“Oceanic”, the 2002 release from Boston (and L.A.) based band Isis, is quoted by vocalist Aaron Turner’s, ” The only album we’ve done where I came up with one narrative and it ended up being the most cohesive story I’ve told with any of our records..” (In a Combat Music radio interview) Turner light heartily laughs when the interviewer comments on themes containing “rape” and even “incest” within the lyrics in the record. “I haven’t felt entirely comfortable verbalizing it…” Turner goes onto to say in regards to the concept within Oceanic.
Upon reviewing the lyrics myself I’ve found what anyone digging into an Isis album will come to find, you must dig deep. Turner does this on purpose for the same reason I feel the band throws predictable song structure out the window. To keep things interesting and leave the listener in eager anticipation of what’s to come next. Like Tool, with whom Isis is often linked and compared to, the band likes their fans to interpret things on their own and not have it all right there in front of you. What’s the fun in that? Therefore, this was a challenge I was more than up for and put a lot of time into best portraying my version of what’s behind the story that is a continuance of the previous water and female theme heard in prior Isis releases. Here I go…
+The Beginning and the End
“long you both laid in the sun’s yellow stare. on the edge with eyes rolled back. the waves were calling him.”
The title itself is a foreshadow of what’s to come with the lyrical content of this record. It begins to paint the picture of an emotionally numb individual who has lived his entire life in seclusion until he meets this female who becomes his other half and begins making him reassess life. Lots of references to the “edge” and “light” in this song. The edge being the point in ones life where hope is lost.. The light being this chance meeting of an individual who has him seeing life in a whole new, yes you guessed it, light.
“as he teetered on the edge. the waves were calling him. he had seen it. felt its might. bent under.
washing away. he thinks of you. everything slows. light flashing through.”
Without getting too ahead of myself, washing away reminded me of if you’ve ever written something in sand only to see it wash away once the water reaches the edge… Something once present disappearing like the man’s previous assumptions of his life being rewritten by this female.. And if you’ve ever felt time stop during a pivotal moment in your life.. What was once a life rapidly going nowhere is suddenly, slowing down and becoming seemingly more ambient and clear.
“the water flies, over his head. you are me now. as you lay on my bed.”
^ These lines are repeated and signify, in my opinion, the guy reflecting upon the closeness he feels with the girl. And finally the song closes with:
“this is what he’d always known. the promise of greater beyond the water’s final horizon.”
The whole “the grass is greener on the other side” concept… What once felt like an unobtainable reality for someone dwelling in their emotional seclusion, a far away dream, has been obtained. However, be careful what you wish for..
+The Other
The song takes off and already you can feel the mood has changed dramatically as Turner screams the first lines of the song (“in this secret way. he knew you first….”) The beginning of the end. There is a sadness, a helplessness, quickly followed by tormenting anger as you soon put together that our “changed perspective” character from the beginning has found out a startling truth about his counterpart.
“and from those lips, a seed. your mouth dropped open. darkness fell out. kept close in skin. kept close in blood. and in he was.”
It is later put together more clearly but given away in the beginning with the first line “in this secret way.. he knew you first.” and continues to come together with “kept close in blood.” The female counterpart has had an incestual relationship with her brother. But following this realization in the story is the point where things begin to become skewed for me.. It really starts to become, all how you interpret it.. So like Aaron Turner not feeling entirely comfortable discussing the contents of the lyrical content.. I become not entirely comfortable sharing my version of the story.
“And from those lips, a seed. This is the gift that he received. Twisted roots kept warm. Rape she was and ready for the death.”
So how I pieced it together was, following his uncovering of the females ominous truth (“twisted roots kept warm“) Leading me to believe he feels she’d been protecting something so horrible therefore, a “seed” was planted. And our main character becomes ready for death, accepting his counterpart as rape for “in this secret way.. he knew you first..” Secret replacing “sacred” for the closeness that was felt in the beginning was a lie and is no longer sacred, more closely rape. Our emotionally secluded individual has become destroyed by the truth, retaining nothing of himself. Therefore is teetering on the edge again.. Ready to die.
