Yes, the river knows.
The Doors, 1967.
"Please believe me
The river told me
Very softly
Want you to hold me, oh
Free fall flow, river flow
On and on it goes
Breath under water 'til the end
Free fall flow, river flow
On and on it goes
Breath under water 'til the end
Yes, the river knows.
Please believe me
If you don't need me
I'm going, but I need a little time
I promised I would drown myself in mysticated wine
Please believe me
The river told me
Very softly
Want you to hold me, oh
I'm going, but I need a little time
I promised I would drown myself in masticated wine
Free fall flow, river flow
On and on it goes
Breath under water 'til the end
Free fall flow, river flow
On and on it goes
Breath under water 'til the end"
A song, may have multiple interpretations, from listener to listener, more when it's written by
Morrison. Here is one of mine,
The song is plain about killing oneself. Killing oneself by drowning, as it is clear from, "breathing underwater till the end" that is till you finally die. The river maybe seen, as this, personified entity in the song, that knows about him, that leads him to his death. We can assume, or even imagine that the"river" here is about to take him to his death, and he, is talking to another third person, looking back while going with the river. The lines, "please believe me, the river told me" & "please believe me, if you don't believe me", and "Want you to hold me"; could be used to show that, he was indeed talking to a third person- oblivious to the presence of the river, and insisting them to believe him. He, is not totally, convinced that he should be going with the river and wants the person, to hold him.
The person is still oblivious to the protagonist's fate, and maybe even indicates not needing them, which is when the protagonist is trying to muster up his courage and convince himself, to go with the river (I'm going, but I need a little time.)
The protagonist knows, that he is going to die by drowning in the river, which is why he wants to drown in wine before he actually has to "breathe underwater". Now, there's some confusion among listeners regarding this particular line- "I promised I would drown myself in mysticated wine" in the word before wine, some say it's "mysticated" that is, mystical wine, but it's not a real word.
Others believe it's"mystic heated wine", which according to some, is a Scandinavian or Portuguese wine, which is heated in production or before consumption. Whatever it maybe, the gist can be taken as drowning oneself in alcohol before, actually drowning in "the river".
-Upanshu
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