Owl City: The Saltwater Room Meaning
The Saltwater Room Lyrics
And saw you in the low light,
Walking down by the bay on the shore,
Staring up at the stars that aren't there anymore,
I was feeling the night grow old and you were looking so cold,
So like an introvert I drew my...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:Much like his other songs, I think this is related to his girlfriend that died. I think he dreams that he sees her down on the bay, and they look at the planes that aren't there- they were when they used to watch them together before she died. His dream continues when they actually have the conversation in the chorus, which I think is the most well-written piece of any song I've heard. When she says "make or break this hint of love" the reason she said make or break is because it draws question, were they in love which means he has to move on or are they about to be in love and he can only fall in love with her spirit and her memory. He replies with "time" which makes me think that they WERE in love, and it will take time for him to get out of it, but he still wants to be in love with her. Also in the chorus he says "When you and I are alone I've never felt so at home" then goes on to say "If this is what I call home why does it feel so alone?" which means that he is home because they are both spiritually still together, but he is still alone nonetheless because she is not physically there. I can go very much further with this song, but there's my opinion on it's meaning. It's a very well-written song.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:It is a quite confusing song to get the meaning if you don't know Adam Young's story with his girlfriend Vienna, but I think it touches people with it's meaning by various different ways.
Basically, it talks about how you wish someone was there with you and how you hold on to a person. A good line to summarize the whole message of the song is this one:
"With your ear to a seashell
You can hear the waves in underwater caves
As if you actually were inside a saltwater room"
A seashell creates the illusion of actually hearing the waves as if they were around you; it is something that connects you with a false reality. In the song, it means that by a memory, a feeling or a place (even a dream) he feels that he's with the person for real.
The saltwater room is metaphor for being with that person, but not for real, an illusion.
Summing up, the song talks about missing a person badly, wishing you had more time with her/him, but that being hard if not impossible.
I could write much much more about the song and the other lines, but i chose only one which, I think, summarizes the whole meaning =) -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:I think the song is from the POV of a guy. He was in love with a girl who had to go(or he did im not sure). They spent time by the water together and so he now stays by himself there. He loved her so much, and has been upset. The song is his dream of the girl he loves but is no longer with him. She loved him too but they are only friends who are now seperated by miles upon miles. He wants her back, but he cant have her. They both want to be a couple but it is impossible, and only time can bring them together.
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Its hard to tell what this song means... lets just assume the simplest way, he (adam) is telling us a story about two persons who feel that they are falling for each other But they fear that they need time to think. (going simple huh!)
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My interpetation of "The Saltwater Room: Part 1":
"I opened my eyes last night, and saw you in the low light."
He's basically saying when things felt dark, he went to his girl, and she was sad too.
"Walking down by the bay, staring up at the stars that aren't there anymore."
She's looking for things to make her happy, but their not there, maybe, this is Anna-Marie, and she is sad, she has to break up, 'cause of her moving to California. MAYBE!
"I was feeling the night grow old, and you were looking so cold"
He's saying, he's been trying to make her happy, but it's not working, so he tried to leave, but she was just crying all her tears out.
"So like an introvert, I drew my over-shirt, around my arms and began to shiver violently."
He's an introvert, and when he loses his energy, talking alot to people, but he wasted his introversion energy, to try to make her happy, and now it's all gone, and he's in deep need for recharging alone, but he's not giving up.
"Before you happen to look and see the tunnels all around me, running into the dark underground."
Before he wasted all his energy, she just kept looking for excuses, to not be happy, from what Adam Young is doing, and now she feels like she's in a dark cave.
"All the subways around create a great sound."
He's saying look at all the good things, going around her, like a subway, they go away fast, so hurry, before you miss them.
"To my motion fatigue farewell, with your ear to a sea-shell."
He thinks he's losing his vision on how to make her happy, so he's thinking about giving up, 'cause she's just not listening.
"You can hear the waves in underwater caves, it's as if you actually were in a saltwater room"
All she hears and feel is her sadness, and crying, it's like she's in a room, of saltwater.
"Time together is just never quite enough."
Adam Young was just about to leave, then his girl, finally tells her why she's sad.
"When you and I are alone, I've never felt so at home"
He feels if they belong together.
"What will it take to make or break this hint of love?"
She feels, she may be falling out of love, so she's asking, how does she fall back in love, or she just going to fall out.
"Only time, only time"
Adam Young, is saying we will find out over time.
"Can you believe the crew has gone, and they wouldn't let me sign on."
This one is kinda hard to decode.
"All my islands have sunk in the deep, and I can hardly relax or even over-sleep."
Since she's going away, everything that felt like home, has gone away, and he can't over it, or get enough sleep, or maybe over-sleep is an insomniac reference.
Okay that's enough of the "Saltwater Room" decoding for me right now, I'll finish my decoding some other time. -
Adams girlfriend moved far away. He really truly loved her, and they lost contact. I think a lot of his songs are about her (ex. I Live Alone, Sunburn). She didn't die.
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love this song...
i think it's about two people
who love or really like each other, but
it will take time till they can be together. -
To me, the "saltwater room" is another word for a "ship" (aka a place where he can be alone to think).
For the first time in his life, the singer is realizing that staying as the person he is will never get him anything he wants ("If this is what I call home, why does it feel so alone.")
Therefore, because of a certain girl, he has decided to take chances and explore new things for the first time. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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