Fish on land

In the song “Fish on Land,” Lhasa De Sela uses the symbols and archetypes of a fish, water, and transformation to express the theme of life’s struggles. According to Anthony Stevens “Water symbolize the whole potentiality”: it is the fons et origo, Substance from which all forms come and to which they will return (130). The struggle of life is not an easy journey: “A fish on land gasping for breath” (Lhasa De Sela). Once he overcame the struggles in life, “ he grew and he became a man” and complete his completed his transformation (Lhasa De Selea).