“Riptide” Lyrics & Meaning (Vance Joy)

Riptide won Vance Joy many fans worldwide.

Including famous singers, like Taylor Swift.

She covered the song herself and even took Joy on tour with her.

It’s easy to see why Swift, and so many of us, fell in love with this song.

It’s all about the mood.

The song is somehow happy, sad, nostalgic, lonely, and so many more emotions all at the same time.

And let’s be honest: the Riptide lyrics meaning contribute very little to that mood.

There is a reason for that. Keep reading to learn what Joy is singing about in this monster hit and why it doesn’t really matter.

 

Riptide Lyrics And Meaning

Riptide is a hit song written, produced (along with drummer Edwin White) and performed by Australian singer-songwriter James Keogh. He is more commonly known by his stage name, Vance Joy.

Joy first released Riptide on the 1st of March, 2013, as part of his debut EP God Loves You When You’re Dancing. He also included it on his debut album Dream Your Life Away, which he released in 2014.

The song was a monster hit. It broke the record for the most weeks spent on the Australian singles chart, easily breaking the 106 week mark set by Lady Gaga’s Poker Face.

It was also the second longest charting single on the US Billborard Top 100, staying on the chart for 43 weeks. The highest it managed to climb up the chart was the 30th spot. Riptide also won Song of the Year at the 2014 Australian Recording Industry Association Awards.

The song contributed to the popularization of indie folk music and the resurgence of the singer-songwriter trend in mainstream music. But what does Joy actually sing about? Let’s find out. Here are the complete lyrics. We will dive into their meaning below.

 

Riptide Lyrics

Verse 1

I was scared of dentists and the dark
I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations
Oh, all my friends are turning green
You’re the magician’s assistant in their dream

Oh, oh-o-oh, and they come unstuck

Chorus

Lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you, when you’re singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat ’cause
You’re gonna sing the words wrong

Verse 2

There’s this movie that I think you’ll like
This guy decides to quit his job and heads to New York City
This cowboy’s running from himself
And she’s been living on the highest shelf

Oh, oh-o-oh, and they come unstuck

Chorus

Lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you’re singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat ’cause
You’re gonna sing the words wrong

Bridge

I just wanna, I just wanna know
If you’re gonna, if you’re gonna stay
I just gotta, I just gotta know
I can’t have it, I can’t have it, any other way
I swear she’s destined for the screen
Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you’ve ever seen, oh

Chorus

Lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you, when you’re singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat ’cause
You’re gonna sing the words wrong
Oh lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you’re singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat ’cause
You’re gonna sing the words wrong
Oh lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you’re singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat ’cause
You’re gonna sing the words wrong, yeah
I got a lump in my throat ’cause
You’re gonna sing the words wrong

 

Riptide Meaning

The lyrics to Riptide do not follow a single narrative. Vance Joy himself has explained that he took different ideas he had from various places and just kind of mashed them together to write the song.

That is why there are a number of different metaphors that do not tell an entirely coherent story. The song starts with the singer talking about his insecurities, mentioning being scared of dentists, the dark and starting conversations with pretty girls.

The second half of the first verse then contrasts that with his current situation: he is with a girl that makes his friends envy him. The “magician’s assistant” line comes from an actual encounter Joy had with a woman who was, in fact, a magician’s assistant.

In the chorus, we get the first mention of a riptide. Joy actually thought to use this word, because it was the name of a motel he stayed at. In the song, it carries the meaning of a strong force that drags you down.

Here he is again talking about a woman he is attracted to. He wants to be with her and he roots for her, worries that things might go wrong for her: “I got a lump in my throat ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.”

In the second verse, Joy draws from the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy and what he remembers of it. This is another of those disjointed ideas that he tries to fit into an overall narrative of his admiration for a beautiful woman he considers out of his reach: “And she’s been living on the highest shelf.”

In the bridge, Joy’s insecurities come up again. He gets a bit needy, saying he must know if she will be with him and that he can’t have it any other way. He again alludes to her beauty, comparing her to Michelle Pfeifer.

Pfeiffer is obviously much older than Joy. He draws on another memory from his youth here. When he was young, he had a bit of a crush on Michelle Pfeiffer, especially in her turn as cat woman.

Riptide might not have an completely coherent narrative, given that Joy mixed together various ideas and images from his life. But it does an an overall story of a man fixated on an attractive woman.

In the end, it is not the lyrics that made the song such a success anyway. It is the composition and just the overall feel it gives you, of sitting by a beach somewhere drinking a cold beer.

 

Riptide Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts

A tiny percentage of songs get everything right. Others make it big thanks to beautiful lyrics, but they are otherwise unremarkable. Others still captivate with beautiful music, but they have forgettable lyrics.

Vance Joy‘s Riptide leans more toward the third type of song. Vance was not completely successful in fitting his mishmash of ideas into an overall narrative, but it’s close enough. 

I wouldn’t call the lyrics forgettable or bad, but they are also not amazing. What’s important is that they do not hinder the song. They actually do help the song, but not all that much. This is one of those songs where the meaning of the lyrics just does not matter much.

For an example of a song that also draws together various images and metaphors, but that does manage to forge them into a coherent narrative, read this article about the Blue on Black lyrics meaning.

Taylor Swift is a Vance Joy fan, which means many of Swift’s fans are as well. If you’re a Swift fan, check out a similar breakdown of the lyrics and meaning to Swift’s Afterglow.

For another song with a similar vibe and feel, check out our analysis of the Heat Waves lyrics. This song by Glass Animals sounds happy and upbeat, but it has a darker meaning.