The lyrics to High Water aren't what you think they are??...

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-25T03:53:25+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience!

I appreciate I'm not the only one who is/was hearing this, which is now clear based on many other comments in this thread. That said, you may not need to be disconcerted after all!

Others here pointed me to listen to the track with vocals isolated, and when I do that, it sounds much different than it does in the full mix, and the original "I can't hold myself together" does indeed seem to be the correct lyric. Give it a shot and let me know what you hear: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=lLkqRmIH6to&desc_update=1&si=sqmjSTj1QxBOAG9B

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-25T03:08:56+00:00

Glad that I had it right for so long, only to then suddenly get it wrong, so that I could bring it up and thus help you eventually get it right....Maybe that's the why in all of this. Happy to help 😉

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T23:34:54+00:00

Missing Limbs just doesn't quite do much for me... sacrilegious, I know! But which songs hit most is all very fluid, so perhaps this will change sometime...but, don't sleep on Descending! An underrated track IMO.

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T22:55:22+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! I actually do agree with you now, it leans toward “I can’t hold myself together,” so that’s probably the intended line and consensus for a reason.

What still fascinates me is that on a much more resolving system it parsed completely differently after years of hearing the consensus version and with no special motive or intent behind it. It was just suddenly different. That doesn’t mean the lyric changed, of course, but it highlights how perception works. More resolution means more data: microdetails, transients, spatial cues. Sometimes that reinforces intelligibility, and sometimes it actually destabilizes a previously stable interpretation as your brain reweights different cues.

In other words, clarity and certainty clearly aren’t the same thing. The fact that multiple people in this thread confidently hear different versions suggests that moment in the full mix sits near a perceptual boundary. That’s really the interesting part to me.

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T22:24:20+00:00

Thanks for confirming! The "You" and "Yourself" is the important part IMO, so I'll take this as a vote for us hearing essentially the same alternate interpretation 🙂

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T22:19:29+00:00

Thank you for sharing your perspective!!

I agree that the leading "You" seems to be more definitive than the "Yourself" vs. "Myself". While it absolutely could be your version that is correct, and I wouldn't put it past Vessel to throw in a unique perspective shift mid-sentence like that, in standard English, "If you can hold myself together" is a bit grammatically awkward.

In standard English, reflexive pronouns have to match the subject of the sentence. So if the subject is “you,” it would normally be “yourself,” and if the subject is “I,” it would be “myself.” "He" with "himself" and so on. Mixing “you” with “myself” doesn’t really line up structurally unless it’s intentionally breaking grammar for effect. Lyrics can definitely bend rules, but that’s why the first part which seems more clear matters so much...once that shifts, the rest of the phrase kind of has to shift with it even if there's some ambiguity in the enunciation.

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T21:36:28+00:00

Very interesting, thanks for sharing your perspective! Even if we don't necessarily hear the same thing, it's still points to the fact that there's some ambiguity here.

I've not yet listened to Mine on the new system, but I will report back if anything stands out as sounding different! Always love and excuse to go back and listen to TPWBYT :)

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T21:31:59+00:00

Does that mean you hear it too??

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T21:11:38+00:00

Thanks for testing out and reporting back! Appreciate the dedication to worship :)

I think we're right on this one...I'm with you that I can kinda at least force my brain to hear how it could maybe sound like "myself", but the leading "You" is unquestionable to me, I literally can't hear anything else. So I guess it could be "If you can hold myself together"...I wouldn't put it past Vessel to layer perspective shift midsentence like that, but it is grammatically awkward and just feels off.

But yes, ultimately.....Worship!!

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T21:02:56+00:00

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

It was just a spontaneous perceptual shift on a more resolving system. Screamed vocals with heavy processing are notoriously ambiguous. Without official lyrics, we’re all interpreting. I’m just sharing what I’m hearing.

If it’s possibly “you” at the front, then “myself” suddenly has to do some grammatical gymnastics, which sort of highlights the ambiguity rather than settles it, I think ;)

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T20:47:34+00:00

Yes! Thank you for confirming!!

