Drink the Water

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"Drink the Water" is a song recorded by Jack Johnson on the album Brushfire Fairytales released on February 1, 2001 on the Universal label.

It was inspired by an accident during a big surf where Jack Johnson wiped out and nearly drowned. Jack was the youngest pro-surfer to be invited to the Pipe Masters, and then he had a terrible accident where he hit an underwater reef on a fall and cut his head wide open and nearly got killed.

"Drink the water. Drink it down. This time I know I'm bound To spit it back up. I didn't want this Salty substitute."

The song also talks about the danger of letting fear set in while surfing. Jack believes that one has to believe that one can do it or else, no matter how talented one is, that individual will fail.

"He's got stones instead of bones, and everybody knows that can make you real, real slow."

[edit] Themes

Fear immobilizes you. It's mind-over-matter.

The references to home (e.g. "going home" and "Drifting towards home") may refer to a house, in from the ocean, or drifting in unconsisness/death.