+False Light
Is a terribly sad but wicked track.. (personally, my favorite from Oceanic.)
“Come down on me my sweet angel. Poison milk from that withering breast. Come down on me sweet suffocation. Poison milk from that withering breast. Your mask is drifting. See what writhes beneath.”
The female is going from his angel to his suffocation because her “mask” has been lifted and the truth unveiled. The lyrics go on to actually include the words “incest” for anyone who has any doubt of what’s going on..
“Porcelain grin is cracking. Incest to uncoil. Your laugh spreads yawning. Black hole formation. Drown and the first real breath takes hold. Washed in chill, so peaceful, sink further. Hold his hand and crush it.”
^ Extremely twisted to me because I got that the brother and sister are watching and somewhat rejoicing in the fact they drove the guy to kill himself. It was almost too easy therefore it bores them.. I have several different theories on the last line about the hand.. But, I’m going to leave room for others to interpret it however they see fit.. (: The song closes with the line..
“The depth of charm in infinite. Discover bliss and serenity in drowning.”
+Carry
The further you go into a concept, the more lost you will find yourself in the grand scheme of things, the big picture. At this point, I am juggling between two theories of what takes place next. I had even began to play with the idea of the female counterpart drowning herself along side our main character after he discovered her truth. I, have since found things to cancel out that theory. Nevertheless, with “Carry” I’m still not entirely confident with where it goes.. But this is as much as I could decipher.
“And the water takes hold. Fills his lungs and crushes his body. Dust floats through sun and water. As you draw close. Fall to me. He sees like he’s never seen before. I will carry you true and free.”
It would appear that our guy is drowning himself at this point in discovering the bliss and serenity in drowning. He’s finally setting himself free of all the pain and emptiness he’s found that life has bestowed upon him. No longer being afraid or tormented by life but rather allowing himself to let go.
“And the water carries him away. Now that you are with me. You’ll swim with me. Soon he ceases to be at all. I am clutching you. True.”
I found the last line interesting from above because earlier the lyrics read, “I will carry you true AND free.” and then here it says, “I am clutching you. True.” That could simply mean nothing and I am reading too far into it. Maybe it’s simply that by the second time true is used, he has ceased to be so he is finally free. In death, he has been set free. Death has carried him to the true serenity he’d craved.
“He sees like he never sees before. He is light in water.”
At last he has found true light and with the weight of the world mere water under a bridge.. (Couldn’t resist a water reference.) The song comes to a close and brings us to the two instrumentals. The untitled track, a mere, barely over 2 minute piece that I feel despite having no lyrics plays as important of a role in the concept as those that do. In comparison to it’s following instrumental piece it’s darker… The humming sound in the water closely resembles crickets (my opinion!) which may make one think of nighttime.. And as the howling transcends into a high pitched howling, one may be reminded of sirens, all the while being well aware of the “marine influence.” You can also hear the sound of waves crashing by and towards the end of the song what songs like footprints walking away in sand (perhaps the brother and sister?) Then comes “Martime” which proceeds the untitled track with an extra minute of what appears more serene in my opinion. The tone of the music reminds me of having an epiphany. It’s considerably more merry all things considered.. Both instrumentals deserve to be played all the way through when listening to the record, not skipped over. They play a very critical part in grasping the concept. Both being incredible doesn’t hurt either. (:
+Weight
There are only two lines in this song, bringing back the female vocals. And yet, the song is 11 minutes long and comes in as my 2nd favorite track off the album. When I first read the title of the track, I immediately thought of an anchor in the water, weighting something down–having known the general theme. The song still displays “aquatic” sounds in a couple parts.
“All in, all in a day..”
The lyrics are repeated throughout..
“All in, all in a day.. A day it changes everything.”
