It's widely accepted that the greatest music is born out of struggle and deep feeling for something. And so can be instrumental in effectively conveying hope, fear, and desires for revolutionary change in a simple yet eloquent manner, and act as instrumental anthems for the people collectively striving for this. Undertow by Suzanne Vega is no exception and exemplifies this sentiment perfectly, according to my interpretation of the lyrics.
While the meaning of this song is ambiguous and probably not written by Vega for this reason, I’d always considered it as a commentary on the means by which to gain liberation and peace from oppression, along with the confused and conflicted nature of ongoing war and conflict being supposedly set about to do this. The misguided aims of those hoping to achieve stability through advocating extremism fall short leaving only the fear, hopelessness and sadness of the oppressed and the oppressor to unite them (“at first I thought only tears could make us free”). The means by which this supposed liberation is observed through ironically war and oppression is through pain hence “From the point of a needle, from a diamond, from a bullet in flight”. Physical suffering and hardship being apparent in both a literal form with starvation, homelessness and loss of livelihood is clear to observe appearing to be debilitating and crushing hopes and aims, costing lives and potential change as can be reflected on with the line "and instead I found this hunger made me weak" as opposed to being supposedly "sleek" and attractive individuals or machines for assisting both the war effort and the fight for liberation as is observed in one verse.
Leading to emancipation through mass uprising and collective strength amidst this struggle being seen to act as a greater force against the oppression (“I am friend to the undertow, I take you in. I don’t let go”). Holding onto and refusing to release and set free all pain and suffering as that is what strengthens them and brings them to fight harder. As well as the opening line of “I believe right now if I could I would swallow you whole” exemplifies this. The “I would leave only bones and teeth, we could see what was underneath, and you would be free then” is about the souls and the true sense of life and worth of the oppressed remains yet gets sucked away. This then extends to the depth of this emotion literally hitting close to the bone (“salt wearing down to the bone. Like sand against the stone against the shoreline”). This could also be linked onto the perceived hunger and the intense stress to one's form that this poses as observed in another verse
The “against the stone against the shoreline” part also somehow makes me think of the line “from the river to the sea”. This feeling seems to thus break down walls and barriers allowing for narrow rivers to flow effectively to freedom and safety to reach the shoreline to the sea- a free flowing vast expanse and moving water carrying one away from the threats they leave behind and bringing all land together.
I think of this as hugely poignant and powerful song with really profound meaning that can be applied to so many times of conflict and the unendurable nature of crisis. It thus acts as a reminder for us to fight more and to not keep our true strength and desire for freedom within the inside of us, regardless of its original meaning. It’s something really beautiful in its own right that has stayed with me and always been on my mind when observing the seemingly endless and unjustifiable events that act as a catalyst for further revolutionary change,
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