Into the Ocean

"Into the Ocean" by Blue October

I'm just a normal boy
That sank when I fell overboard
My ship would leave the country
But I'd rather swim ashore
Without a life that's sadly stuck again
Wish I was much more masculine
Maybe then I could learn to swim
Like (fourteen miles away)

Now floating up and down
I spin, colliding into sound
Like whales beneath me diving down
I'm sinking to the bottom of my
Everything that freaks me out
The lighthouse beam has just run out
I'm cold as cold as cold can be
Be

I want to swim away but don't know how
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
Let the waves up and take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down
Let the rain come down

Where is the coast guard?
I keep looking each direction
For a spotlight give me something
I need something for protection
Maybe flotsam junk will do just fine
The jets; I'm sunk; I'm left behind
I'm treading for my life, believe me
(How can I keep up this breathing?)

Not knowing how to think
I scream aloud, begin to sink
My legs and arms are broken down
With envy for the solid ground
I'm reaching for the life within me
How can one man stop his ending?
I thought of just your face
Relaxed, and floated into space

I want to swim away but don't know how
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
Let the waves up and take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down
Let the rain come down

Now waking to the sun
I calculate what I had done
Like jumping from the bow, yeah
Just to prove that I knew how, yeah
It's midnight's late reminder of
The loss of her, the one I love
My will to quickly end it all
So thought no end my need to fall

Into the ocean, end it all
Into the ocean, end it all
Into the ocean, end it all
Into the ocean, end it all

Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)

 

I want to swim away but don't know how
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
Let the waves up and take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down
Let the rain come down

Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
(Into space)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)

Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
(I thought of just your face)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)

Analysis:

I chose “Into The Ocean” by Blue October because it is about someone struggling to get past a major life event. Most everyone has experienced the loss of someone that they love, but some people grieve differently than others. I also like how he expresses his feelings and emotions using a storm and the ocean.

The songwriter uses similes to describe how he is feeling through the song. The songwriter is slipping into a depression: “Like whales beneath me diving down/I’m sinking to the bottom of my/Everything that freaks me out”. He is slipping into this depression faster than expected comparing it to whales diving in the ocean. The ocean in this song symbolizes two things his death and how easy it can be and the depression and how overwhelming it can be. The songwriter uses, "I want to swim away but don’t know how/Sometimes it feels just like I’m falling in the ocean", as a metaphor to describe how the depression is taking over and beginning his thoughts of suicide. He asks the question “How can one man stop his ending?” and answered it, “I thought of just you face/Relaxed, and floated into space”. This solidifies that the song is about a woman, possible his wife because in the music video there is an empty seat that is marked ‘reserved for my wife’.  It shows even loss can make you strong because now you can see yourself living for the person that you lost. He personifies his feelings as rain because there is so much emotion going on in his head. “I want to swim away but don’t know how/Sometimes it feels just like I’m falling in the ocean/Let the waves up and take me down/Let the hurricane set in motion/Let the rain of what I feel right now come down/Let the rain come down/Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)” The last verse is the songwriter contemplating suicide by jumping off a boat into the ocean. “Into the ocean” is repeated throughout the song and is also the title of the song. The title is especially meaningful because it symbolizes his death and how simple it can be. Hence his saying “Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye).

This song speaks to me as a listener who has lost so many loved ones and friends so early in my life. It reminds me never to forget them. It also gives me the sense that I am stronger because I have not forgotten them nor have I slipped so deep into a depression as to contemplate suicide. The theme of this song is that there is more to life than death.

Sources:
video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZES3nJQYJok
lyrics:
https://play.google.com/music/preview/T45sbrywv5idpj3ldeffslkgccm?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics
Released: 2006