NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI: UNDERTOW

  The first time I heard this song was during the MONSTER tour and I remember that the light show was fantastic--an underwater feeling that greatly enhanced the song. The key to most of the tracks on this album is the ever looming presence of the arena rock mentality. Most of the songs are written to fill the large void that is a coliseum or amphitheater, looming and theatrical during a concert, but thin in a recording which is subjected to multiple listens (although how great is it to scream 'I'm drowning me' at the top of your lungs when no one's around--answer: it's pretty great!). I remember the audience for UNDERTOW treating the song as if it were a play, mostly because it was toward the beginning of the concert after sing along staples, and sitting down for the first time in the set. The new tracks--because they were never heard before--became a break for the audience, unintentionally stalling the forward momentum of the live show. Don't get me wrong I like the song, but there is a weight to it (completely intentional) that brings darkness. This is an album full of the strains of travel and touring after most of the band suffered life altering medical experiences. During recent listens I enjoy the song more for its introduction to E-BOW than anything else, for its with this track that the album settles in for a journey with a band that was revisiting and reinventing the touring experience.
  As for the song, Michael introduced it as a water song during concerts, and during a blog Q and A refers to it as a 'moment of death' song, but lyrically because of the blatant religious references the best way to approach it is that it's a song about the opposite of a baptism; instead of a rebirth perhaps a redeath?  It reminds me of the Joan Osborne song 'One of Us' ... are death and belief linked? Like her song talks about coming face to face with god, does your final moment mean you would 'have to believe?' Or at least start being curious about the other side? Mike's background vocal is as always obscure (I alternated between self and soul ... and even 'I'm breathing asshole!' ... feel free to choose your favorite) and the below is the approximation of what you can holler at the top of your lungs.

UNDERTOW

I know what I wanted
I know what I wanted
I know how I wanted this to be
You go down to the water
Drink down of the water
Walk up off the water
Leave it be
But this is not my dream, sister
It is cold in heaven and I'm not sprouting wings

I'm turning, me
I'm drowning, me

Brother, can you see those birds?
They don't look to heaven
They don't need religion they can see
You go down to the water
Drink down of the water
Fly up off the water 
Leave it be
But this is not my time, sister
It is cold in heaven and no one's coming after me

I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me, yeah

(Breathing our self)
I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me

You know I am tired
Cold and bony tired
Nothing’s going to save me
I can see
I can't say I'm fearful
I can't say I'm not afraid
I am not resisting
I can see
That I don't need a heaven
I don't need religion
I am in the place where I should be
I am breathing water
I am breathing water
You know a body's got to breathe

I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me, yeah

(Breathing our self)
I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me

(I’m)
I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me, yeah

(Breathing our self)
I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me

UNDERTOW

Peter uses the Negative Strings on this one, sometimes strumming and sometimes picking.

Verse (Keep everything open strum after bass intros)

e|-0-----------------------------------|

B|-0-----------------------------------|

G|-0-----------------------------------|

D|-7-9h-0-2-4-4>7-0---7-9h-0-4-2-2>4-0-|

A|-0-----------------------------------|

E|-0-----------------------------------|

Chorus

e|-0-0--|

B|-0-2--|

G|-1-2--|

D|-2-2--|

A|-2-0--|

E|-0-0--|

Bridge/End

e|-2-2------0---0--0--|

B|-2-3------0--0-0--0-|

G|-3-2------6-----6---|

D|-4-0------6-6-------|

A|-4---x3---4---------|

E|-2--------0---------|