A lot of my favorite songs have come from no place other than CTY. The canon list is a list of classics from the 70s' till now. And so, I felt that I have to pay tribute to R.E.M's Michael Stipe for writing one of the best songs ever - Nightswimming.
According to interviews, Stipe talked about how the song was about the early days of the band. They would go skinny dipping with friends in the summer, but that was a long time ago, a time back in their youth. However, I feel like there is definitely more than what meets to eye with this song. Here's my best to give a justified interpretation of the lyrics.
The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago,
the photograph denotes an item that the author holds dear to his heart, even though it's been a long time since the photo was taken
Turned around backwards so the windshield shows.
Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse.
I feel like Stipe is trying to allude to an alternate fate and how, since much time has passed since the photo had been taken, he perhaps sees reality in a different light
Still, it's so much clearer.
I forgot my shirt at the water's edge.
The moon is low tonight.
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night.
I'm not sure all these people understand.
He's actually talking about physically swimming at night. However, it's clear that he knows that the people today don't actually understand the meaning behind the action.
It's not like years ago,
The fear of getting caught,
Of recklessness and water.
This shows that the author is now older and feels differently about the same actions. Maybe, looking back on this "rebellious" act, he feels aged and wistful, that he cannot experience the same event again.
They cannot see me naked.
These things, they go away,
Replaced by everyday.
I feel like the author here is saying that "they" can't see him both physically naked, and "emotionally" naked. As in he's grown apart from some of these people, so to them, they no longer see the entirety of his being, of his soul.
'These things that go away ... everyday' talks about how even though these things (eg. the physical act of nightswimming) may not be here anymore, they're integrated in his everyday life, not necessarily replaced by the things in his older life.
Nightswimming, remembering that night.
September's coming soon.
I'm pining for the moon.
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit
Around the fairest sun?
That bright, tight forever drum
Could not describe nightswimming.
First, this is talking about how he misses the days of his youthful summer and how he longs for those moonlit adventures. The two moons he talks about, again, could be his referencing to two different realities, and how he sees the world in a second way. The "drum" is a metaphor. Drums keep time, and one of the first methods of keeping time was using the sun. By using this image, the author is hinting that this "tight" drum, will never stop beating and that it is constantly repeating its rhythm (emphasized even more, by the trademark piano riff which makes this song so memorable.)
Also, the sun and moon are traditionally referred to as opposites. Maybe Stipe's talking about something that was quite normal at the time, but now, is viewed as extraordinary. Something that seemed so mundane, is now inexplicably beautiful. In a way, maybe he wishes that he could have understood that, back then.
You, I thought I knew you.
You I cannot judge.
You, I thought you knew me,
This one laughing quietly underneath my breath.
Nightswimming.
I believe here, he's talking about this one person, or maybe a few of them, whom he loved. 'You I though I knew you' is talking about how he once loved this person and how he still does, as he is unable to judge them. But that person cannot remember him, as they don't 'know' him anymore. He finds this ironic, as even though the act of nightswimming is eternally unforgettable, love easily withers and dies. So he resorts to 'laughing.. underneath my breath'.
The photograph reflects, every streetlight a reminder.
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night, deserves a quiet night.
This is Stipe's conclusion. The photograph and the street-lights are mentioned once again. The first is to remind the audience of something that, even though has transpired long ago, is still something that haunts him to this day. The latter is talking of how he could see maybe a different Fate, and that now that he's 'grown up', he sees the world in a different light. The streetlights remind him of how he cannot turn back time to revisit the time of "nightswimming". And that, he will forever remember, during quiet nights of reminiscence.
We all have our ways of "nightswimming", so I guess doing what I'm doing now, is mine.
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