Thoughts on "What the Water Gave to Me"

What the Water Gave Me / A chance encounter with a seagull during
a walk along the Gulf of Mexico at Port Aransas, Texas.

Recently, the passionate song "What the Water Gave Me" by Florence and the Machine came up on shuffle in my iPod's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" playlist. One good listen of the song led to another and, soon after, it got me thinking about water and its importance in religion.

The significance of water in scripture as described in both The Bible and The Quran is tremendous.  Water is mentioned in the Bible 442 times in the New International Version and 363 times in the King James Version. After all, water speaks of physical or natural birth. Water speaks to us of the word of God and Allah. Water speaks to us of ablution. Water speaks to us of a spiritual life.

In The Bible, Genesis II describes the perfect conditions of the garden of Eden, a garden which was watered by a river. Of course, without water, the garden would have died, as plants, animals and humans cannot survive without water. Indeed, this river is a beautiful picture of the life that Christ gives to His children through the Spirit of God.

In The Quran, the Holy Book asserts that water is, by the will of God, the sole basis for the emergence of life: "We have made every living thing out of water." (Sura 21 The Prophets, ayat 30). And, water is often used to describe Paradise.

In the Quranic account of the forming of the Cosmos, there is a great emphasis placed on water, as demonstrated in other ayat (verses) in the preceding sura (chapter) which lists heaven, earth, the sun, night and day as natural factors in the creation of the universe. It also speaks of a single element that infuses life into the universe: the element of water.

In addition to The Bible and The Quran, the Chinese taoist philosopher Lao Tzu, who wrote Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way), said: "Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet, when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So, the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it."

The element of water has appeared often in popular song. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel; "Rain" by The Beatles; "Riders on the Storm" by the Doors; and "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding, all come to mind. Which brings me back to "What the Water Gave Me."

In 2011, Florence Welch, the lead singer for the the English indie folk-rock group Florence and the Machine, and Eg White penned the song "What the Water Gave Me." It is written in the key of C Minor and contains not only ethereal vocals, harps and strings, but also a gospel-like organ and soaring gospel-rooted harmonies.

In a Wikipedia article about "What the Water Gave Me," titled after a famous Frida Kahlo painting, Welch elaborated on the title and meaning of the song: "It's a song for the water, because in music and art what I'm really interested in are the things that are overwhelming. The ocean seems to me to be nature's great overwhelmer."

Welch continues: "When I was writing this song I was thinking a lot about all those people who've lost their lives in vain attempts to save their loved ones from drowning. It's about water in all forms and all bodies." Additionally, she says, the song talks about "children who are swept out to sea, and their parents go in after them and try to rescue them."

Time it took us

To where the water was

That's what the water gave me

And time goes quicker

Between the two of us

Oh, my love, don't forsake me

Take what the water gave me

Lay me down

Let the only sound

Be the overflow

Pockets full of stones

Lay me down

Let the only sound

Be the overflow

And oh, poor Atlas

The world's a beast of a burden

You've been holding on a long time

And all this longing

And the ships are left to rust

That's what the water gave us

So lay me down

Let the only sound

Be the overflow

Pockets full of stones

Lay me down

Let the only sound

Be the overflow

'Cause they took your loved ones

But returned them in exchange for you.

But would you have it any other way?

Would you have it any other way?

You could have it any other way

'Cause she's a cruel mistress

And the bargain must be made

But oh, my love, don't forget me

When I let the water take me

So, lay me down

Let the only sound

Be the overflow

Pockets full of stones

Lay me down

let the only sound

Be the overflow

Lay me down

Let the only sound

Be the overflow

Pockets full of stones

Lay me down

Let the only sound

Be the overflow.

  

This reaffirming, epic song, whose themes mix images of death (legendary writer Virginia Woolf's suicide; her walking into the water with her pockets filled with stones) with declarations of undying love, was critically praised by both U.S. and British critics. One called it "overwhelming in its bombast, yet delicate in its sonic detail."

Like many biblical scriptures, "What the Water Gave Me" is lovely, passionate and intense all rolled together. The revelatory joy in Florence Welch's voice by the end of the song shows us what one critic described as "just how emotionally powerful and engaging a pop song can be."

Indeed.

What the water gives us is life.

Note: YouTube video of Florence and the Machine performing "What the Water Gave Me" live on 'Later...with Jools Holland', BBC2, November 2011.

Japan's powerful earthquake and tsunami

We are just guests in Mother Nature's home, wrote a friend. /
 Tonight, the ocean is dry.

