Blue October - Into the Ocean Song Meanings
 Top Rated Interpretation
anonymous
August 1st, 2007 05:58AM
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I think there are many more layers to this song than most have touched on in their ideas of how this song can be interpreted.
To start with, I think the character in the song didn't just simply allude to him jumping overboard to commit suicide, but also that he jumped overboard into the relationship in the first place, ie,
Now waking to the sun
I calculate what I had done
Like jumping from the bow (yeah)
Just to prove I knew how (yeah)
The speaker jumped into the relationship before he was truly ready and was over his head, just as he found himself when he jumped overboard. It is this relationship he is seen fighting against in the video, where it is represented by a "Moby Dick" type whale - it is something he wants desperately, but can't seem to capture, and perhaps will be destroyed by.
The voice singing "Into the Ocean, end it all", represented in the video by three ghastly-looking ballet dancers, is clearly an allusion to the Sirens in Greek Mythology, who would lure sailors to their deaths. They might also represent the Furies or even the Fates, all female characters that had the ability to control the course of men's lives, and even drive them to their deaths.
This is just my interpretation of the song. I find it to be one of the most intriguing songs to be written in a long time, and as a previous writer stated, a good song can be interpreted on many levels, and this song indeed lends to varied interpretations.
anonymous
August 9th, 2006 11:30AM
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Justin tells us at the live shows that this song was written when he was on a cruise. He was standing on the prow of the ship, and started wondering what it would be like to jump off. This inspired him to write a song about someone who does that, but realizes as soon as he hits the water what a bad idea it was and how much he has to live for. The song is written from his point of view while he is there in the water.
anonymous
January 23rd, 2007 08:21PM
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Has anyone thought about the possibility of this song being about someone who was afraid to let go of their inhibitions, to love someone completely? The depth of our heart is like an ocean. We can either plunge into it full force or bobble on the surface treading water. We each want the security of knowing our hearts will be protected (i.e.: the lighthouse, the Coast Guard), yet none of us have that assurance. Hard times can be like a hurricane. Is our love for each other strong enough to endure the fury of life? When one of us gets caught up in the storm and starts to sink, is the love of our partner strong enough to pull us back up to the surface? Would we do the same for them?
Perhaps when the song says “into the ocean, end it all.” he is ending all his doubts and fears regarding loving completely and tells them goodbye.
“Midnight’s late reminder of the loss of her, the one I love. My will to quickly end it all, set front row in my need to fall.” Could be interpreted to mean, he could not live without her and wants to end all of his doubts regarding his love for her.. His first thought is to just jump, fall, and plunge deep into love. Bring on the hurricane, because together we can weather any storm.
anonymous
March 30th, 2007 06:15PM
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Yes, I'm sure it's about suicide to. I've heard somewhere they use water to represent suicide and the constant pain and sadness.
anonymous
April 2nd, 2007 09:11PM
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I guess I took this song in a more metaphorical meaning than the obvious hints towards suicide... but I always thought it was about not being able to escape your problems. He can't swim and has fallen in the ocean, all he can do now is just let it carry him and hope for the best.
anonymous
June 5th, 2007 11:45AM
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OK, the meaning is totally obvious everyone is trying too hard to interpret it!... basically a man commits suicide by trying to drown himself in an ocean but when he actually acts on that decision he realizes it was a bad idea and that he has a lot to live for...especially a girl. once he's in the water he regrets his decision and tries to escape a horrible death but at first he thinks he has no chance of surviving until he thinks of that special girl. just thinking of her makes him "weightless"... He saves himself from death by doing all he can so he will survive and he can be with "her" (whoever she is...gf maybe wife)
anonymous
October 31st, 2007 10:28PM
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I really think this song is about a stage in your life where you feel overwhelmed with so much(whatever it may be)& you just wanna give up,(into the ocean end it all) But just when your about to(im as cold as cold can be), you realize what you have & what you've been taking for granted.(I thought of just your face, relaxed & floated into space).. You learn to love yourself & your loved ones more than ever & simply realize how lovely life really is. Realizing this has made you a stronger person, so "come what may" (Let the rain come down)
anonymous
November 8th, 2007 09:31PM
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People can and will look at things how they will. Oh, and the song appears to be about a person DREAMING about drowning:
It's midnight's late reminder of
The loss of her, the one I love
My will to quickly end it all
Set front row in my need to fall
He's depressed about losing his lover, so he dreams of suicide. Incidentally, this song may have actually helped prevent a few suicides.
