some sugar in my bowl I feel like laying down
What I see in a lot of his songs is stream of consciousness addressing God and/or a paradigm reflecting belief in the God revealed in the Bible—AND—also his relationship with people within the same song. It makes perfect sense to me...
What I see in a lot of his songs is stream of consciousness addressing God and/or a paradigm reflecting belief in the God revealed in the Bible—AND—also his relationship with people within the same song. It makes perfect sense to me as when you walk with God this is literally the day in and out experience in your head: you believe God’s version of reality, commune with him, and those precepts guide your relationships with others.
It's such a badass song :) For me it has such great feel of space, freedom and oportunity