I was struck by the visual echoes in the photograph- the swoop of the ropes, the rhythm of the pilings retreating in the distance- the time of day. The mist makes familiar things mysterious. The black of intimate and the grey of far away. A lyric and a narrative emerged. I wanted to express the paradoxical idea that the singer feels a conflict between the shore and the sea. Up until now he has always seen that conflict in conventional terms: the shore represents being held down, safety, love and security; the sea represents adventure and freedom. Now, thought, he’s reached a turning point. He has spent many years choosing the ocean. Now he finds that his perception has changed – the wind has shifted and he is tacking about. suddenly he sees his constant choice of lifting anchor and sailing away has become a kind of harbor of it’s own, a different kind of safety through—to be banal here—“Lack of commitment” and that perhaps choosing the harbor, the house at the edge of the village would be a different kind of a voyage—into oceans of his own heart where he fears he may drown or be lost. The shore represents the next voyage. This is a powerful kind of transformation because it is not a concession but a progression. After this insight he will never be able to set out on the old journey in the same naïve way—And ahead of him lies the decision to make the longer, braver voyage.