anonymous
February 28th, 2008 01:34PM
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This song just seems like it's about loving someone so much that you don't know what you could do without them and when you lose them everything seems like its falling apart and all you think about is suicide and thinking about all the flaws you have( when he says I wish that I was much more masulent((im not taking time tosee what I spelled wrong)))
and wishing you could be enough for that person and he's not literally in an ocean just in hismind of like barring yourself in your consience and he's falling deeper into his fears and fearing what else could go wrong in his life
Like the people that suffer from anxiety or depression they don't want to be depressed it just happens and they have no control over it("I want to swim away but don't know how")
And then wanting that person to know exactly how you feel ("let the rain of what I feel right now come down") and obviously he's feeling pretty shitty and angry (' the hurricane of what I feel right now')
Hes comparing all of his feelings to water
and when he thinks of her face in the end as much as he wants to hate her the thought of her relaxes him and he just lets go of life
anonymous
April 9th, 2008 10:58AM
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This song is about a boy who has a dream (midnight's late reminder) of committing suicide over the loss of the one he loved...
There can be multiple levels of meaning, but I'm sure some of the meanings posted here are just over exaggerated.
Most likely, the author intended the song to describe the feelings of a person losing someone they love, and how much you want to get over ("I want to swim away, but don't know how") this terrible feeling, but don't know how. and then realizing that suicide is not the way ("Now waking to the sun
I calculate what I had done" : He woke up, thought of his dream and how it was very stupid of him to do that when he had so much to live for)
anonymous
August 24th, 2008 02:33AM
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Has ANYONE ever thought that this song might be about getting clean? Letting go of the person we were when we were using drugs? Rebirth? Or just tying to learn how to live again no matter how much pain and regret we might have and trying to accept life on life's terms? Saying goodbye to the person we used to be. That is what this song means to me. I think this is a raw interpretation of what it feels like in the early stages of recovery.
signed,
A person in recovery
anonymous
March 3rd, 2009 12:44AM
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Suicide didn't even cross my mind when I heard this song. I always thought it was about drugs. Heroin, cocaine, whatever it is, and his need to have more, but feels like he's drowning in his addiction. "I'm just a normal boy that sank when I fell overboard" I think is describing when he first fell into addiction, and he lost control over it. The next part is describing how much further he's falling, and how he feels helpless to stop it, just like someone who's drowning. He's fighting his demons, but finally realizes how useless it is. "Where is the coastguard..." That whole part is saying that he's trying to find someone to help him, but has no one. I took the line "relaxed and floated into space" to mean that he's giving into his addiction, even though he knows it's harmful. He sees the drug as something beautiful, but deadly. "Now waking to the sun..." That part is when he 'comes down' out of his high, realizes he's used again, and knows he's going to continue to use.
anonymous
March 10th, 2009 11:39PM
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As the one two above stated about getting clean, and rebirth, I agree here, since water (and sometimes fire) are very commonly used to symbolized birth, rebirth, or cleansing, and "My ship would leave the country But I'd rather swim ashore" is stating that his old friends (druggies) were going to so something ("leave the country", would represent abandoning the country, by doing something highly illegal) and he jumped, not wanting to be involved, and without help for his quitting the addiction, he feels like he is drowning, "rather swim ashore" would at the same time represent leaving the cleansing water onto the dirt of shore, but since he can't get to there (find some other source of drugs)he is forced to stay clean (and the "thought of just your face, relaxed and floated into space" would be the admittance that there is also a girl involved)
anonymous
March 23rd, 2009 09:09AM
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The lyrics convey the first-person account of a "normal boy" who has fallen or jumped off the bow of a ship and the thoughts that pass through the boy's mind as he loses the will to keep afloat by treading water. His final thought is of his beloved as he eventually concedes to drowning
In the final verse the song takes on a deeper meaning as the lyrics reveal that the initial story of the boy drowning was just a dream spurred by feelings of grief over the loss of a loved one, presumably the woman whose face gave him comfort as he imagined he was drowning. The dream is referred to lyrically as "Midnight's late reminder of the loss of her, the one I love." The song then indicates that he wishes, like in the dream, that he could slip "into the ocean, end it all."
