Night Walking Wearing the Human Body

Lyrics

 * 1 "The nights are “unlimited” in the sense of having an inexhaustible supply of them. “Unlimited” in other lines has the same meaning."
 * 2 "Literally “if you let them get washed away in the water”, which usually means something along the lines of “let bygones be bygones” or simply “forget the complicated past and move on” (think of the English phrase “water under the bridge”). It seems weird to recommend letting go of all the things you gained (which are presumably good things), but here it's probably meant in the sense of “rid yourself of your earthly possessions” to achieve spiritual happiness. The idea of establishing your “country” or dominion by ceding your territory rather than expanding it is interesting, too."
 * 3 "Like the note above, “you” comes in unlimited supply."
 * 4 "This whole last stanza is a bit awkward for me, but I've done what I can. It hints at various Buddhist things. “This world” is Shigan, the realm of our present lives. In Japanese Buddhism, this world is separated from the land of enlightenment, Higan, by a river. You can cross the river by ridding yourself of worldly desires. Seven days after your death, you can cross the river at a bridge if you were a good person in life--otherwise you have to cross at a ford or (if you were evil in life) at a spot with serpent-infested deep water. The “you” in the song may be in that time between death and the river crossing, roaming around like a ghost clinging to its human form until at last it finds the bridge at the end of the song. There it is told to let go of its attachment to the human form and to joyfully cross over to the next world as a reward for the good deeds it did in life. Indeed, “the mystery is at an end”."