The National Lights is the primary song-writing project of Jacob Thomas Ber… Read Full Bio ↴The National Lights is the primary song-writing project of Jacob Thomas Berns. Assisted by the arrangements Ernest Christian Kiehne Jr. (The Bland Allisons, Sonya Cotton), Jacob Thomas sets out on his full-length debut, The Dead Will Walk, Dear, to forgive the past while compounding its wrongs. Stirred by the fiction of the American Gothic, The Dead Will Walk, Dear roughly documents the passions, trials and regrets of a Midwestern murder.

The National Lights marry traditional American folk stylings - acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins and lap-steel guitars - with beautifully hushed harmonies, and lyrics that owe as much to Flannery O'Connor as to the 1980's slasher film.

Like few of their contemporaries, the National Lights believe that simple music, unabashedly conscious lyrics and restrained vocals remain critical elements of good songwriting.

The Water Is Wide
the National Lights Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Your heart's in the wrong place
Say it with your mouth
I pull my guns from the desert, just in case you ever came back around

Put your clothes in the water and lay down at your side
You keep real still and quiet
You can make it through the night

It ain't no sin to shed your skin
Go dancing in your bones
The water's deep and your body's sweet
With lungs, the way to go

Take your face to the river
Down where the water is wide

And if you ask real nice-like
I just might save your life

Overall Meaning

"The Water is Wide" is a song with many interpretations and its history is rooted in folklore. In National Lights' interpretation, the lyrics seem to be about a complicated relationship where one person's heart is no longer in the right place. The singer then protects themselves by pulling guns from the desert in case of the person's return. The lyrics then shift to describe a scene where someone is submerged in water, and the singer advises them to be still and quiet to make it through the night. The following lines suggest that it's only natural to shed one's skin and dance in one's bones - this could be interpreted as embracing vulnerability and being true to oneself. The song also touches on the beauty of life, with lines like "the water's deep and your body's sweet with lungs, the way to go." The lyrics end with the singer promising to save someone's life if they ask nicely.

Line by Line Meaning

Your heart's in the wrong place
Your intentions are not good

Say it with your mouth
Express your thoughts vocally

I pull my guns from the desert, just in case you ever came back around
I am cautious about you returning and have weapons at the ready

Put your clothes in the water and lay down at your side
Undress and lie beside the water

You keep real still and quiet
Stay silent and motionless

You can make it through the night
You will survive until morning

It ain't no sin to shed your skin
It is not wrong to change

Go dancing in your bones
Embrace your true self

The water's deep and your body's sweet
The water is profound and your body is tempting

With lungs, the way to go
Breathing is vital

Take your face to the river
Approach the river