Song Meaning
Devendra Banhart's "Some People Ride the Wave" isn't so much a wave as it is a psychic weather report, charting the currents of ambition, delusion, and self-awareness. The song's meaning hinges on this central metaphor of 'riding,' a verb loaded with implications of control, passivity, and even exploitation. Banhart sets up a series of contrasting 'some people' scenarios—generosity versus mediocrity, thoughtful writing versus destructive writing—before positioning himself in a more ambiguous, self-deprecating light. He's not riding high on success or mired in failure, but perpetually afloat, 'never gonna drown,' yet also just 'fooling around.' This speaks to a kind of artistic detachment, a refusal to be defined by conventional metrics of achievement. There's a playful irony in his nonchalance. He acknowledges the game, but refuses to play it by the established rules.
The second verse introduces a more surreal, almost Dadaist imagery with 'balloons' and 'mud,' 'snails' and 'stuff.' This could represent the raw materials of creativity, the contrasting elements that artists work with. The line 'you got so much more than I figured was in store' hints at a recognition of others' talents or resources, perhaps tinged with envy but ultimately accepted. The next verse, with the bizarre image of riding a cat whose 'claws have got my eyes,' plunges into a more painful exploration of artistic struggle. The cat becomes a metaphor for a muse that simultaneously inspires and inflicts pain. The pursuit of artistic vision, Banhart suggests, can be a self-destructive act, a constant battle to reclaim one's perspective.
Ultimately, "Some People Ride the Wave" is a meditation on the artist's role in society and within their own psyche. The final verse, concerning writing songs, is the most explicitly meta. While 'some people' aim for lasting impact or create disposable fluff, Banhart claims to write songs that 'end right when it starts,' suggesting a preference for immediacy and ephemerality. The final line, 'They'll split before they part,' could refer to the fleeting nature of inspiration, the way ideas vanish before they fully form. It also speaks to a kind of preemptive self-sabotage, a deliberate choice to avoid the pitfalls of ambition and expectation. Banhart seems to be saying that true creativity lies not in the finished product, but in the process itself, even if that process is messy, contradictory, and ultimately unresolved.
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