Well I recall his parting words
Must I accept his fate?
Or take myself far from this place
I thought I heard a black bell toll
A little bird did sing
Man has no choice
When he wants everything
[Chorus:]
We'll rise above the scarlet tide
That trickles down through the mountain
And separates the widow from the bride
Man goes beyond his own decision
Gets caught up in the mechanism
Of swindlers who act like kings
And brokers who break everything
The dark of night was swiftly fading
Close to the dawn of the day
Why would I want him
Just to lose him again
Ah, this is a nightmare - EC's lyrics are always complex!.. He seems to convey an extraordinary depth of sentiment with only a few words.
For example, "Well, I recall his parting words..." Do we assume that the next lines *are* the parting words ("Must I accept his fate, Or take myself far from this place"), and who is speaking them? Or is the singer referring to the person who spoke those parting words when they say "Must I accept his fate?"?
It seems to have been written from the perspective of somebody who is deeply disillusioned... "Man has no choice, when he wants everything," but who is the little bird who made that observation? And then "Man goes beyond his own decision... swindlers who act like kings... brokers who break everything," and so on. And is the black bell a metaphor (for what? Death?), or should it be taken literally?
The Scarlet Tide may be a reference to war, per Busk (we don't know if EC is familiar with this work (do we?), although he is widely read, I think), or it may be more generalized, as in "red rage," and may just be a general reference to uncontrolled anger. And yet, "we'll rise above the Scarlet Tide," which is then rendered impotent through the use of the word "trickles." This Scarlet Tide, whatever it is, is not a flood, but something altogether less potent, which may be avoided.
Hmmm... Something's gone very badly wrong in this person's life; (s)he feels (s)he's been cheated by people who were serving their own ends, and have left others bearing the fallout, I think.
“Scarlet Tide” was performed by Alison Krauss for the Civil War movie “Cold Mountain.” The phrase “the scarlet tide of war” appears in a collection of poetry called Hebrew Lyrics by Hans Busk, published in London in 1861. The phrase is part of “Lyric cxxiv:”
Hot was that rampant rage that threatened to devour
And had consumed us in its wanton flame
Hadst Thou our hosts forsaken in that trying hour,
Nor stemmed the scarlet tide of war that came
To drown Thy nursling-nation and its name. ...
Copy lyrics and 
Send "The Scarlet Tide" Ringtone to your Cell
IM this