These lyrics could mean any number of things to bring the concept together. However, I’d like to think it’s pretty self explanatory regardless of how deeply hidden the truth behind Isis lyrics are. As a matter of fact, I feel almost silly explaining it. I’m going to say, figure this one out for yourself. The female is singing. A guy has freed himself from the tragedy he knew as an emotionally secluded life filled with painful truths, by taking his own life and drowning. All in, all in a day.. A day it changes everything.
+From Sinking
Again, incredible.. This song somewhat goes back and reinforces the beginning of the concept in my opinion.. It takes you back to the where the main character has confined himself in a world of walls protecting himself from a world he is very estranged from.
“His time there so long. His fingers trace the endless walls he knew so well. And there the breaths were short and hard and thick with salt. And in this place he always knew he’d wake alone.”
This could be describing him finding death, his “after life” very similar to the ostracized life he’d made for himself before death, before meeting his “false light.” That and/or being trapped “in between” death and his “after life.” Being stuck somewhere because despite his best efforts to be at peace with dying, he’s held onto something.
“Hands clutch in panic. In this place he built of sand homes that caved. The walls were weak with salty tears. Through the cracks in the walls he saw the sun. The sun dripped through the cracks and died. Shadows managed to betray.”
I love the line, “shadows managed to betray..” And with the above excerpt I again am left to deduce that he’s trapped “in between.” And, I can’t begin to explain why I feel that way without saying the next lines..
“Like liquid was the sadness. Until in the light he stepped. In this truth he knew himself to be. From sinking sands, he stepped into lights embrace.”
I can’t be sure but the references of “stepping into the light..” is what brought me to this conclusion. By this point in my review, I’m regretfully grasping desperately onto guesses and can’t be certain in what I’m saying so my explanations are becoming more brief. My only real mission in doing this was as a platform to get people interested in figuring it out for themselves, accompanied with a little guidance by me (seeing how you will have no luck researching it on your own.. Again, ISIS keeps it a mystery..) And also because I am hoping that someone else can add to my theories and I can better get an understanding of such a wonderful piece of art. So feel free! Nevertheless, we are pushing through and finishing this despite my low level of confidence this far into the album. By the end you begin to second guess your conclusions, thinking that the end doesn’t support all you’ve thought at this point. Irregardless.. The final track… The conclusion.. .
+Hym
“Love flows fear no window minds time Oceanic. Dissolve me.”
The first line, already a riddle (as seen on the Internet with no punctuation.) Dropping the album name though (I love when they do that!) The mood of the song being very intense, raw, and emotionally gut wrenching. The riddle repeated in the beginning before growling/shouting the following lines..
“His own light, now it’s gone. The thirst came on. And it comes on in waves. He would dream of cells swollen with water. Blank memory, washed away. Swallowed whole through eyes and teeth.”
He is free of his memories.. Free of pain. He felt he always knew his truth (his fate..) except for the briefly he felt he’d found his “light”… The promise of more.. Only to find it was a “false light”.. A betraying shadow.. Distracting him from his truth, his freedom, his bliss. “What a blessing absence of memory could be.. Rid eye of image, cleanse brain with brine..Salt of tears and ocean mesh..” (A quote from the Oceanic booklet.)
Oceanic is powerful, intriguing, and worth the struggle to read ” in between the lines.” Be that as it may, perhaps there is reason for Aaron Turner not having shared this concept with many people, it’s his own vision, something very private and personal to the artist. And many artists feel that creating good art is doing it in a way so that the artist themselves feels fulfilled and given the opportunity to work through whatever objects they are struggling with, reflecting on, or simply taken interest in. At the same time, allowing the art observer to get something that is more closely relevant to their lives and not being too caught up in what artists vision was. Seeing art as a personal expression, take from it what you may. The same way that are countless songs people feel apply to how they feel about something in their love life but in reality the song was written to be about a drug addiction. All the same, I hope anyone reading this has been inspired to check out Oceanic and find their own meaning, if they haven’t already. Cheers!
(September 2009, Blue or Green? Music Spot)
The Door, Not the Room 