Open water
Where’s the shore gone?
Held, I falter
Open water
I know, the sea
Will bury me
And all I see is
Open water…

So picture it: a lovely day on the ocean. You head out for a swim, or a dive, or maybe just to flex your newfound sense of adventure. The sun’s high, the horizon’s endless, the world feels infinite and kind.

But when you look up, your boat is gone.

Just vamooshed outta there. Without letting you know.

The sound of the waves gets louder. The air feels thicker. There’s no way to contact anyone. No land in sight. Just water. Every direction. And the quiet realization that you have a scant few hours to think about it before the stars come out and the sea starts to whisper.

You’re absolutely stranded. With no hope for rescue at all.

And the sun is setting…

That’s Open Water from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, off their absolutely glorious 2017 record Flying Microtonal Banana. It postulates the following truths:

1) You’re alone
2) No hope of resuce
3) You’re going to drown
4) You’re going to die

You know… for kids! Like so much of King Gizz’s work, Open Water is hypnotic, relentless, and vaguely cosmic. Marvel as it swirls at the edges of a psychedelic-rock riptide, pulling you down whether you want to go or not. The drums churn, the guitars shimmer like heat on the horizon, and Stu Mackenzie’s vocals sound like he’s already accepted his fate somewhere between a mantra and a panic attack.

And therein lies the rub about Open Water: the song’s fast, propulsive, even danceable. You could almost miss how bleak it is. And that makes it even more terrifying, because it’s about the most ancient horror we know: being completely, cosmically alone.

Open Water exemplifies the existential dread that comes when you realize the universe doesn’t hate you or love you. So of course it doesn’t care if you keep treading water or not.

Might as well laugh at the waves as they swallow you whole, because either you’ve long since accepted your fate… or you’re entirely too terrified not to.

And filtering me in my head
I think i’m numb
I think i’m dead
If something pulls my paddling leg
Under
Sweet sea ache
Is more than I can take
There’s bodied, tiny salty water in my lungs…