One of the Stanzas in I Walk Beside You...

[Deve]

Alright, I noticed this the other day. In the lyrics of I Walk Beside You, there are the lines:

"The tide you swim against will carry you back home
So don't give up
Don't give in"

I took that to mean "This tide is going to carry you home, so don't give up and keep swimming against it".

Or do the latter lines have absolutely nothing to do at all with the former and it's just a general "don't give up because you're gonna be happy and feel wonderful soon!"

[XB0BX]

My favorite 'Stanza:

[Kotowboy]

CANT STAND YA. CANT STAND YA.

[Phantasmatron]

I have a feeling that was just kind of an oversight in the lyric-writing process.  Petrucci meant them to be separate thoughts, I think.  If you assume that stanza is all one complete idea, I don't think it means what he intended it to mean.

But it could still kind of work.  As far as "home" refers to a place of origin, that could be a bad thing.  I mean, I certainly have no interest in going back to my roots or origins.  I'm swimming against the tide as hard as I can to get away from it.  So that still works, IMO.

[lithium112]

I think the general message of this metaphor is that things will work out and everything happens for a reason. You can try to fight it but fate is fate, and you're best off keeping your head above water and going with the flow.

The truth is the truth and all you can do is live with it.

[Jay.Ess]

 
I always assumed the lyrics were 'the tide you swam against' 

[theGonz]

Idk I still like the song

[black_biff_stadler]

CANT STAND YA. CANT STAND YA.

I've never read Tropic of Cancer

[wolfking]

Don't you mean Tropic of Capricorn?