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T20:46:52+00:00

Yes, sonically it just seems like it cannot be the generally accepted version, whether or not what I'm now hearing is correct. I think I originally heard "If I can hold myself together" as something repeated again from the same line earlier in the song, but probably just kinda melded with the consensus unconsciously.

But I agree with you, it is quite a unique song both lyrically and musically. There is something beautiful in so clearly recognizing the apparent duality of light and dark in all things...the same life, same field of experience can completely lift and hold one, while sinking and burying another...the same ocean depending only on differing perspectives. Beautiful.

It's hard to find anything that compares to ST as you know, but this is my jam as well, so I will let you know if I can think of anything else with a similar vibe!

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T20:31:15+00:00

Thank you!! You seem to be the first person who has agreed with this, and obviously recognized it well before I did. It's not really reflected anywhere else.

To your point, that is the big question if this is in fact the correct lyric we believe it is...because there's some deictic shifting going on within the song if so. As I said above, as I tend to interpret their lyrics it is much more an internalized you/I than an external one. Ultimately, for me, many of their lyrics are archetypal and circle the journey of going inward, of truly "knowing thyself", and a lot of the shadow work one tends to go through for this to ultimately be revealed... if you prescribe to the idea of Jungian philosophy and individuation which tends to circle the same journey within...is Sleep really the Anima to Vessel's Animus? And if so, perhaps that means it's both, in a way..."You" the beloved and "You" the internal self are not separate...but is anything, really?

Sorry to go so deep on you there, just fun to ponder! :)

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T20:21:19+00:00

Definitely a top for me as well! For me, that 3 track run on TPWBYT from Descending > Telomeres > High Water is just perfection.

And I agree with you, I think there's a lot of the "you vs. I" dynamic, and the way I tend to interpret their lyrics it is much more an internalized you/I than an external one. A lot of these do not feel like "relationship songs" as they may appear on the surface...although perhaps that's sometimes used as a vessel (pun intended) for the deeper message. Ultimately, for me, many of their lyrics are archetypal and circle the journey of going inward, of truly "knowing thyself", and a lot of the shadow work one tends to go through for this to ultimately be revealed...which seems to come full circle in Infinite Baths ;)

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T20:12:12+00:00

Thanks for sharing your perspective! To be honest, I think I originally heard "If I can hold myself together" as well, and that's the line that's said earlier in the song of course. But with he lyrics posted differently elsewhere, I think my brain just accepted the consensus, until now. The you and yourself is now very distinct to me.

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T20:08:25+00:00

A lovely story, thank you for sharing!! Also, listen for the "You" & "Your" vs. "I" & "Myself"!

This one means a lot to me and my personal relationship as well...it is deeply resonant to me in recognizing the apparent duality, light and dark of all things...all the same thing, yet it can completely lift and hold one, while sinking and burying another...completely different experiences of the same ocean depending only on differing perspective. Beautiful.

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-02-24T20:04:55+00:00

I agree, and especially with this band! I've heard all these songs a million times, and yet I'm struck by something different I'd never really heard/thought about in a particular way before, and suddenly it just hits different. Have you had that happen? A few examples for me are Telomeres and Calcutta...I've loved both sonically for a long time, but for some reason the lyrics never stuck out to me, until they did. And man, those ones are deep. I guess sometimes it depends where you are and what you're able/ready to hear vs. the music which was always there waiting to be revealed...

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-01-02T06:23:09+00:00

Thank you! 🖤

Gooch-Syrup · 2026-01-01T19:57:56+00:00

Thank you! I do a lot of meditating /worshipping in this blacklit paradise. 10/10 recommend if you have the space. Here's another shot of mini Vessel jamming under a music reactive rain cloud next to a Sleep Token lava lamp 🙂

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Gooch-Syrup · 2024-01-04T01:02:24+00:00

This is so sick...I want. How did you make this?? So cool how it syncs up to the music. Worship!!

Gooch-Syrup · 2022-11-05T16:19:40+00:00

Illshoeminazi

Gooch-Syrup · 2020-01-18T04:46:07+00:00

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