potpie
April 12th, 2009 08:49PM
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I think this song is saying that he lost his one true love and tries to commit suicide but in his attempt he fights with himself in whether he has enough to live for and ends up killing himself at the end and feels peace.
viva_la_vida
May 17th, 2009 09:01PM
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i've read a lot of interpretations that make perfect sense, but i interpreted this song well before i visited this website. maybe this is why i love this song so much, because i see it the way i want to.
I think this song is a huge metaphor. Like, the ocean is a metaphor for his problems (i'm sinking to the bottom of my everything that freaks me out) and all of his problems and issues, including the loss of his love, are just taking over him. He's drowning in his ocean of issues.
so during a lot of the song, he's comparing fighting his issues to trying not to drown (my legs and arms are broken down with envy for the solid ground)
but what i love about this song, is that there is a point where he just lets go, and accepts things the way they are. (i thought of just your face, relaxed and floated into space)
this song speaks to me like no other. my favorite song in the world. its absolutely poetic.
anonymous
June 14th, 2009 09:43PM
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Personally.
I think this song is about a person who's buried in stress, maybe a bad relationship, who knows? But the speaker is troubled tries to free himself.. But is quickly reminded the ocean is cruel too..
Or the ocean is how he feels, like he's overtaken.
I'm probably wrong here.
anonymous
July 10th, 2009 01:55PM
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you know when you see those movies where when the persons depressed about something right well i think that the writer went into a relationship to soon and his true love was not ready to go in a relationship yet and she broke his heart by braking up with him and he realized that being that depressed is like drowning and while he's drowning and he thinks of her its like hes all relaxed and floating in space.
danievans52
July 30th, 2009 05:15AM
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Almost as though he has created a heavy life for himself that he's beginning to struggle with. His life is like a sea of whatever he's created it to be, and he's drowning in it (to tread water is easy for a bit, but surely gets hard after a while). At the moment wanting to swim away from his current problems, dreaming of solid ground. Freaking out about possibly failing at his life.
Wishing he was much more masculine, masculine inferring symbolic strength. His life vest reference being maybe something solid or something he's comfortable with, a lover probably.
'When it rains, it pours'. Being inundated with lots of stress or problems.
"Where is the coastguard I need something for protection"/ Hes living his life with no shelter, no one to filter out the bad or hard parts. Bit off more than he could chew in hindsight, but doesn't want to fail himself.
"Let the rain come down,...hurricane..etc" Sometimes it feels appropriate to simmer in your own pathetic thoughts and you don't want to feel happy, (weird human nature, lol).
"Midnights last reminder of his love" He drove his true love away for some reason, and is regretting it, but he's feeling sentimental about it...everything's worse when your tired,(namely midnight).
anonymous
February 26th, 2010 12:32PM
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Justin is bipolar.
I think the ocean represents his feelings and emotions and how he feels like he's fallen into the ocean is like him not being ablle to contol his feelings and what he does so he's stuck in a whirlwind.
When you look at parts of the lyric like "I'm sinking to the bottom of my everything thaty freaks me out." It makes think about him haveing to face an issue he can't deal with and blowing up, which also corrisponds to him saying "now wakeing to the sun, I calculate what I had done." Kind of like he made a mistake when he was angry and now realizes it.
kthawnghmung
March 3rd, 2010 05:15PM
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i have thought this whole time that this song was about being addicted to some kind of drug. and losing everything he loved and because= into the ocean (drug use) end it all=he loses everything he loves and i wanna swim away but dont know how= i wanna quit but i dont know how im addicted bittersweetness
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