According to Bob Dylan's autobiographical Chronicles, Woody Guthrie gave his unpublished songs to Dylan but Bob was unable to get them from Guthrie's family (he tells a story about a reluctant babysitter).
Nora Guthrie's liner notes in Mermaid Avenue indicate that it was her intention that the songs be given to a new generation of musicians who would be able to make the songs relevant to a younger generation. She therefore contacted singer-songwriter Billy Bragg in spring 1995 about recording some unreleased songs by her father, folk singer Woody Guthrie. Most of the songs were written late in Guthrie's life when he was unable to record due to the motor impairments of Huntington's disease. By the 1990s, Woody Guthrie had become a "relic" to the MTV generation, and Nora sought to establish a different legacy for the musician. To Nora, Bragg was "the only singer I knew taking on the same issues as Woody." Bragg was concerned, however, that his fans would not realize that the songs were written by Guthrie when he performed them on tour, so he decided to record the album with another band.
Bragg contacted Tweedy and Bennett about co-recording the album while Wilco was on the European segment of their Being There tour. Bragg was particularly fond of Being There because their influences extended farther back than the 1950s. Although Tweedy was indifferent to the offer, Bennett was enthused about recording songs of one of his idols—Bennett's previous band Titanic Love Affair was named after a Billy Bragg lyric. A recording contract between Bragg and Wilco was signed after a show at Shepherd's Bush Empire. Bragg mostly recorded the politically-charged lyrics, while Tweedy preferred to record lyrics that showcased Guthrie as a "freak weirdo." The recording of Mermaid Avenue began on December 12, 1997, and was the topic of BBC's Man in the Sand documentary film.
Tempers flared between Bragg and Wilco after the album was completed. Bennett believed that Bragg was overproducing his songs, a sharp contrast to Wilco's sparser contributions. Bennett called Bragg about the possibility of remixing Bragg's songs, to which Bragg responded with "you make your record, and I'll make mine, fucker." Eventually Bragg sent copies of his recordings to Chicago for Bennett to remix, but Bragg refused to use the new mixes on the album. The two parties were unable to establish a promotional tour and quarreled over royalties and guest musician fees.
Despite these conflicts, the album was released on June 23, 1998, and sold over 277,000 copies. The album received rave reviews from Robert Christgau and Rolling Stone, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. It also placed fourth on the Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1998 (right behind Bob Dylan's Live 1966).
Go Down To The Water
Billy Bragg & Wilco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Drop your hair down and cry
And write with your finger in the sand
Mail it out with the tide
Mail it out with the high and the low
Watch the marks in the sand
Listen to the fog on the homeless waves
Smell that sea wind, taste on your lips
That foam that rolls over my lost ships
Write your letter once more in the sand
Where the breaker dips and our undertow slips
Kneel down and feel the water's edge
Write our names side by side
And look and listen to all those ships
That toss in the fog and in the tides
Let down your hair when you kneel down there
Let me be the wind that pulls your hair
And you be the man you made out of sand
And let your hands keep making him there
When nobody is looking kiss your hand
And touch to the nose of your man in the sand
Then lay down with your head on his chest
Be nice, be nice to your man on the sand
The song "Go Down to the Water" is a contemplative ode to the ocean, a meditation on the transience of human life and the eternal nature of the sea. The lyrics describe a quiet, introspective moment of walking along the shoreline, feeling the sand and the waves and the sea breeze. The singer encourages the listener to "Go down to the water where the oil floats by" and to "Drop your hair down and cry," symbolic acts of letting go and acknowledging the fragility of life.
The lyrics also speak to the power of the sea and the deep emotional connection many people have to it. The singer suggests that the listener write a message in the sand and send it out with the tide, a way of communicating with the vast, unknowable vastness of the ocean. The song encourages us to embrace the mystery and beauty of the sea, to kneel down and feel its power and fragility, and to be present in the moment and appreciate the fleeting beauty of life.
Overall, "Go Down to the Water" is a powerful and evocative song that speaks to the deep emotional and spiritual connections many people feel to the ocean. Its contemplative and introspective tone encourages the listener to take a moment to appreciate the beauty and transience of life, and the power and mystery of the natural world.
Line by Line Meaning
Go down to the water where the oil floats by
Head to the water where the oil flows past
Drop your hair down and cry
Let your hair down and shed your tears
And write with your finger in the sand
Use your fingers to inscribe in the sand
Mail it out with the tide
Send it away with the flow of water
Mail it out with the high and the low
Send it with both high and low tides
Watch the marks in the sand
Observe the imprints on the sand
Listen to the fog on the homeless waves
Hear the fog on the waves without a home
And feel the salt sea in your hands
Experience the saltwater in your palms
Smell that sea wind, taste on your lips
Inhale the fragrance of the sea breeze, savor it on your lips
That foam that rolls over my lost ships
The foam that moves over my sunken ships
Write your letter once more in the sand
Inscribe your letter once again on the sandy shore
Where the breaker dips and our undertow slips
At the point where the wave dips and our rapid current slides
Kneel down and feel the water's edge
Bend over and sense the water's end
Write our names side by side
Inscribe our names adjacent to each other
And look and listen to all those ships
Observe and listen to all of those boats
That toss in the fog and in the tides
That sway in both the mist and the currents
Let down your hair when you kneel down there
Lower your hair when you're kneeling down
Let me be the wind that pulls your hair
Allow me to be the breeze that moves your hair
And you be the man you made out of sand
And you portray the man you formed out of sand
And let your hands keep making him there
Permit your hands to keep creating him there
When nobody is looking kiss your hand
When nobody is around, kiss your hand
And touch to the nose of your man in the sand
Then touch the nose of your man in the sand
Then lay down with your head on his chest
After that, lay down with your head on his chest
Be nice, be nice to your man on the sand
Be kind, be kind to your man on the sand
Contributed by Camilla E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.