by Deftones · 2024
Cherry Waves by Deftones is about the struggle to trust and sacrifice for someone in a turbulent relationship, symbolized by drowning and rescuing each other in deep, overwhelming emotions.
This song has been Shazamed over 613,488 times. As of this writing, Cherry Waves is ranked 134
‘Cherry Waves’ by Deftones is a song that feels like being lost at sea with someone you can’t let go of, no matter what. We’re going to break down what the lyrics and music are really saying and why it hits so many people in the heart. ⬇️
The song paints a world of rolling, uncertain tides—both literally and emotionally—where trust and vulnerability are constantly tested. The atmosphere is hazy, dreamlike, and heavy, pulling us into a space where everything feels both dangerous and alluring.
The chorus is where everything cracks open: “The waves suck you in and you drown / If like, you should sink down beneath / I’ll swim down, would you?” Here, we’re faced with a question that aches—will you risk everything for someone else’s pain, even if it means drowning together? It’s messy, it’s desperate, and it’s honest; we find ourselves questioning, would we be brave enough to follow, or do we just hope someone else will swim down for us?
⚓ In the verses, the imagery gets tangled—anchors around necks, rehearsed endings, laughter turning sinister. “You hang the anchors over my neck / I liked it at first, but the more you laughed / The crazier I came,” he sings, and suddenly, affection feels like a burden disguised as intimacy. There’s a push and pull, comfort that morphs into suffocation, and a sense of two people drifting while clinging to the same fragile piece of wood.
Ultimately, ‘Cherry Waves’ asks if love is about saving or sinking, if true connection means risking it all or escaping before you drown—and in that moment of suspended breath underwater, we realize just how much trust really costs.
Writer(s) of Cherry Waves:
