Born in the Water Lyrics
Rolling hills all covered in suede
I'm heat nervous and out of road
Downtown there's a parade
But I don't think I want to go
Smart as trees in Sault Saint Marie
I can speak my mother tongue
Passing laws, just because
And singing songs of the English unsung
[Chorus]
Well, how could you do it?
Well, how could you even try?
When you were born in the water
And you were raised up in the sky?
[Verse 2]
Front seat stamped by the window
No erasees in this game
Arbitrary as the wind blows
It's another way to lay claim
Ain't no cause for bloodthirsting
In a little town so dry
Where the angels dance on a pinhead
Just to make room for you and I
Well, how could you do it?
Well, how could you even try?
When you were born in the water
And you were raised up in the sky?
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 3]
Thoroughbred with their great big heads
Think a mile might be too far
Highway horses laugh but of course
When they don't know where the hell they are
Well, smart as trees in Sault Saint Marie
Victorious mother tongue
Passing laws just because
And singing songs of the English unsung
[Chorus]
Well, how could you do it?
Well, how could you even try?
When you were born in the water
And you were raised up
How could you do it?
Well, how could you even try?
When you were born in the water
And you were raised up in the sky?
About
The Canadian Encyclopedia provides the following description of the song:
One of the Hip’s most political songs, “Born in the Water” is an indictment of a law passed in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in January 1990. It declared English to be the sole working language of government — despite the fact that the city, founded as a settlement by Jesuit missionaries in 1668, has a large Franco-Ontarian community.
The law was passed during the heated and tumultuous period leading up to the failed ratification of the Meech Lake Accord, which was seen by many in English Canada as granting too much power and privilege to Québec. The Sault Ste. Marie law was widely interpreted as a response to Québec Premier Robert Bourassa’s use of the notwithstanding clause in 1988 to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling that declared Québec’s Bill 101 — which claimed French as Québec’s only official language — unconstitutional. The amended Bill 178 determined that “public signs and posters and commercial advertising, outside or intended for the public outside, shall be solely in French.”
Bill 178 was condemned by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 1993, and was amended by the Québec National Assembly that year to conform to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sault Ste. Marie’s language law was repealed following a provincial court ruling in 1994. In 2010, the city’s mayor, John Rowswell, issued a formal apology to francophones across the country.
Source:
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.Little Bones
- 2.Twist My Arm
- 3.Cordelia
- 4.The Luxury
- 5.Born in the Water
- 9.Fight
- 10.On the Verge
- 11.Fiddler’s Green
