• Track: Into the Ocean
• Artist: Blue October
• Album: Foiled
• Year: 2006

Lyrics:

[Verse 1]
I’m just a normal boy
That sank when I fell overboard
My ship would leave the country
But I’d rather swim ashore
Without a life vest I’d be stuck again
Wish I was much more masculine
Maybe then I could learn to swim
Like fourteen miles away
Now floating up and down
I spin, colliding into sound
Like whales beneath me diving down
I’m sinking to the bottom of my
Everything that freaks me out
The lighthouse beam has just run out
I’m cold as cold as cold can be…be

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
Into the ocean, end it all
Into the ocean, end it all
Into the ocean, end it all
Into the ocean, end it all
 

[Chrous]
I want to swim away but don’t know how
Sometimes it feels just like I’m falling in the ocean
Let the waves up take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion, yeah
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down
Let the rain come down

[Verse 2]
Where is the coastguard
I keep looking each direction
For a spotlight, give me something
I need something for protection
Maybe flotsam junk will do just fine
The jetsam sunk, I’m left behind
I’m treading for my life believe me
(How can I keep up this breathing?)
Not knowing how to think
I scream aloud, begin to sink
My legs and arms are broken down
With envy for the solid ground
I’m reaching for the life within me
How can one man stop his ending
I thought of just your face
Relaxed, and floated into space

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
Now waking to the sun
I calculate what I had done
Like jumping from the bow (yeah)
Just to prove that I knew how (yeah)
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
Into the ocean, end it all 
Into the ocean, end it all 
Into the ocean, end it all 
Into the ocean, end it all 

[Refrain]
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)
Into the ocean (goodbye), end it all (goodbye)

[Chorus]

[Outro]
Into space
I thought of just your face

We’re certainly not breaking new ground with today’s track, Into the Ocean by Blue October, but we are casting a light on the highly depressive lyrics behind this hit song. Listen to the progression of the story, which starts with song’s subject falling overboard and fighting to survive and then we learn that the man jumped overboard in a show of bravado. And at the end, we realize that the man actually jumped overboard to commit suicide.

These lyrics strike me close to home given that my best friend of more than 25 years committed suicide in 2012, and when I think about the progression of his mental health, I think it followed a similar path. First, he was a victim fighting for survival. Then, he began to toy with life and challenge death. And in the end, he welcomed death by his own hand. Like the loved ones of all suicide victims, his death has left a black hole in my life that can never be filled with anything other than sorrow, regret, and a gnawing feeling of failure to have helped him.

And this story has been told millions of times.¹ 

As for the band and the track, Houston-bred Blue October was formed by Justin Furstenfeld in 1995. The band produced three albums that went largely unnoticed by the public eye, but its fourth release, Foiled, and its two singles, Into the Ocean and Hate Me, thrust them into the spotlight.

Interestingly, Into the Ocean features a rarely used instrument (at least insofar as rock music is concerned)—an erhu. An erhu is a bowed, two-stringed instrument that is sometimes called a spike fiddle, a southern fiddle, or a Chinese violin. Even more interesting, the Dances with Bass research staff just learned that an ehru consists of a vertical stick-shaped neck. At the top of the neck are two large tuning pegs; at the bottom of the neck is the sound box, which is covered with python skin. The instrument’s haunting sound is created as vibrations resonate through the python skin. We find this use of python skin to be simultaneously disgusting and fascinating. I mean, we wear leather shoes and coats—and we love a good BLT sammich—but we have an issue with the slaughter of animals for reasons other than food. Thankfully, the Chinese government (most erhus are made in China) is cracking down on the killing of wild pythons to make these instruments.

You can see a good shot of the ehru at work at about the 1:03-mark in the video below.

Vocalist Justin Furstenfeld has struggled with depression and suicidal ideation, and when performing as a soloist, he uses the moniker 5591, which was the patient number assigned to him when he was admitted to an institution for treatment after a breakup.

I urge you to check out the albums, Foiled and Sway. Both are moody, powerful, and full of interesting musical arrangements and insightful lyrics.

¹ Each year, 45,000 Americans die by suicide. Middle-aged white men are the most common victims, and the most common cause of death is a firearm. My point in sharing these thoughts is that while the song and any suicide is tragic, I do hope that this song shines a light on the darkness that is depression and suicide. It strikes both genders, every ethnicity, and every age bracket. If you know someone who you think needs help, please don’t wait to offer a hand. Call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.

Video:

Here is the official video for Into the Ocean:

Another staff fave from Blue October is Fear from 2013’s Sway:

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