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 on to
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 yeah!

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!

Finally, I think this song is about dying.