anonymous February 15th, 2006 12:11PM  
Dude, you're an idiot. I'm sorry for saying that, but it's true. There have been TV programs before about how it's about the Indians: "Don't drink the water, there's blood in the water", that's definitely about crickets.

anonymous December 19th, 2006 09:45AM  
Actually, It's not about the indians or the crickets it's about Africans. Dave is south african and he wrote it about things going on in Africa.

DarkNick January 18th, 2007 07:03AM  
I'd love it if this was actually about the camel crickets! I laughed my rearend off when I read that. Everyone here knows this is Dave expressing his feelings about the American Indians and how thier situation sucked.

anonymous February 28th, 2007 11:26AM  
In that storytellers program dave did talk about crickets, but it didn't have anything to do with don't drink the water. Also, in storytellers, Dave actually says that DDTW is about what happened with the native americans and how it's important to remember that our past "has some poison in it"

anonymous March 12th, 2007 10:24PM  
In general it's about the segregation in africa between blacks and whites.

anonymous March 27th, 2007 06:24PM  
This song is about Indians, South AMERICAN Indians, it's about horrible mistreatment of the Indians through out south america.

gary2532 July 10th, 2007 04:28PM  
You have to understand that songwriters like Dave Matthews don't typically just sit down and say, "Now I'm going to write a song about _______." Usually it's one thing that spurs thought about another thing, and so on until it evolves into a song. It could be true that he had a bunch of crickets in his basement and got a basic idea and toyed around with it until he thought, "Hey that sounds like the situations in South Africa or the Native Americans." Then lines about blood in the water, living with greed, etc. accent the song to mold it into something greater than the original idea.

paja713 September 19th, 2007 06:48PM  
I agree with Gary, people don't sit down and say, "Wow, I feel really influenced by _____ to write a song, but I want to fill it with a bunch of metaphors that only make sense to me." When a musician is highly influenced by something they directly write about it, like Imagine. or else our dumb ass American society would think that Blood In The Water is about cricket infestations, or that Rock Lobster is about crack, or that Stairway to Heaven is about drug addiction or Jesus or Satan. If you look at words long enough its not hard to interpret them entirely different then how they were meant to be. If I were to say, "the whimsical pig jumped over the fence," some idiot is going to say, "hes talking about how Jesus was all knowing and knew that Judas would betray him." or one would say, "obviously the pig is a drug addict, that is wandering aimlessly in hopes of finding drugs."

anonymous December 10th, 2007 01:07PM  
More specifically, this song is about and native american massacre that took place at the grand canyon. Native americans were pushed off the clifts turning the part of the colorado river red with blood. This makes "dont drink the water" both a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning that out history is not all that great.

charlottepatterson83 December 14th, 2007 12:43PM  
The last interpretation is correct! I specifically heard him say it was about taking a trip to the Grand Canyon and while everyone around him was in awe of it's beauty- he was thinking about the Native Americans and tragedy the Europians caused when they displaced them from the land they had been on forever.

anonymous April 27th, 2008 10:07AM  
Well I certainly know this song has nothing to do with crickets. I also don't think DDTW is about apartheid in South Africa because he says he was on Lake Superior thinking of what it must have been like before our ancestors got here. He is referencing the Native Americans being forced off the land and even killed. But everyone has their own interpretations and opinions. No matter what you think the song is about it is very important to realize that the main theme in this son is GREED.

anonymous April 27th, 2008 10:14AM  
To add on to what I just said I think if you listen to the version from Radio City where in the middle of "Don't Drink the Water" he plays "This Land Is Your Land". I think he did this to show the irony of the two songs. It is ironic that he played those two together because DDTW is about the Native Americans forced off their land and "This Land Is Your Land" is about sharing all of America. I think if you listen to this version it will give you better understanding of the song. Keep in mind the theme of GREED!

jojo June 16th, 2008 10:47AM  
I think it's wonderful that Dave wrote this powerful song with such meaning and passion, as he does with so many of his other songs. We should never forget where we came from and appreciate it, but at the same time we, shouldn't feel guilty, because we ourselves had no control over it. Learning history should help "us" to not make these sort of mistakes over and over again, but look where it's gotten the world so far, unfortunately. It is terrible what happened with the Indians, and kids should be taught the whole "true" story in school, but we also have to remember that not all the Indians were peaceful people either, fighting amongst the tribes, scalping each other. None of us should take others form granted and treat one another as we would like to be treated ourselves...thanks for reading.

Misty328 February 8th, 2009 04:42PM  
The interpretation is simple........It's about the oppression of all people..........and also an anti war song.

agentdisciple19 May 25th, 2009 07:26PM  
When i hear this song i think of how dave is talking about not drinking the water of fame. I mean, not basically just fame, but how his talents and his ego can drive people away. I know on the surface he might be talking about the natives, but i think its much deeper than that.

anonymous November 17th, 2009 11:12AM  
Cherokee removal

anonymous February 25th, 2010 05:09PM  
Although it can apply to many things and symbolize many things I have to say that I always think of it as a Native American/Colonists song in particular.

Especially during live versions when he throws in:

"This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters"

near the end. I have heard this a couple times and particularly that I can recall during the live Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds show. And this song is partial to America. This only confirms he is talking about America. Yes Dave is from Africa but that doesn't mean every song he sings is about Africa.


On another note, blood in the water is just a phrase for people being killed over something like blood diamonds. Blood on your hands. I think it the phrase "blood in the water" is the simplest way to say something much more meaningful.