I’ve been obsessed with salmon for a little while. They are very symbolic for me. Salmon are unique in that they swim downstream to the sea, and once they’re fully grown, they spend the rest of their lives swimming back up stream to spawn in the place that they were born. This is very symbolic to me. As I have sought to figure out who I am in this life I have found myself exploring the places, people, and relationships where I came from. I wrote the song below two summers ago – when I was trying to decide if I should go back to school – which inspired the above print which I completed this past summer.
Hey mr salmon man, you swim around all day
You gotta do something to earn your pay
You always seem to be swimming up stream
But when you gonna start living your dreams?
You sit in that beaver dam because it feels safe
The still water keeps you from withering away
If you stay there for too long you’ll get sea lice
That will eat you up from the inside
You swam to the sea, grew rings on your ears
Spent most of your life in an ocean of tears
But you always thought that everything was ok
Cause the current washed them away
Now, you’ve got important knowledge for the otters and the birds
You speak to the Bears, but you’re never heard
Maybe they’ll be grateful for what you say
When your carcass is rotting away
Mr salmon man, keep swimming into the sun
And eventually you’ll find out where you came from
They say that when you get there you’ll die
But don’t you listen to those lies
ahumanboy 