"You can't control nature, but when something like this happens, you really realize the power of nature."
~ Hideki Okajima, Boston Red Sox pitcher

Each year, natural disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, hurricanes and tsunamis strike.  No part of the world, it seems, is immune from the wrath of Mother Nature.

In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami that befell Sumatra, Indonesia resulted in over 200,000 deaths.  It's a very humbling statistic.

"We are just guests in Mother Nature's home," wrote one of my Facebook friends on Friday evening. "May Japan recover quickly."

It's a sincere, heartfelt sentiment that I'm sure many of my friends share in the wake of Friday's devastating and deadly natural disaster that jolted Japan at 2:46 p.m. local time.

Unfortunately, Japan's geographic location in the Asia/Pacific Rim is very seismically active.  So, Friday's 8.9 catastrophic earthquake off the northeastern coast of Japan, coupled with the unleashing of a deadly, 10 meter-high tsunami that tore away buildings from their foundations and washed away cars stretching over a 100-mile swatch, should not come as a total surprise.  It was Japan's worst earthquake in its recorded history, which rocked buildings 235 miles away in Tokyo.

Right now, there's a struggle to reach survivors.  The epicenter occurred near the Northeast city of Sendai. While the loss of life and property is considerable ~ estimates suggest that the death toll will eventually exceed 1,000 ~ fortunately, it appears that strict building codes and disaster preparedness prevented a greater loss of life in lieu of the vast destruction, which has included deadly fires and a fear of some small radiation leaks in at least two of Japan's nuclear power plants.

From a humanistic viewpoint, it hurts to see Japan, a very proud, rich and high-tech nation, suffer such a heartbreaking natural disaster.  For that matter, it hurts to see any country endure any kind of natural disaster.  I can't imagine the pain that the good citizens of Christchurch, New Zealand suffered earlier this year with their earthquake let alone fathom the tragedy that has struck Japan.  The road to recovery facing both countries is staggering.  It will take much time and money ~ and a lot of patience.  Thoughts and prayers, I'm sure, are also a welcome resource.

Watching the incredible ~ albeit very sad and heartbreaking ~ video footage coming out of Japan throughout the day on CNN brought the maddening destruction into my living room.  It reinforced a grim reminder that I shared Friday morning with my Facebook friends:  Do not turn your back to the ocean.

Those of us who live in the San Francisco Bay Area woke up Friday morning feeling a little nervous as the tsunami wave thundered across the Pacific Ocean.  Precautions were taken, and a major northern California coastal highway was closed to traffic from San Francisco to Santa Cruz throughout the morning and into the early afternoon.  Fortunately, the worst damage to the Bay Area occurred in some area marinas and harbors, where some boats and pleasure craft were roughed up by choppy water.

As my American friends, who reside along the southern Gulf Coast and up and down the eastern Atlantic seaboard ~ whose lives often have been affected by the threat of or damage from hurricanes ~ can attest: Do not underestimate the power of water.

"Dear Almighty Father," wrote another of my Facebook friends. "Please help these victims as I pray for all who are enduring loss of their family members and their loved ones.  Help the children and adults to overcome this horrible tragedy in the days, weeks and months to follow."  Kind and heartfelt words, indeed.

For all the criticism thrown at social media outlets like Facebook, make no mistake:  It's given us a forum to convey our feelings and share our thoughts with our friends, both close to home as well as across oceans.

Today, it's been very comforting to share e-mails via Facebook in the hours following the world's latest natural disaster. From an old high school friend, who has endured several Gulf Coast hurricanes in Mississippi, to a new friend I made just a few days ago, who works in the fine arts in the United Kingdom, who asked about damage to my area and wanted to wish me a peaceful weekend.

Finally, I feel extremely fortunate to know that a longtime friend of mine, retired from the U.S. Navy, who resides near Yokosuka, Japan is alive and well, having endured by his estimate 140 aftershocks ~ and simply asks for our thoughts and prayers in the hours and days ahead.

"All is well with family and co-workers," he wrote in an e-mail I received Friday afternoon, about 24 hours after the earthquake-tsunami tandem. "Wish I could say the same for the rest of the country."

The American statesman, poet and inventor Ben Franklin once said : "When the well is dry, we know the worth of water."

Tonight, the ocean is dry, and a very proud nation is badly stricken, searching for help and compassion from its friends and neighbors, near and far, in the lonely days ahead.

Calla lily photo by Michael Dickens (copyright 2010).  All rights reserved.