The Reach (ritual, soul, grace, spiritual, grace)

[Willamena]

Lyrics are poetry too. This is my most recent/oldest favourite song from the album The Innocent Age.

The Reach - Dan Fogelberg

It's Maine... and it's Autumn
The birches have just begun turning

It's life and it's dying
The lobstermen's boats come returning
With the catch of they day in their holds
and the young boys cold and complaining

The fog meets the beaches and out on
the Reach it is raining --

It's father and son
It's the way it's been done since the old days
It's hauling by hand ten miles out
from the land where their chow waits

All the days get so lonely and long
and seas grow so stormy and strong but
The Reach will sing welcome as homeward
they hurry along.

And the morning will blow away
As the waves crash and fall
And the Reach like a siren sings
as she beckons and calls

As the coastline recedes from view
And the seas swell and roll
I will take from the Reach
all that she has to teach
To the depths of my soul --

The wind brings a chill
There's a frost on the sill in the morning
It creeps through the door
At the edge of the shore
ice is forming

Soon the northers will bluster and blow
And the woods will be whitened
with snowfall
And the Reach will lie frozen
for the lost and unchosen to row --

And the morning will blow away
As the waves crash and fall

And the Reach like a siren sings
as she beckons and calls
As the coastline recedes from view
And the seas swell and roll
I will take from the Reach
all that she has to teach
To the depths of my soul

[Willamena]

To me, in the song's lyrics is symbolised what I've come to understand as what some others here refer to as "grace." It's the foundation, not just of being or existence, but of comfort and belief. It's where we return to after facing the "crashing" of the days.

The second line is a hint: "It's life and it's dying." The lobstermen go out on the sea everyday and face hardship, danger, storms and waves. That symbolises life in general, in a very Gibran way. The more I re-listen to the Innocent Age, the more convinced I am that Dan Fogelberg was actually inspired by Girban in his song writing and on his spiritual quest.

[Hema]

Originally Posted by Willamena

The second line is a hint: "It's life and it's dying."

This line also struck me as well. The poem itself is very descriptive. I enjoyed it.