Why is This The Sea?

Okay, okay. So in The Obligatory "What's This All About" Post #1, I wrote that this blog would not be about surfing. Yet here we are, on post #2, with a surf photo, mention of a great surfer movie, and link to a video about said surfer epic.

What's going on?

Simply put, everything begins and ends with the Sea. I could wax poetic about the religious, scientific, and metaphysic aspects of the Sea, but nearly any work by Joseph Conrad would do a better job. Suffice it to say that the Sea is pretty big stuff and worthy of thoughful reflection.

The sea is the reason why we go to the beach. A beach without the sea is a desert: when's the last time you got amped to go to the desert? The sheer pleasure of sitting on the beach all day, doing absolutely nothing but watching the sea is a narcotic all its own. Surfing, sailing, beachcombing, any of these can change your life. All you need is to embrace the Sea.

So without further ado, watch the clip below and reflect on the lyrics from the Waterboys. Whatever your troubles may have been, that was the River. This is the Sea.

Watch The Video

These things you keep

You'd better throw them away.

You wanna turn your back

On your soulless days.

Once you were tethered

And now you are free.

Once you were tethered

Well, now you are free.

That was the River;

This is the Sea.

Now if you're feelin' weary,

If you've been alone too long,

Maybe you've been suffering from

A few too many

Plans that have gone wrong.

And you're trying to remember

How fine your life used to be,

Running around, banging your drum

Like it's 1973.

Well, that was the River;

This is the Sea.

Now you say you've got trouble.

You say you've got pain.

You say've got nothing left to believe in,

Nothing to hold onto,

Nothing to trust,

Nothing but chains.

You're scouring your conscience,

Raking through your memories,

Scouring your conscience,

Raking through your memories.

But that was the River.

This is the Sea.

Now I can see you wavering

As you try to decide.

You've got a war in your head,

And it's tearing you up inside.

You're trying to make sense

Of something that you just can't see,

Trying to make sense now

And you know you once held the key.

But that was the River

And this is the Sea!

Now I hear there's a train,

It's coming on down the line,

It's yours if you hurry,

You've got still enough time.

And you don't need no ticket.

And you don't pay no fee.

No, you don't need no ticket;

You don't pay no fee.

Because that was the River;

And this is the Sea.

Behold the Sea!

-Written by Mike Scott, The Waterboys, 1985