The Deep End

by Gord Sellar and Dabang Band

One day, got the notion, in the ocean,
One day, thought that he would learn to swim;
That day, must admit he was a fool,
That day went straight to the swimming pool…

Signed up, took a class down at the YMCA,
With families, children and their mothers;
Fathers, reclining in the hot tubs and the saunas,
And there he was among them, a pink unicorn

Day one, shocked to see him, everybody;
Day two, they all see him screw it up;
Day three, gangster in class, tattooed ass;
Day four, they go out and drink it up;
On day five, he looks up and he sees the lifeguard dive,
Her movements, smooth like spilling milk:
In lane five, she makes her way from one end to the other —
He wants to talk to her, but just then does not dare.

sax solo

In lane five, he looks again to see the lifeguard dive,
Her movements, smooth like rolling clouds:
In lane five, she makes her way from one end to the other —
He wants to talk to her, but just then does not dare…
He wants to talk to her, but just then does not dare.

The deep end… the deep end… the deep end… the deep end… the deep end.


Unlike most of my “songs”, “The Deep End” was conceived from start to finish as a song, not originally as a poem. I think this shows in the structure of the lyrics, in a positive way. In any case, the song turned out quite differently than I expected: I had in mind the tempo (and the basic drum beat) of the Belle & Sebastian song “Expectations,” but we ended up with something a lot slower and with a more chunky beat. I still think it would make a good uptempo song, though.

I originally came up with the melody whilst showering after the swimming class I took at the YMCA in Iksan, South Korea, in 2003; I decided therefore to write the lyrics about the experience of the class (and more generally my experience as a foreigner living in Korea), as well as making it a tribute to the most unusual of the swim instructors/lifeguards at the pool. (While I didn’t fall in love with her, I thought she was cool.) There was a guy in our class who was tattooed, and many suspected he’d been a gangster at some point; I suspect it too, but it’s not like he went all Tony Soprano in front of us. (Unless you count shouting at a waitress.)

“The Deep End” is available on the Dabang Band album Product (2004); you can find out more about the album here. Or, heck, click here to stream the song.

February 2, 2012

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